Isaiah 28

1 Alas! for the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, And for his fading wreath of majestic beauty, —Which is on the head of the fertile valley, of them who are overcome with wine.

Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, To the fading flower, his glorious beauty, At the head of the rich valley of a people stupefied with wine.

2 Lo! My Lord hath one who is, strong and bold, Like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, Like a storm of mighty waters overflowing, Hath he thrust it down to the earth with force:

Behold a strong, a mighty one from the Lord Like a storm of hail, like a destructive tempest, Like a flood of mighty, overflowing waters, With violence shall dash it to the ground.

3 With the feet shall be trodden down, the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,

It shall be trodden under foot, The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim.

4 So shall his fading wreath of majestic beauty, Which is on the head of the fertile valley, become—Like the first-ripe fig before fruit-harvest, Which when he that looketh upon it seeth while it is yet in his hand, he swalloweth it up.

And the fading flower, their glorious beauty, At the head of the rich valley, Shall be as the early fig before the time of harvest, Which whoso seeth plucketh immediately, And swalloweth as soon as it is in his hand.

5 In that day, will Yahweh of hosts become A crown of beauty, and A diadem of majesty, —Unto the remnant of his people:

In that day shall Jehovah of hosts Be a glorious crown, and a beautiful diadem to the residue of his people;

6 Even a spirit of justice—to him that presideth over justice, And strength to them who would turn back the battle at the gate.

A spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, And of strength to them that drive back the enemy to their gates.

7 But as for these, With wine, do they reel, and With strong drink, do they stagger, —Priest and prophet, reel with strong drink They are swallowed up through wine They stagger through strong drink, They reel in prophetic vision, They totter in pronouncing judgment.

But even these stagger through wine, And reel through strong drink; The priest and the prophet stagger through strong drink; They are overpowered with wine; They stumble through strong drink; They reel in vision, They stagger in judgment.

8 For, all tables, are full of filthy vomit, —There is no place!

For all their tables are full of filthy vomit, So that there is no place clean.

9 Whom, would he teach knowledge? And, whom, would he cause to understand the message? Them who are weaned from the milk? taken from the breasts?

“Whom,” say they, “will he teach knowledge, And to whom will he impart instruction? To the weaned from the milk? To those just taken from the breast?

10 For it is—Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, —A little here a little there.

For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Command upon command, command upon command, A little here, and a little there.”

11 For, with a jabbering lip, and with an alien tongue, must he speak unto this people!

Yea, with stammering lips and a strange tongue He shall indeed speak to this people;

12 To whom he said—This, is the rest—give ye rest to the weary, and This, is the quietness, —But they were unwilling to hear.

He that said to them, “This is the way of rest, give rest to the weary; This is the way of safety”; But they would not hear.

13 So the word of Yahweh must be to them—Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, A little here, a little there, —That they may go and fall backward and be torn and snared and captured.

Then shall the word of Jehovah be indeed to them “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Command upon command, command upon command, A little here, and a little there,” So that they shall go on, and fall backwards, and be broken, And be snared and caught.

14 Wherefore, hear ye the word of Yahweh, Ye men who scoff, —Ye rulers of this people that is in Jerusalem.

Wherefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, Ye scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem!

15 Because ye have said—We have solemnised a covenant with death, And with hades, have we effected a vision, —The overflowing scourge when it sweepeth by, shall not reach unto us, For we have made lying our refuge. And in falsehood, have we hid ourselves, (Sheol h7585)

Since ye say, “We have entered into a covenant with death, And with the under-world have we made an agreement, The overflowing scourge, when it passeth through, shall not reach us; For we have made falsehood our refuge, And in deceit we have hidden ourselves.” (Sheol h7585)

16 Therefore, Thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh, Behold me! founding in Zion a stone, A stone of testing, The costly corner of a well-laid foundation, he that trusteth, shall not make haste!

Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I have laid in Zion as a foundation a stone, A tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation; He that trusteth shall not flee away.

17 But I will make—Justice the line, and Righteousness the plummet, —And the hail shall, sweep away, your refuge of lying, And your hiding-place, the waters shall overflow;

I will make justice a line, And righteousness a plummet, And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of falsehood, And the waters shall overwhelm its hiding-place;

18 So shall be wiped out your covenant with death, And your vision with hades, not stand, —When the overflowing scourge, sweepeth past, then shall ye be thereby beaten down: (Sheol h7585)

And your covenant with death shall be broken, And your agreement with the under-world shall not stand; When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, By it shall ye be beaten down. (Sheol h7585)

19 As often as it sweepeth past, it shall take you away, For morning by morning, shall it pass along. By day and by night, —And it shall be nothing less than a terror to make out the message;

As often as it passeth through, it shall bear you away; For every morning shall it pass through, By day and by night; Even to hear the rumor of it shall be terrible.

20 For too short is the couch to stretch oneself out, —And, the coverlet, too narrow, when one draweth up his feet.

Yea, the bed is too short for one to stretch himself on it, And the covering too narrow for one to wrap himself in it.

21 For as in Mount Perazim, will Yahweh, arise, As in the vale of Gibeon, will he be stirred, —To do his work—foreign is his work, And to perform his task—strange is his task.

For Jehovah will rise up, as in mount Perazim; He will be moved with anger, as in the valley of Gibeon, To perform his act, his strange act, And to execute his work, his strange work.

22 Now, therefore do not show yourselves scoffers, Lest your fetters, be bound fast, —For, of a full end, and that a decreed one, have I heard from My Lord, Yahweh of hosts upon all the land

Now, therefore, be ye no longer scoffers, Lest your bands become stronger; For destruction and punishment have been revealed to me From Jehovah of hosts concerning the whole land!

23 Give ear, and hear ye my voice, —Hearken, and hear ye my speech: —

Give ear, and listen to my voice, Attend, and hearken to my words!

24 All day long, doth the plowman plow for sowing? Doth he continue laying open and harrowing his soil?

Is the ploughman always ploughing in order to sow? Is he always opening and harrowing his field?

25 Doth he not when he hath levelled the face thereof, Cast abroad the fennel? And, the cummin, doth he not scatter? And plant wheat in rows, And barley in a lot, And spelt in the border thereof?

When he hath made the face thereof even, Doth he not then scatter the dill, and cast abroad the cumin, And sow the wheat in rows, And the barley in its appointed place, And the spelt in his border?

26 Yea One hath trained him to good judgment, His God, directeth him.

Thus his God rightly instructeth him, And giveth him knowledge.

27 For not with a sledge, must, black coriander be threshed, Nor must, the wheel of a cart, on cummin, be turned, But with a staff, must fennel be beaten, And cummin with a rod:

The dill is not beaten out with the thrashing-sledge, Nor is the wheel of the wain rolled over the cumin; But the dill is beaten out with a staff, And the cumin with a rod.

28 Bread-corn, must be crushed, —Yet would he not be evermore, threshing, it, So he hasteneth over it the wheel of his cart, with his horsemen, He crusheth it not!

Bread-corn is beaten out, Yet doth not the husbandman thrash it without limit. He driveth over it the wheels of the wain, And the horses, yet doth he not utterly crush it.

29 Even this, from Yahweh of hosts, cometh forth, —Who hath bestowed distinction upon counsel, And magnified sound wisdom.

This also proceedeth from Jehovah of hosts; He is wonderful in counsel, Excellent in wisdom.