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Isaiah 28-30
The Message
Isaiah 28-30
The Message
God Will Speak in Baby Talk
28 1-4 Doom to the pretentious drunks of Ephraim,
shabby and washed out and seedy—
Tipsy, sloppy-fat, beer-bellied parodies
of a proud and handsome past.
Watch closely: God has someone picked out,
someone tough and strong to flatten them.
Like a hailstorm, like a hurricane, like a flash flood,
one-handed he’ll throw them to the ground.
Samaria, the party hat on Israel’s head,
will be knocked off with one blow.
It will disappear quicker than
a piece of meat tossed to a dog.
5-6 At that time, God-of-the-Angel-Armies will be
the beautiful crown on the head of what’s left of his people:
Energy and insights of justice to those who guide and decide,
strength and prowess to those who guard and protect.
7-8 These also, the priest and prophet, stagger from drink,
weaving, falling-down drunks,
Besotted with wine and whiskey,
can’t see straight, can’t talk sense.
Every table is covered with vomit.
They live in vomit.
9-10 “Is that so? And who do you think you are to teach us?
Who are you to lord it over us?
We’re not babies in diapers
to be talked down to by such as you—
‘Da, da, da, da,
blah, blah, blah, blah.
That’s a good little girl,
that’s a good little boy.’”
11-12 But that’s exactly how you will be addressed.
God will speak to this people
In baby talk, one syllable at a time—
and he’ll do it through foreign oppressors.
He said before, “This is the time and place to rest,
to give rest to the weary.
This is the place to lay down your burden.”
But they won’t listen.
13 So God will start over with the simple basics
and address them in baby talk, one syllable at a time—
“Da, da, da, da,
blah, blah, blah, blah.
That’s a good little girl,
that’s a good little boy.”
And like toddlers, they will get up and fall down,
get bruised and confused and lost.
14-15 Now listen to God’s Message, you scoffers,
you who rule this people in Jerusalem.
You say, “We’ve taken out good life insurance.
We’ve hedged all our bets, covered all our bases.
No disaster can touch us. We’ve thought of everything.
We’re advised by the experts. We’re set.”
The Meaning of the Stone
16-17 But the Master, God, has something to say to this:
“Watch closely. I’m laying a foundation in Zion,
a solid granite foundation, squared and true.
And this is the meaning of the stone:
a trusting life won’t topple.
I’ll make justice the measuring stick
and righteousness the plumb line for the building.
A hailstorm will knock down the shantytown of lies,
and a flash flood will wash out the rubble.
18-22 “Then you’ll see that your precious life insurance policy
wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.
Your careful precautions against death
were a pack of illusions and lies.
When the disaster happens,
you’ll be crushed by it.
Every time disaster comes, you’ll be in on it—
disaster in the morning, disaster at night.”
Every report of disaster
will send you cowering in terror.
There will be no place where you can rest,
nothing to hide under.
God will rise to full stature,
raging as he did long ago on Mount Perazim
And in the valley of Gibeon against the Philistines.
But this time it’s against you.
Hard to believe, but true.
Not what you’d expect, but it’s coming.
Sober up, friends, and don’t scoff.
Scoffing will just make it worse.
I’ve heard the orders issued for destruction, orders from
God-of-the-Angel-Armies—ending up in an international disaster.
* * *
23-26 Listen to me now.
Give me your closest attention.
Do farmers plow and plow and do nothing but plow?
Or harrow and harrow and do nothing but harrow?
After they’ve prepared the ground, don’t they plant?
Don’t they scatter dill and spread cumin,
Plant wheat and barley in the fields
and raspberries along the borders?
They know exactly what to do and when to do it.
Their God is their teacher.
27-29 And at the harvest, the delicate herbs and spices,
the dill and cumin, are treated delicately.
On the other hand, wheat is threshed and milled, but still not endlessly.
The farmer knows how to treat each kind of grain.
He’s learned it all from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
who knows everything about when and how and where.
Blind Yourselves So That You See Nothing
29 1-4 Doom, Ariel, Ariel,
the city where David set camp!
Let the years add up,
let the festivals run their cycles,
But I’m not letting up on Jerusalem.
The moaning and groaning will continue.
Jerusalem to me is an Ariel.
Like David, I’ll set up camp against you.
I’ll set siege, build towers,
bring in siege engines, build siege ramps.
Driven into the ground, you’ll speak,
you’ll mumble words from the dirt—
Your voice from the ground, like the muttering of a ghost.
Your speech will whisper from the dust.
5-8 But it will be your enemies who are beaten to dust,
the mob of tyrants who will be blown away like chaff.
Because, surprise, as if out of nowhere,
a visit from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
With thunderclaps, earthquakes, and earsplitting noise,
backed up by hurricanes, tornadoes, and lightning strikes,
And the mob of enemies at war with Ariel,
all who trouble and hassle and torment her,
will turn out to be a bad dream, a nightmare.
Like a hungry man dreaming he’s eating steak
and wakes up hungry as ever,
Like a thirsty woman dreaming she’s drinking iced tea
and wakes up thirsty as ever,
So that mob of nations at war against Mount Zion
will wake up and find they haven’t shot an arrow,
haven’t killed a single soul.
9-10 Drug yourselves so you feel nothing.
Blind yourselves so you see nothing.
Get drunk, but not on wine.
Black out, but not from whiskey.
For God has rocked you into a deep, deep sleep,
put the discerning prophets to sleep,
put the farsighted seers to sleep.
You Have Everything Backward
11-12 What you’ve been shown here is somewhat like a letter in a sealed envelope. If you give it to someone who can read and tell her, “Read this,” she’ll say, “I can’t. The envelope is sealed.” And if you give it to someone who can’t read and tell him, “Read this,” he’ll say, “I can’t read.”
* * *
13-14 The Master said:
“These people make a big show of saying the right thing,
but their hearts aren’t in it.
Because they act like they’re worshiping me
but don’t mean it,
I’m going to step in and shock them awake,
astonish them, stand them on their ears.
The wise ones who had it all figured out
will be exposed as fools.
The smart people who thought they knew everything
will turn out to know nothing.”
15-16 Doom to you! You pretend to have the inside track.
You shut God out and work behind the scenes,
Plotting the future as if you knew everything,
acting mysterious, never showing your hand.
You have everything backward!
You treat the potter as a lump of clay.
Does a book say to its author,
“He didn’t write a word of me”?
Does a meal say to the woman who cooked it,
“She had nothing to do with this”?
17-21 And then before you know it,
and without you having anything to do with it,
Wasted Lebanon will be transformed into lush gardens,
and Mount Carmel reforested.
At that time the deaf will hear
word-for-word what’s been written.
After a lifetime in the dark,
the blind will see.
The castoffs of society will be laughing and dancing in God,
the down-and-outs shouting praise to The Holy of Israel.
For there’ll be no more gangs on the street.
Cynical scoffers will be an extinct species.
Those who never missed a chance to hurt or demean
will never be heard of again:
Gone the people who corrupted the courts,
gone the people who cheated the poor,
gone the people who victimized the innocent.
22-24 And finally this, God’s Message for the family of Jacob,
the same God who redeemed Abraham:
“No longer will Jacob hang his head in shame,
no longer grow gaunt and pale with waiting.
For he’s going to see his children,
my personal gift to him—lots of children.
And these children will honor me
by living holy lives.
In holy worship they’ll honor the Holy One of Jacob
and stand in holy awe of the God of Israel.
Those who got off-track will get back on-track,
and complainers and whiners will learn gratitude.”
All Show, No Substance
30 1-5 “Doom, rebel children!”
God’s Decree.
“You make plans, but not mine.
You make deals, but not in my Spirit.
You pile sin on sin,
one sin on top of another,
Going off to Egypt
without so much as asking me,
Running off to Pharaoh for protection,
expecting to hide out in Egypt.
Well, some protection Pharaoh will be!
Some hideout, Egypt!
They look big and important, true,
with officials strategically established in
Zoan in the north and Hanes in the south,
but there’s nothing to them.
Anyone stupid enough to trust them
will end up looking stupid—
All show, no substance,
an embarrassing farce.”
6-7 And this note on the animals of the Negev
encountered on the road to Egypt:
A most dangerous, treacherous route,
menaced by lions and deadly snakes.
And you’re going to lug all your stuff down there,
your donkeys and camels loaded down with bribes,
Thinking you can buy protection
from that hollow farce of a nation?
Egypt is all show, no substance.
My name for her is Toothless Dragon.
This Is a Rebel Generation
8-11 So, go now and write all this down.
Put it in a book
So that the record will be there
to instruct the coming generations,
Because this is a rebel generation,
a people who lie,
A people unwilling to listen
to anything God tells them.
They tell their spiritual leaders,
“Don’t bother us with irrelevancies.”
They tell their preachers,
“Don’t waste our time on impracticalities.
Tell us what makes us feel better.
Don’t bore us with obsolete religion.
That stuff means nothing to us.
Quit hounding us with The Holy of Israel.”
12-14 Therefore, The Holy of Israel says this:
“Because you scorn this Message,
Preferring to live by injustice
and shape your lives on lies,
This perverse way of life
will be like a towering, badly built wall
That slowly, slowly tilts and shifts,
and then one day, without warning, collapses—
Smashed to bits like a piece of pottery,
smashed beyond recognition or repair,
Useless, a pile of debris
to be swept up and thrown in the trash.”
God Takes the Time to Do Everything Right
15-17 God, the Master, The Holy of Israel,
has this solemn counsel:
“Your salvation requires you to turn back to me
and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.
Your strength will come from settling down
in complete dependence on me—
The very thing
you’ve been unwilling to do.
You’ve said, ‘No way! We’ll rush off on horseback!’
You’ll rush off, all right! Just not far enough!
You’ve said, ‘We’ll ride off on fast horses!’
Do you think your pursuers ride old nags?
Think again: A thousand of you will scatter before one attacker.
Before a mere five you’ll all run off.
There’ll be nothing left of you—
a flagpole on a hill with no flag,
a signpost on a roadside with the sign torn off.”
18 But God’s not finished. He’s waiting around to be gracious to you.
He’s gathering strength to show mercy to you.
God takes the time to do everything right—everything.
Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones.
19-22 Oh yes, people of Zion, citizens of Jerusalem, your time of tears is over. Cry for help and you’ll find it’s grace and more grace. The moment he hears, he’ll answer. Just as the Master kept you alive during the hard times, he’ll keep your teacher alive and present among you. Your teacher will be right there, local and on the job, urging you on whenever you wander left or right: “This is the right road. Walk down this road.” You’ll scrap your expensive and fashionable god-images. You’ll throw them in the trash as so much garbage, saying, “Good riddance!”
23-26 God will provide rain for the seeds you sow. The grain that grows will be abundant. Your cattle will range far and wide. Oblivious to war and earthquake, the oxen and donkeys you use for hauling and plowing will be fed well near running brooks that flow freely from mountains and hills. Better yet, on the Day God heals his people of the wounds and bruises from the time of punishment, moonlight will flare into sunlight, and sunlight, like a whole week of sunshine at once, will flood the land.
* * *
27-28 Look, God’s on his way,
and from a long way off!
Smoking with anger,
immense as he comes into view,
Words steaming from his mouth,
searing, indicting words!
A torrent of words, a flash flood of words
sweeping everyone into the vortex of his words.
He’ll shake down the nations in a sieve of destruction,
herd them into a dead end.
29-33 But you will sing,
sing through an all-night holy feast!
Your hearts will burst with song,
make music like the sound of flutes on parade,
En route to the mountain of God,
on the way to the Rock of Israel.
God will sound out in grandiose thunder,
display his hammering arm,
Furiously angry, showering sparks—
cloudburst, storm, hail!
Oh yes, at God’s thunder
Assyria will cower under the clubbing.
Every blow God lands on them with his club
is in time to the music of drums and pipes,
God in all-out, two-fisted battle,
fighting against them.
Topheth’s fierce fires are well prepared,
ready for the Assyrian king.
The Topheth furnace is deep and wide,
well stoked with hot-burning wood.
God’s breath, like a river of burning pitch,
starts the fire.
Isaiah 28-30
New International Version
Isaiah 28-30
New International Version
Woe to the Leaders of Ephraim and Judah
28 Woe(A) to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s(B) drunkards,
to the fading flower, his glorious beauty,
set on the head of a fertile valley(C)—
to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine!(D)
2 See, the Lord has one who is powerful(E) and strong.
Like a hailstorm(F) and a destructive wind,(G)
like a driving rain and a flooding(H) downpour,
he will throw it forcefully to the ground.
3 That wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s(I) drunkards,
will be trampled(J) underfoot.
4 That fading flower, his glorious beauty,
set on the head of a fertile valley,(K)
will be like figs(L) ripe before harvest—
as soon as people see them and take them in hand,
they swallow them.
5 In that day(M) the Lord Almighty
will be a glorious(N) crown,(O)
a beautiful wreath
for the remnant(P) of his people.
6 He will be a spirit of justice(Q)
to the one who sits in judgment,(R)
a source of strength
to those who turn back the battle(S) at the gate.
7 And these also stagger(T) from wine(U)
and reel(V) from beer:
Priests(W) and prophets(X) stagger from beer
and are befuddled with wine;
they reel from beer,
they stagger when seeing visions,(Y)
they stumble when rendering decisions.
8 All the tables are covered with vomit(Z)
and there is not a spot without filth.
9 “Who is it he is trying to teach?(AA)
To whom is he explaining his message?(AB)
To children weaned(AC) from their milk,(AD)
to those just taken from the breast?
10 For it is:
Do this, do that,
a rule for this, a rule for that[a];
a little here, a little there.(AE)”
11 Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues(AF)
God will speak to this people,(AG)
12 to whom he said,
“This is the resting place, let the weary rest”;(AH)
and, “This is the place of repose”—
but they would not listen.
13 So then, the word of the Lord to them will become:
Do this, do that,
a rule for this, a rule for that;
a little here, a little there(AI)—
so that as they go they will fall backward;
they will be injured(AJ) and snared and captured.(AK)
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord,(AL) you scoffers(AM)
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death,(AN)
with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement.
When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by,(AO)
it cannot touch us,
for we have made a lie(AP) our refuge
and falsehood[b] our hiding place.(AQ)”
16 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,(AR) a tested stone,(AS)
a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;(AT)
the one who relies on it
will never be stricken with panic.(AU)
17 I will make justice(AV) the measuring line
and righteousness the plumb line;(AW)
hail(AX) will sweep away your refuge, the lie,
and water will overflow(AY) your hiding place.
18 Your covenant with death will be annulled;
your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand.(AZ)
When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by,(BA)
you will be beaten down(BB) by it.
19 As often as it comes it will carry you away;(BC)
morning after morning,(BD) by day and by night,
it will sweep through.”
The understanding of this message
will bring sheer terror.(BE)
20 The bed is too short to stretch out on,
the blanket too narrow to wrap around you.(BF)
21 The Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim,(BG)
he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon(BH)—
to do his work,(BI) his strange work,
and perform his task, his alien task.
22 Now stop your mocking,(BJ)
or your chains will become heavier;
the Lord, the Lord Almighty, has told me
of the destruction decreed(BK) against the whole land.(BL)
23 Listen(BM) and hear my voice;
pay attention and hear what I say.
24 When a farmer plows for planting,(BN) does he plow continually?
Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?
25 When he has leveled the surface,
does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin?(BO)
Does he not plant wheat in its place,[c]
barley(BP) in its plot,[d]
and spelt(BQ) in its field?
26 His God instructs him
and teaches(BR) him the right way.
27 Caraway is not threshed(BS) with a sledge,(BT)
nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin;
caraway is beaten out with a rod,(BU)
and cumin with a stick.
28 Grain must be ground to make bread;
so one does not go on threshing it forever.
The wheels of a threshing cart(BV) may be rolled over it,
but one does not use horses to grind grain.
29 All this also comes from the Lord Almighty,
whose plan is wonderful,(BW)
whose wisdom is magnificent.(BX)
Woe to David’s City
29 Woe(BY) to you, Ariel, Ariel,(BZ)
the city(CA) where David settled!
Add year to year
and let your cycle of festivals(CB) go on.
2 Yet I will besiege Ariel;(CC)
she will mourn and lament,(CD)
she will be to me like an altar hearth.[e](CE)
3 I will encamp against you on all sides;
I will encircle(CF) you with towers
and set up my siege works(CG) against you.
4 Brought low, you will speak from the ground;
your speech will mumble(CH) out of the dust.(CI)
Your voice will come ghostlike(CJ) from the earth;
out of the dust your speech will whisper.(CK)
5 But your many enemies will become like fine dust,(CL)
the ruthless(CM) hordes like blown chaff.(CN)
Suddenly,(CO) in an instant,
6 the Lord Almighty will come(CP)
with thunder(CQ) and earthquake(CR) and great noise,
with windstorm and tempest(CS) and flames of a devouring fire.(CT)
7 Then the hordes of all the nations(CU) that fight against Ariel,(CV)
that attack her and her fortress and besiege her,
will be as it is with a dream,(CW)
with a vision in the night—
8 as when a hungry person dreams of eating,
but awakens(CX) hungry still;
as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking,
but awakens faint and thirsty still.(CY)
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.(CZ)
9 Be stunned and amazed,(DA)
blind yourselves and be sightless;(DB)
be drunk,(DC) but not from wine,(DD)
stagger,(DE) but not from beer.
10 The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:(DF)
He has sealed your eyes(DG) (the prophets);(DH)
he has covered your heads (the seers).(DI)
11 For you this whole vision(DJ) is nothing but words sealed(DK) in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” 12 Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”
13 The Lord says:
“These people(DL) come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,(DM)
but their hearts are far from me.(DN)
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.[f](DO)
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;(DP)
the wisdom of the wise(DQ) will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.(DR)”
15 Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide(DS) their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us?(DT) Who will know?”(DU)
16 You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!(DV)
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed(DW) it,
“You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,(DX)
“You know nothing”?(DY)
17 In a very short time,(DZ) will not Lebanon(EA) be turned into a fertile field(EB)
and the fertile field seem like a forest?(EC)
18 In that day(ED) the deaf(EE) will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness(EF)
the eyes of the blind will see.(EG)
19 Once more the humble(EH) will rejoice in the Lord;
the needy(EI) will rejoice in the Holy One(EJ) of Israel.
20 The ruthless(EK) will vanish,(EL)
the mockers(EM) will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil(EN) will be cut down—
21 those who with a word make someone out to be guilty,
who ensnare the defender in court(EO)
and with false testimony(EP) deprive the innocent of justice.(EQ)
22 Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed(ER) Abraham,(ES) says to the descendants of Jacob:
“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;(ET)
no longer will their faces grow pale.(EU)
23 When they see among them their children,(EV)
the work of my hands,(EW)
they will keep my name holy;(EX)
they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One(EY) of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Those who are wayward(EZ) in spirit will gain understanding;(FA)
those who complain will accept instruction.”(FB)
Woe to the Obstinate Nation
30 “Woe(FC) to the obstinate children,”(FD)
declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance,(FE) but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt(FF)
without consulting(FG) me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,(FH)
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.(FI)
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
Egypt’s shade(FJ) will bring you disgrace.(FK)
4 Though they have officials in Zoan(FL)
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5 everyone will be put to shame
because of a people(FM) useless(FN) to them,
who bring neither help(FO) nor advantage,
but only shame and disgrace.(FP)”
6 A prophecy(FQ) concerning the animals of the Negev:(FR)
Through a land of hardship and distress,(FS)
of lions(FT) and lionesses,
of adders and darting snakes,(FU)
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’(FV) backs,
their treasures(FW) on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
7 to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.(FX)
Therefore I call her
Rahab(FY) the Do-Nothing.
8 Go now, write it on a tablet(FZ) for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,(GA)
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.(GB)
9 For these are rebellious(GC) people, deceitful(GD) children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.(GE)
10 They say to the seers,(GF)
“See no more visions(GG)!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,(GH)
prophesy illusions.(GI)
11 Leave this way,(GJ)
get off this path,
and stop confronting(GK) us
with the Holy One(GL) of Israel!”
12 Therefore this is what the Holy One(GM) of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message,(GN)
relied on oppression(GO)
and depended on deceit,
13 this sin will become for you
like a high wall,(GP) cracked and bulging,
that collapses(GQ) suddenly,(GR) in an instant.
14 It will break in pieces like pottery,(GS)
shattered so mercilessly
that among its pieces not a fragment will be found
for taking coals from a hearth
or scooping water out of a cistern.”
15 This is what the Sovereign(GT) Lord, the Holy One(GU) of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest(GV) is your salvation,
in quietness and trust(GW) is your strength,
but you would have none of it.(GX)
16 You said, ‘No, we will flee(GY) on horses.’(GZ)
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee
at the threat of one;
at the threat of five(HA)
you will all flee(HB) away,
till you are left(HC)
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner(HD) on a hill.”
18 Yet the Lord longs(HE) to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.(HF)
For the Lord is a God of justice.(HG)
Blessed are all who wait for him!(HH)
19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.(HI) How gracious he will be when you cry for help!(HJ) As soon as he hears, he will answer(HK) you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread(HL) of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers(HM) will be hidden(HN) no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice(HO) behind you, saying, “This is the way;(HP) walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols(HQ) overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold;(HR) you will throw them away like a menstrual(HS) cloth and say to them, “Away with you!(HT)”
23 He will also send you rain(HU) for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich(HV) and plentiful.(HW) In that day(HX) your cattle will graze in broad meadows.(HY) 24 The oxen(HZ) and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder(IA) and mash, spread out with fork(IB) and shovel. 25 In the day of great slaughter,(IC) when the towers(ID) fall, streams of water will flow(IE) on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26 The moon will shine like the sun,(IF) and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals(IG) the wounds he inflicted.
27 See, the Name(IH) of the Lord comes from afar,
with burning anger(II) and dense clouds of smoke;
his lips are full of wrath,(IJ)
and his tongue is a consuming fire.(IK)
28 His breath(IL) is like a rushing torrent,(IM)
rising up to the neck.(IN)
He shakes the nations in the sieve(IO) of destruction;
he places in the jaws of the peoples
a bit(IP) that leads them astray.
29 And you will sing
as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;(IQ)
your hearts will rejoice(IR)
as when people playing pipes(IS) go up
to the mountain(IT) of the Lord,
to the Rock(IU) of Israel.
30 The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice(IV)
and will make them see his arm(IW) coming down
with raging anger(IX) and consuming fire,(IY)
with cloudburst, thunderstorm(IZ) and hail.(JA)
31 The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;(JB)
with his rod he will strike(JC) them down.
32 Every stroke the Lord lays on them
with his punishing club(JD)
will be to the music of timbrels(JE) and harps,
as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.(JF)
33 Topheth(JG) has long been prepared;
it has been made ready for the king.
Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,
with an abundance of fire and wood;
the breath(JH) of the Lord,
like a stream of burning sulfur,(JI)
sets it ablaze.(JJ)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 28:10 Hebrew / sav lasav sav lasav / kav lakav kav lakav (probably meaningless sounds mimicking the prophet’s words); also in verse 13
- Isaiah 28:15 Or false gods
- Isaiah 28:25 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Isaiah 28:25 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Isaiah 29:2 The Hebrew for altar hearth sounds like the Hebrew for Ariel.
- Isaiah 29:13 Hebrew; Septuagint They worship me in vain; / their teachings are merely human rules
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.