Isaiah 28:11-19

English Standard Version

¹¹^(A)For by people of strange lips
    and with a foreign tongue
the Lord will speak to this people,
¹²    to whom he has said,
^(B)“This is rest;
    give rest to the weary;
and this is repose”;
    yet they would not hear.
¹³And the word of the Lord will be to them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
    line upon line, line upon line,
    here a little, there a little,
^(C)that they may go, and fall backward,
    and be broken, and snared, and taken.

A Cornerstone in Zion

¹⁴Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you ^(D)scoffers,
    who rule this people in Jerusalem!
¹⁵Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
    and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the ^(E)overwhelming whip passes through
    it will not come to us,
for we have made ^(F)lies our refuge,
    and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
¹⁶therefore thus says the Lord God,
^(G)“Behold, I am the one who has laid^[a] as a foundation ^(H)in Zion,
    a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
    ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
¹⁷And I will make justice ^(I)the line,
    and righteousness ^(J)the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
    and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
¹⁸Then ^(K)your covenant with death will be annulled,
    and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
    you will be beaten down by it.
¹⁹As often as it passes through it will take you;
    ^(L)for morning by morning it will pass through,
    by day and by night;
and it will be ^(M)sheer terror to understand the message.