Isaiah 28

1 Terrible things will happen to [Samaria city, the capital of Israel]! It is on a hill above a fertile valley; the people who live there, who get drunk by drinking too much wine, are very proud; it is a beautiful and glorious city, but some day that beauty will disappear like [MET] a flower that wilts and dries up.

Ho! crown of pride of those who are given up to wine in Ephraim, and the dead flower of his glory which is on the head of those who are overcome by strong drink!

2 Listen to this: Yahweh will cause a great army to attack Samaria. Their soldiers will be like [SIM] a huge hailstorm [or] a very strong wind; they will be everywhere, like the water of a huge flood, and they will smash to the ground [the buildings in Samaria].

See, the Lord has a strong and cruel one; like a rain of ice, a storm of destruction, like the overflowing of a strong river, he will violently overcome them.

3 The people of Samaria are proud, but everything that the drunks who live there think is wonderful/glorious will be trampled on by their enemies.

The crown of pride of those who are given up to wine in Ephraim will be crushed under foot;

4 [Yes], Samaria is beautiful, set on a hill above a fertile valley, but that beauty will disappear like [MET] a flower that wilts and dries up. Whenever someone sees a good fig at the beginning of the season [when figs become ripe], he quickly picks and eats it; [similarly, when the enemies of Israel see all the beautiful things in Samaria], [they will quickly conquer the city and take away all those things].

And the dead flower of his glory, which is on the head of the fertile valley, will be like the first early fruit before the summer; which a man takes and puts in his mouth the minute he sees it.

5 At that time, the Commander of the armies of angels will be [like] a glorious wreath of flowers for [us] Israeli people who are still alive [after being exiled].

In that day will the Lord of armies be a crown of glory, and a fair ornament, to the rest of his people;

6 He will cause our judges to want to do what is fair/just when they decide people’s cases. He will enable the soldiers who stand at the city gates to strongly defend [the city when our enemies attack it].

And a spirit of wisdom to the judge, and strength to those who keep back the attackers at the door of the town.

7 [But now, ] our leaders stagger/stumble because they have drunk a lot of wine and [other] alcoholic drinks. The priests and prophets also stagger because of drinking a lot of wine and other alcoholic drinks. They are not able to think right; they see visions but they cannot understand what they mean; they are unable to decide things correctly.

And further, these are uncertain through wine, and have gone out of the right way through strong drink: the priest and the prophet are uncertain through strong drink, they are overcome by wine, they have gone out of the way through strong drink; their vision is false, they go wrong in their decisions.

8 All their tables are covered with [their] vomit; filth is everywhere.

For all the tables are covered with coughed-up food, so that there is not a clean place.

9 They ridicule Yahweh saying, “Who does he think that he is teaching? Why is he talking to us like this? [Does he think that] we are little children who have recently been weaned?

To whom will he give knowledge? and to whom will he make clear the word? Will it be to those who have newly given up milk, and who have only now been taken from the breast?

10 [He continually tells us], ‘Do this, do that;’ first he tells us one rule, then another rule, he tells us only one line at a time.”

For it is one rule after another; one line after another; here a little, there a little.

11 So now, Yahweh will need to force them to listen to [Assyrians] speaking to them in a language that they do not understand.

No, but with broken talk, and with a strange tongue, he will give his word to this people:

12 Yahweh told his people [long ago], “[This is] a place where you can rest; you are exhausted [from all your travels through the desert], but you will be able to rest [in this land].” But they refused to pay attention to what he said.

To whom he said, This is the rest, give rest to him who is tired; and by this you may get new strength; but they would not give ear.

13 So Yahweh continues to tell the people of Samaria, one line at a time, “Do this, do that,” first one rule and then another rule. But because [of their ignoring what God said], they will be attacked and defeated; they will be wounded and snared and captured.

For this cause the word of the Lord will be to them rule after rule, line after line, here a little, there a little; so that they may go on their way, and falling back may be broken, and taken in the net.

14 Because of [what will happen in Samaria], you rulers in Jerusalem who make fun of me, listen to this message from Yahweh:

Give ear then to the word of the Lord, you men of pride, the rulers of this people in Jerusalem:

15 You [boast] saying, “We have made an alliance with [the leaders of Egypt], so we will not be killed [in battles]; we will never go to the place where the dead people are. When the [army of Assyria] attacks us, they will never defeat us, because we have made [an agreement with Egypt] to protect us!” [But that agreement consists of] a lot of lies [DOU]. (Sheol h7585)

Because you have said, We have made death our friend, and with the underworld we have made an agreement; when the overflowing waters come through they will not come near us; for we are looking to false words for help, taking cover in what is untrue: (Sheol h7585)

16 Therefore, Yahweh [our] Lord says this: “Listen to this! I am going to place in Jerusalem [someone who is like] [MET] a foundation stone, [he is like] a stone that has been tested [to determine if it is solid]. [He will be like] a valuable cornerstone around which it will be safe to build a house; and whoever trusts in him will never be disappointed.

For this cause says the Lord God, See, I am placing in Zion as a base, a stone, a tested stone, an angle-stone which is certain and of great value: and he who has faith will not give way.

17 I will test you [people of Jerusalem] to find out if you will act justly and righteously [like] [MET] someone uses a plumb line [to determine if a wall is straight and vertical]. But because your agreement [with Egypt] to protect you [was made by leaders] lying to each other and deceiving each other, you will be defeated and taken away [from your country] by [an army that will come against you like] [MET] a flood.

And I will make right decision the measuring-line, and righteousness the weight: and the ice-storm will take away the safe place of false words, and the secret place will be covered by the flowing waters.

18 I will annul/destroy the agreement that you made [with the leaders of Egypt]. You thought that [because of that agreement] you would not be killed, and you would not go to the place where the dead are. [But] when the vast [army of Assyria] overwhelms you like a flood, they will trample you into the ground. (Sheol h7585)

And the help you were looking for from death will come to nothing, and your agreement with the underworld will be broken; when the overflowing waters come through, then you will be overcome by them. (Sheol h7585)

19 Their soldiers will come during the morning, at noontime, and at night, and they will carry you all away.” And when you understand this message, you will be terrified.

Whenever they come through they will overtake you; for they will come through morning after morning, by day and by night: and the news will be nothing but fear.

20 [You have heard people say], “Your bed is very short, you will not be able to sleep in it; your blankets are very narrow; they will not cover you!” [That means for you that your agreement with Egypt is not going to save you].

For the bed is not long enough for a man to be stretched out on: and the cover is not wide enough for him to be covered with.

21 Yahweh will come [and cause you to be defeated]; he will do to you like he did to the army of Philistia at Perizim Mountain and like he did to the Amor people-group at Gibeon Valley. What he will do will be [very] strange and unusual [DOU].

For the Lord will come up as on Mount Perazim, he will be moved to wrath as in the valley of Gibeon; so that he may do his work — strange is his work; and give effect to his act — unnatural is his act.

22 The Commander of the armies of angels has told me that he is going to destroy the entire land. So do not ridicule [what I say any more], because if you do that he will punish you [even] more severely.

And now, take care that you do not make sport of him, or your bands will be made strong; for I have had word from the Lord, the Lord of armies, of an end, of a complete end, which is to come on all the land.

23 Listen [IDM] to what I say; pay attention carefully.

Let your ears be open to my voice; give attention to what I say.

24 When a farmer plows some ground, does he never plant seeds [RHQ]? Does he continue to plow it and never plant anything [RHQ]?

Is the ploughman for ever ploughing? does he not get the earth ready and broken up for the seed?

25 No, he makes the ground very level, and then he plants seeds— dill and cumin and wheat and barley. He plants each kind of seed in the correct manner.

When the face of the earth has been levelled, does he not put in the different sorts of seed, and the grain in lines, and the barley in its place, and the spelt at the edge?

26 [He does that] because God has taught him the correct way to do it.

For his God is his teacher, giving him the knowledge of these things.

27 [Farmers] never thresh caraway/dill with a heavy sledge/club; instead, they beat it only with a stick. [Farmers] never thresh cumin by driving a cart over it; instead, they hit it [only] with a rod.

For the fitches are not crushed with a sharp instrument, and a cart-wheel is not rolled over the cummin; but the grain of the fitches is hammered out with a stick, and of the cummin with a rod.

28 And grain for baking bread is crushed easily, so the farmers do not continue to pound it for a long time. They sometimes cause their horses to pull a cart over it [to thresh it], [but] doing that does not grind the grain.

Is the grain for bread crushed? He does not go on crushing it for ever, but he lets his cart-wheels and his horses go over it without crushing it.

29 The Commander of the armies of angels gives [us] wonderful advice [about how to do things]; he causes [us] to be very wise. [So what the farmers do is very smart/wise, but what your leaders are doing is very stupid].

This comes from the Lord of armies, purposing wonders, and wise in all his acts.