Isaiah 28
28
Ephraim Will Fall
1How horrible it will be for the arrogant drunks of Ephraim.
Their glorious beauty is ⌞like⌟ a withered flower.
They are at the entrance to a fertile valley
where they lie drunk from wine.
2The Lord has one who is strong and powerful.
He is like a hailstorm, a destructive wind.
He is like a thunderstorm, an overwhelming flood.
He will throw them to the ground forcefully.
3The arrogant drunks of Ephraim will be trampled underfoot.
4Their glorious beauty is ⌞like⌟ a withered flower.
They are at the entrance to a fertile valley.
They will be like figs that ripened early.
As soon as someone sees them,
they will be taken and eaten.
5When that day comes, the Lord of Armies will be
like a glorious crown for his few remaining people.
6He will give a spirit of justice to those who judge.
He will give strength to those who defend the city gates in battle.
7Priests and prophets stagger from wine and wobble from too much liquor.
They stagger from too much liquor
and become confused from too much wine.
They wobble because of their liquor.
They stagger when they see visions.
They swerve as they judge.
8All the tables are covered with vomit and excrement.
There isn’t a clean place left.
9To whom will they make the message understood?
To whom will they explain this message?
To children just weaned from milk?
To those just taken from their ⌞mother’s⌟ breasts?
10They speak utter nonsense.#28:10 Or “Command for command, command for command, line for line, line for line, a little here, a little there.” Also in verse 13.
11The Lord will speak to these people.
He will mock them by speaking in a foreign language.
12He will say to them,
“This is a place for comfort.
This is a place of rest for those who are tired.
This is a place for them to rest.”
But they weren’t willing to listen.
13The Lord speaks utter nonsense to them.
That is why they will fall backwards.
That is why they will be hurt, trapped, and captured.
A Message to Jerusalem
14So hear the Lord’s word, you foolish talkers
who rule the people in Jerusalem.
15You say, “We made a treaty with death
and an agreement with the grave.
When the overwhelming disaster passes by,
it won’t matter to us,
because we have taken refuge in our lies,
and falsehood is our hiding place.”
16This is what the Almighty Lord says:
I am going to lay a rock in Zion,
a rock that has been tested,
a precious cornerstone,
a solid foundation.
Whoever believes ⌞in him⌟ will not worry.
17I will make justice a measuring line
and righteousness a plumb line.
Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies,
and floodwaters will wash away your hiding place.
18Your treaty with death will be wiped away.
Your agreement with the grave will not stand.
When the overwhelming disaster passes by,
you will be trampled by it.
19Each time it passes by it will take you.
It will pass by morning after morning,
during the day and during the night.
Understanding this message brings only terror.
20The bed is too short to stretch out on.
The blanket is too narrow to serve as a cover.
21The Lord will rise as he did on Mount Perazim.
He will wake up as he did in Gibeon Valley.
He will do his work, his unexpected work,
and perform his deeds, his mysterious deeds.
22Now stop laughing, or your chains will be tightened,
because I have heard that the Almighty Lord of Armies
has finally determined to destroy the whole land.
23Open your ears, and listen to me!
Pay attention, and hear me!
24Does a farmer go on plowing every day so he can plant?
Does he continue to break up the soil and make furrows in the ground?
25When he has smoothed its surface,
doesn’t he scatter black cumin seed and plant cumin?
Doesn’t he plant wild wheat in rows?
Doesn’t he put barley in its own area
and winter wheat at its borders?
26God will guide him in judgment,
and his God will teach him.
27Black cumin isn’t threshed #28:27 Threshing is the process of beating stalks to separate them from the grain. with a sledge,
and wagon wheels aren’t rolled over cumin.
Black cumin is beaten with a rod
and cumin with a stick.
28Grain is ground into flour, but the grinding eventually stops.
It will be threshed.
The wheels of his cart will roll over it,
but his horses won’t crush it.
29All of this has come from the Lord of Armies.
His counsel is wonderful, and his wisdom is great.
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Isaiah 28: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 28
28
Woe to Ephraim and Jerusalem
1Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim,
Whose glorious beauty is a fading flower
Which is at the head of the verdant valleys,
To those who are overcome with wine!
2Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one,
#Is. 30:30; Ezek. 13:11Like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm,
Like a flood of mighty waters overflowing,
Who will bring them down to the earth with His hand.
3The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim,
Will be trampled underfoot;
4And the glorious beauty is a fading flower
Which is at the head of the verdant valley,
Like the first fruit before the summer,
Which an observer sees;
He eats it up while it is still in his hand.
5In that day the Lord of hosts will be
For a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty
To the remnant of His people,
6For a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
And for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7But they also #Prov. 20:1; Is. 5:11, 22; Hos. 4:11have erred through wine,
And through intoxicating drink are out of the way;
#Is. 56:10, 12The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink,
They are swallowed up by wine,
They are out of the way through intoxicating drink;
They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
8For all tables are full of vomit and filth;
No place is clean.
9“Whom#Jer. 6:10 will he teach knowledge?
And whom will he make to understand the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just drawn from the breasts?
10#(2 Chr. 36:15; Neh. 9:30; Jer. 25:3, 4; 35:15; 44:4)For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little.”
11For with #Is. 33:19; 1 Cor. 14:21stammering lips and another tongue
He will speak to this people,
12To whom He said, “This is the #Is. 30:15; Jer. 6:16; (Matt. 11:28, 29)rest with which
You may cause the weary to rest,”
And, “This is the refreshing”;
Yet they would not hear.
13But the word of the Lord was to them,
“Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little,”
That they might go and fall backward, and be broken
And snared and caught.
14Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we are in agreement.
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
It will not come to us,
#Is. 9:15; Ezek. 13:22; Amos 2:4For we have made lies our refuge,
And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”
A Cornerstone in Zion
16Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I lay in Zion #Gen. 49:24; Ps. 118:22; Is. 8:14, 15; Matt. 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; Rom. 9:33; 10:11; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:6–8a stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.
17Also I will make justice the measuring line,
And righteousness the plummet;
The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters will overflow the hiding place.
18Your covenant with death will be annulled,
And your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
Then you will be trampled down by it.
19As often as it goes out it will take you;
For morning by morning it will pass over,
And by day and by night;
It will be a terror just to understand the report.”
20For the bed is too short to stretch out on,
And the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it.
21For the Lord will rise up as at Mount #2 Sam. 5:20; 1 Chr. 14:11Perazim,
He will be angry as in the Valley of #Josh. 10:10, 12; 2 Sam. 5:25; 1 Chr. 14:16Gibeon—
That He may do His work, #(Lam. 3:33; Luke 19:41–44)His awesome work,
And bring to pass His act, His unusual act.
22Now therefore, do not be mockers,
Lest your bonds be made strong;
For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts,
#Is. 10:22; Dan. 9:27A destruction determined even upon the whole earth.
Listen to the Teaching of God
23Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my speech.
24Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow?
Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods?
25When he has leveled its surface,
Does he not sow the black cummin
And scatter the cummin,
Plant the wheat in rows,
The barley in the appointed place,
And the spelt in its place?
26For He instructs him in right judgment,
His God teaches him.
27For the black cummin is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
Nor is a cartwheel rolled over the cummin;
But the black cummin is beaten out with a stick,
And the cummin with a rod.
28Bread flour must be ground;
Therefore he does not thresh it forever,
Break it with his cartwheel,
Or crush it with his horsemen.
29This also comes from the Lord of hosts,
#Ps. 92:5; Is. 9:6; Jer. 32:19Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance.
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.