Isaiah 28
1 Woe [to] the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim. And the fading flower of the beauty of his glory, That [is] on the head of the fat valley of the broken down of wine.
Woe to the proud garland crown that is worn by each of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of its glorious beauty, the garland that is set on the head of the lush Valley of those who are overcome with wine!
2 Lo, a mighty and strong one [is] to the Lord, As a storm of hail — a destructive shower, As an inundation of mighty waters overflowing, He cast down to the earth with the hand.
Behold, the Lord sends one who is mighty and strong; like a storm of hail and a destructive windstorm, like a driving rain and overflowing waters; and he will throw each garland crown down to the ground.
3 By feet trodden down is the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,
The proud garland of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trodden underfoot.
4 And the fading flower of the beauty of his glory That [is] on the head of the fat valley, Hath been as its first-fruit before summer, That its beholder seeth, While it [is] yet in his hand he swalloweth it.
The fading flower of his glorious beauty, that is on the head of the rich valley, will be as the first ripe fig before the summer, that, when someone sees it, while it is yet in his hand, he gulps it down.
5 In that day is Jehovah of Hosts For a crown of beauty, and for a diadem of glory, To the remnant of His people.
In that day Yahweh of hosts will become a beautiful crown and a diadem of beauty for the remainder of his people,
6 And for a spirit of judgment To him who is sitting in the judgment, And for might [to] those turning back the battle to the gate.
a spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment, and strength for those who turn back their enemies at their gates.
7 And even these through wine have erred, And through strong drink have wandered, Priest and prophet erred through strong drink, They have been swallowed up of the wine, They wandered because of the strong drink, They have erred in seeing, They have stumbled judicially.
But even these reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink. The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, and they are swallowed up by wine. They stagger with strong drink, staggering in vision and reeling in decision.
8 For all tables have been full of vomit, Filth — without place!
Truly, all tables are covered with vomit, so that there is no clean place.
9 By whom doth He teach knowledge? And by whom doth He cause to understand the report? The weaned from milk, the removed from breasts,
To whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? To those who are weaned from milk or to those just taken from the breasts?
10 For rule [is] on rule, rule on rule, line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,
For it is command upon command, command upon command; rule upon rule, rule upon rule; here a little, there a little.
11 For by scorned lip, and by another tongue, Doth He speak unto this people.
Indeed, with mocking lips and a foreign tongue he will speak to this people.
12 Unto whom He hath said, 'This [is] the rest, give ye rest to the weary, And this — the refreshing:' And they have not been willing to hear,
In the past he said to them “This is the rest, give rest to him who is weary; and this is the refreshing,” but they would not listen.
13 And to whom a word of Jehovah hath been, Rule on rule, rule on rule, line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there, So that they go and have stumbled backward, And been broken, and snared, and captured.
So the word of Yahweh will be to them command upon command, command upon command; rule upon rule, rule upon rule; here a little, there a little; so that they may go and fall backward, and be broken, ensnared, and captured.
14 Therefore, hear a word of Jehovah, ye men of scorning, Ruling this people that [is] in Jerusalem.
So listen to the word of Yahweh, you who mock, you who rule over this people who are in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said: 'We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a provision, An overflowing scourge, when it passeth over, Doth not meet us, Though we have made a lie our refuge, And in falsehood have been hidden.' (Sheol h7585)
This will happen because you said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have reached an agreement. So when the overwhelming whip passes through, it will not reach us. For we have made a lie our refuge, and taken shelter in falsehood.” (Sheol h7585)
16 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: 'Lo, I am laying a foundation in Zion, A stone — a tried stone, a corner stone precious, a settled foundation, He who is believing doth not make haste.
Therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “See, I will lay in Zion a foundation stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He who believes will not be ashamed.
17 And I have put judgment for a line, And righteousness for a plummet, And sweep away doth hail the refuge of lies, And the secret hiding-place do waters overflow.
I will make justice the measuring stick, and righteousness the plumbline. Hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.
18 And disannulled hath been your covenant with death, And your provision with Sheol doth not stand, An overflowing scourge, when it passeth over, Then ye have been to it for a treading-place. (Sheol h7585)
Your covenant with death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the raging flood passes through, you will be overwhelmed by it. (Sheol h7585)
19 From the fulness of its passing over it taketh you, For morning by morning it passeth over, By day and by night, And it hath been only a trembling to consider the report.
Whenever it passes through, it will overwhelm you, and morning by morning it will pass through and by day and night it will come. When the message is understood, it will cause terror.
20 For shorter hath been the bed Than to stretch one's self out in, And the covering hath been narrower Than to wrap one's self up in.
For the bed is too short for a man to stretch out on, and the blanket too narrow for him to wrap himself in.”
21 For as [at] mount Perazim rise doth Jehovah, As [at] the valley in Gibeon He is troubled, To do His work — strange [is] His work, And to do His deed — strange [is] His deed.'
Yahweh will rise up as on Mount Perazim; he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon to do his work, his strange work, and perform his strange deed.
22 And now, show not yourselves scorners, Lest strong be your bands, For a consumption, that is determined, I have heard, by the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, [Is] for all the land.
Now therefore do not mock, or your bonds will be tightened. I have heard from the Lord Yahweh of hosts, a decree of destruction on the earth.
23 Give ear, and hear my voice, Attend, and hear my saying:
Pay attention and listen to my voice; be attentive and listen to my words.
24 The whole day plougheth the ploughman to sow? He openeth and harroweth his ground!
Does a farmer who plows all day to sow, only plow the ground? Does he continually break up and harrow the field?
25 Hath he not, if he have made level its face, Then scattered fitches, and cummin sprinkle, And hath placed the principal wheat, And the appointed barley, And the rie [in] its own border?
When he has prepared the ground, does he not scatter caraway seed, sow the cumin, put in the wheat in rows and the barley in the right place, and the spelt at its edges?
26 And instruct him for judgment doth his God, He doth direct him.
His God instructs him; he teaches him wisely.
27 For not with a sharp-pointed thing threshed are fitches, And the wheel of a cart on cummin turned round, For with a staff beaten out are fitches, And cummin with a rod.
Moreover, the caraway seed is not threshed with a sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over the cumin; but caraway is beaten with a stick, and cumin with a rod.
28 Bread -[corn] is beaten small, For not for ever doth he sorely thresh it, Nor crushed [it] hath a wheel of his cart, Nor do his hoofs beat it small.
Grain is ground for bread but not too finely, and though the wheels of his cart and his horses scatter it, his horses do not crush it.
29 Even this from Jehovah of Hosts hath gone out, He hath made counsel wonderful, He hath made wisdom great!
This too comes from Yahweh of hosts, who is wonderful in instruction and excellent in wisdom.
