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Yesha 'yahu (Isa) 28

28
1Woe to the haughty crown of Efrayim’s drunks,
to the fading flower of its proud splendor,
located at the head of the rich valley
belonging to people overcome by wine!
2Adonai has someone strong and powerful.
He comes like a hailstorm, a destructive tempest,
like a flood of water, rushing, overwhelming;
with his hand he hurls them to the ground.
3The haughty crown of Efrayim’s drunks
is trampled underfoot;
4and the fading flower of its proud splendor,
located at the head of the rich valley,
is like the first ripe fig of summer —
whoever sees it picks and eats it.
5On that day, Adonai-Tzva’ot
will be a glorious crown,
a brilliant diadem
for the remnant of his people.
6He will also be a spirit of justice
for whoever sits as a judge,
and a source of strength for those
repelling enemy attacks at the gate.
7But there are others reeling from wine,
staggering about because of strong liquor;
cohen and prophet reel from strong liquor,
they are confused by wine.
Led astray by strong liquor,
they err in their visions and stumble when judging.
8All tables are covered with vomit and feces,
not a single place is clean.
9Can no one be taught anything?
Can no one understand the message?
Must one teach barely weaned toddlers,
babies just taken from the breast,
10so that [one has to use nursery rhymes]? —
Tzav la-tzav, tzav la-tzav,
kav la-kav, kav la-kav
z‘eir sham, z‘eir sham
[Precept by precept, precept by precept,
line by line, line by line,
a little here, a little there].
11So with stammering lips, in a foreign accent,
[Adonai] will speak to this people.
12He once told this people, “It’s time to rest,
the exhausted can rest, now you can relax” —
but they wouldn’t listen.
13So now the word of Adonai for them comes
“precept by precept, precept by precept,
line by line, line by line,
a little here, a little there,”
so that when they walk, they stumble backward,
and are broken, trapped and captured!
14So listen to the word of Adonai, you scoffers,
composing taunts for this people in Yerushalayim:
15Because you said, “We made a covenant with death,
we made a contract with Sh’ol.
When the raging flood passes through,
it will not touch us.
For we have made lies our refuge
and hid ourselves in falsehoods” —
16therefore here is what Adonai Elohim says:
“Look, I am laying in Tziyon
a tested stone, a costly cornerstone,
a firm foundation-stone;
he who trusts will not rush here and there.
17I will make justice the plumbline
and righteousness the plumb-bob;
hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
water will overflow the hiding place,
18your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your contract with Sh’ol will not stand.
When the raging flood passes through,
you will be trampled down by it.
19As often as it passes through, it will take you,
for it will pass through every morning,
day after day, night after night;
understanding the message will be sheer terror.”
20For, [as the saying goes,]
“The bed is too short for a person to stretch,
and the blanket too narrow [to protect him from cold]
even if he crams himself in.”
21For Adonai will arise, as at Mount P’ratzim,
and storm with rage, as in the Giv‘on Valley;
so he can do his deed, his strange deed,
and perform his task, his alien task.
22Therefore, now, stop your scoffing,
or your bonds will be further tightened;
for I have heard from Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot
that destruction is decreed for the whole land.
23Listen and hear my voice;
pay attention, and hear what I say:
24Does a farmer sowing keep plowing forever?
Does he never stop breaking up and harrowing his land?
25No — when he finishes levelling it,
he scatters his dill-seed, sows his cumin,
puts wheat in rows, barley where it belongs,
and plants buckwheat around the edges;
26because his God has taught him this,
has given him instruction.
27Dill must not be threshed with a sledge
or cartwheels driven over cumin;
rather, dill one beats with a stick
and cumin with a flail.
28When crushing grain for bread,
one doesn’t thresh it forever;
one drives the horse and cart wheels over it
but doesn’t crush it to powder.
29This too comes from Adonai-Tzva’ot —
his counsel is wonderful, his wisdom great.

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Yesha 'yahu (Isa) 28: CJB

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