Isaiah 28
1 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!
Woe to the crown of pride, the hirelings of Ephraim, the flower that has fallen from the glory of the top of the fertile mountain, they that are drunken without wine.
2 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.
Behold, the anger of the Lord is strong and severe, as descending hail where there is no shelter, violently descending; as a great body of water sweeping away the soil, he shall make rest for the land.
3 The proud garland of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trodden underfoot.
The crown of pride, the hirelings of Ephraim, shall be beaten down with the hands and with the feet.
4 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.
And the fading flower of the glorious hope on the top of the high mountain shall be as the early fig; he that sees it, before he takes it into his hand, will desire to swallow it down.
5 In that day Yahweh of hosts will become a beautiful crown and a diadem of beauty for the remainder of his people,
In that day the Lord of hosts shall be the crown of hope, the woven [crown] of glory, to the remnant of the people.
6 a spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment, and strength for those who turn back their enemies at their gates.
They shall be left in the spirit of judgment for judgment, and for the strength of them that hinder slaying.
7 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.
For these have trespassed through wine; they have erred through strong drink: the priest and the prophet are mad through strong drink, they are swallowed up by reason of wine, they have staggered through drunkenness; they have erred: this is [their] vision.
8 Truly, all tables are covered with vomit, so that there is no clean place.
A curse shall devour this counsel, for this [is their] counsel for the sake of covetousness.
9 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?
To whom have we reported evils? and to whom have we reported a message? [even to those] that are weaned from the milk, who are drawn from the breast.
10 For it is command upon command, command upon command; rule upon rule, rule upon rule; here a little, there a little.
Expect thou affliction on affliction, hope upon hope: yet a little, [and] yet a little,
11 Indeed, with mocking lips and a foreign tongue he will speak to this people.
by reason of the contemptuous [words] of the lips, by means of another language: for they shall speak to this people, saying to them,
12 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.
This is the rest to him that is hungry, and this is the calamity: but they would not hear.
13 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.
Therefore the oracle of God shall be to them affliction on affliction, hope on hope, yet a little, [and] yet a little, that they may go and fall backward; and they shall be crushed and shall be in danger, and shall be taken.
14 So listen to the word of Yahweh, you who mock, you who rule over this people who are in Jerusalem.
Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord, ye afflicted men, and ye princes of this people that is in Jerusalem.
15 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)
Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with Hades, and agreements with death; if the rushing storm should pass, it shall not come upon us: we have made falsehood our hope, and by falsehood shall we be protected: (Sheol h7585)
16 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.
Therefore thus saith the Lord, [even] the Lord, Behold, I lay for the foundations of Sion a costly stone, a choice, a corner-stone, a precious [stone], for its foundations; and he that believes [on him] shall by no means be ashamed.
17 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.
And I will cause judgment [to be] for hope, and my compassion shall be for [just] measures, and ye that trust vainly in falsehood [shall fall]: for the storm shall by no means pass by you,
18 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)
except it also take away your covenant of death, and your trust in Hades shall by no means stand: if the rushing storm should come upon you, ye shall be beaten down by it. (Sheol h7585)
19 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.
Whenever it shall pass by, it shall take you; morning by morning it shall pass by in the day, and in the night there shall be an evil hope. Learn to hear,
20 For the bed is too short for a man to stretch out on, and the blanket too narrow for him to wrap himself in.”
ye that are distressed; we cannot fight, but we are ourselves too weak for you to be gathered.
21 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.
The Lord shall rise up as a mountain of ungodly [men], and shall be in the valley of Gabaon; he shall perform his works with wrath, [even] a work of bitterness, and his wrath shall deal strangely, and his destruction shall be strange.
22 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.
Therefore do not ye rejoice, neither let your bands be made strong; for I have heard of works finished and cut short by the Lord of hosts, which he will execute upon all the earth.
23 Pay attention and listen to my voice; be attentive and listen to my words.
Hearken, and hear my voice; attend, and hear my words.
24 Does a farmer who plows all day to sow, only plow the ground? Does he continually break up and harrow the field?
Will the ploughman plough all the day? or will he prepare the seed beforehand, before he tills the ground?
25 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?
Does he not, when he has levelled the surface thereof, then sow the small black poppy, or cumin, and afterward sow wheat, and barley, and millet, and bread-corn in thy borders?
26 His God instructs him; he teaches him wisely.
So thou shalt be chastened by the judgment of thy God, and shalt rejoice.
27 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.
For the black poppy is not cleansed with harsh treatment, nor will a wagon-wheel pass over the cumin; but the black poppy is threshed with a rod, and the cumin shall be eaten with bread;
28 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.
for I will not be wroth with you for ever, neither shall the voice of my anger crush you.
29 This too comes from Yahweh of hosts, who is wonderful in instruction and excellent in wisdom.
And these signs came forth from the Lord of hosts. Take counsel, exalt vain comfort.
