Isaiah 27-28
New American Standard Bible
God’s Blessings for Israel
27 On that day (A)the Lord will punish [a](B)Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
With His fierce and great and mighty sword,
Even [b]Leviathan the twisted serpent;
And (C)He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.
2 On that day,
“A [c](D)vineyard of beauty, sing of it!
3 I, the Lord, am its keeper;
(E)I water it every moment.
So that no one will [d]damage it,
I (F)guard it night and day.
4 I have no wrath.
Should [e]someone give Me (G)briars and thorns in battle,
Then I would step on them, (H)I would burn them [f]completely.
5 Or let him [g](I)rely on My protection,
Let him make peace with Me,
Let him (J)make peace with Me.”
6 [h]In the days to come Jacob (K)will take root,
Israel will (L)blossom and sprout,
And they will fill the [i]whole world with (M)fruit.
7 Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has (N)He struck them?
Or like the slaughter of His slain, [j]have they been slain?
8 You contended with them [k]by banishing them, by (O)driving them away.
With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the day of the (P)east wind.
9 Therefore through this Jacob’s wrongdoing will be (Q)forgiven;
And this will be [l]the full price of the [m](R)pardoning of his sin:
When he makes all the (S)altar stones like pulverized chalk stones;
When [n]Asherim and incense altars will not stand.
10 For the fortified city is (T)isolated,
A [o]homestead deserted and abandoned like the desert;
(U)There the calf will graze,
And there it will lie down and [p]feed on its branches.
11 When its (V)limbs are dry, they are broken off;
Women come and make a fire with them,
For they are not a people of (W)discernment,
Therefore (X)their Maker (Y)will not have compassion on them.
And their Creator will not be gracious to them.
12 On that day the Lord (Z)will thresh from the flowing stream of the (AA)Euphrates River to the brook of Egypt, and you will be (AB)gathered up one by one, you sons of Israel. 13 It will come about also on that day that a great (AC)trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of (AD)Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and (AE)worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
Ephraim’s Captivity Predicted
28 Woe to the proud crown of the (AF)habitually drunk of (AG)Ephraim,
And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the [q]fertile valley
Of those who are [r]overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has a strong and (AH)mighty agent;
As a storm of (AI)hail, a tempest of destruction,
Like a storm of (AJ)mighty overflowing waters,
He has thrown it down to the earth with His hand.
3 The splendid crown of the habitually drunk of Ephraim is (AK)trampled underfoot.
4 And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the [s]fertile valley,
Will be like the (AL)first-ripe fig prior to the summer,
Which [t]one sees,
And [u]as soon as it is in his [v]hand,
He swallows it.
5 On that day the (AM)Lord of armies will become a beautiful (AN)crown
And a glorious wreath to the remnant of His people;
6 A (AO)spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment,
A (AP)strength to those who repel the [w]onslaught at the gate.
7 And these also (AQ)reel with wine and stagger from intoxicating drink:
(AR)The priest and (AS)the prophet reel with intoxicating drink,
They are confused by wine, they stagger from (AT)intoxicating drink;
They reel while [x]having (AU)visions,
They stagger when rendering a verdict.
8 For all the tables are full of filthy (AV)vomit, without a single clean place.
9 “To (AW)whom would He teach knowledge,
And to whom would He interpret the message?
Those just (AX)weaned from milk?
Those just taken from the breast?
10 For He says,
‘[y](AY)Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there.’”
11 Indeed, He will speak to this people
Through (AZ)stammering lips and a foreign tongue,
12 He who said to them, “This is the (BA)place of quiet, give rest to the weary,”
And, “This is the resting place,” but they would not listen.
13 So the word of the Lord to them will be,
“[z]Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there,”
That they may go and (BB)stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.
Judah Is Warned
14 Therefore, (BC)hear the word of the Lord, you (BD)scoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a (BE)covenant with death,
And with [aa]Sheol we have made a [ab]pact.
(BF)The [ac]gushing flood will not reach us when it passes by,
Because we have made (BG)falsehood our refuge and we have (BH)concealed ourselves with deception.”
16 Therefore this is what the Lord [ad]God says:
“(BI)Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion, a tested (BJ)stone,
A precious cornerstone for the foundation, [ae]firmly placed.
The one who believes in it will not be [af]disturbed.
17 I will make (BK)justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then (BL)hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18 Your (BM)covenant with death will be [ag](BN)canceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the (BO)[ah]gushing flood passes through,
Then you will become its (BP)trampling ground.
19 As (BQ)often as it passes through, it will [ai]seize you;
For (BR)morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,
And it will be [aj]sheer (BS)terror to understand [ak]what it means.”
20 The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the (BT)blanket is too [al]small to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lord will rise up as at Mount (BU)Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the Valley of (BV)Gibeon,
To do His (BW)task, His [am](BX)unusual task,
And to work His work, His [an]extraordinary work.
22 And now do not carry on as (BY)scoffers,
Or your shackles will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord [ao]God of armies
Of decisive (BZ)destruction on all the earth.
23 Listen and hear my voice,
Pay attention and hear my words.
24 Does the [ap]farmer plow [aq]continually to plant seed?
Does he continually [ar]turn and break up his ground?
25 Does he not level its surface
And sow dill and scatter (CA)cumin
And [as]plant (CB)wheat in rows,
Barley in its place and rye within its [at]area?
26 For his God instructs and teaches him properly.
27 For dill is not threshed with a (CC)threshing sledge,
Nor is the cartwheel [au]driven over cumin;
But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a club.
28 Grain for bread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually [av]damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.
29 This also comes from the Lord of armies,
Who has made His counsel (CD)wonderful and His wisdom (CE)great.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 27:1 Or sea monster
- Isaiah 27:1 Or sea monster
- Isaiah 27:2 Some mss a vineyard of wine
- Isaiah 27:3 Lit punish
- Isaiah 27:4 Lit who
- Isaiah 27:4 Lit altogether
- Isaiah 27:5 Lit take hold of
- Isaiah 27:6 Lit Those coming
- Isaiah 27:6 Lit face of the world
- Isaiah 27:7 Lit he was slain
- Isaiah 27:8 Some ancient versions by exact measure
- Isaiah 27:9 Lit all the fruit
- Isaiah 27:9 Lit removing
- Isaiah 27:9 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
- Isaiah 27:10 Lit pasture
- Isaiah 27:10 Lit consume
- Isaiah 28:1 Lit valley of fatness
- Isaiah 28:1 Lit stricken
- Isaiah 28:4 Lit valley of fatness
- Isaiah 28:4 Lit the one seeing sees
- Isaiah 28:4 Lit while it is yet
- Isaiah 28:4 Lit palm
- Isaiah 28:6 Lit battle
- Isaiah 28:7 Lit seeing
- Isaiah 28:10 Heb Sav lasav, sav lasav, Kav lakav, kav lakav, Zeer sham, zeer sham. These Hebrew fragments, imitating the babbling of a child, mock the prophet’s preaching.
- Isaiah 28:13 See note v 10. The Lord responds to their scoffing by imitating their mockery, to represent the unintelligible language of a conqueror.
- Isaiah 28:15 I.e., the netherworld
- Isaiah 28:15 As in some ancient versions; MT seer
- Isaiah 28:15 Or overwhelming scourge
- Isaiah 28:16 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Isaiah 28:16 Lit well-laid
- Isaiah 28:16 Lit in a hurry
- Isaiah 28:18 Lit covered over
- Isaiah 28:18 Or overwhelming scourge
- Isaiah 28:19 Lit take
- Isaiah 28:19 Lit only
- Isaiah 28:19 Lit the report; or the message
- Isaiah 28:20 Lit narrow
- Isaiah 28:21 Lit task is strange
- Isaiah 28:21 Lit work is foreign
- Isaiah 28:22 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Isaiah 28:24 Lit plowman
- Isaiah 28:24 Lit all day
- Isaiah 28:24 Lit open
- Isaiah 28:25 Lit put
- Isaiah 28:25 Lit region
- Isaiah 28:27 Lit rolled
- Isaiah 28:28 Lit discomfit
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