Isaiah 28:1-11

Common English Bible

Judgment on Ephraim and Judah

28 Oh, the majestic garland of Ephraim’s drunks
    and the fading flower of its splendid beauty
    on the head that flows with perfume^[a]
    of those hammered with wine.
²Look! The Lord has someone who is powerful and strong;
    like a hailstorm, a disastrous tempest,
    like a downpour of mighty, overflowing waters,
    he can level them to the ground with his hand.
³The majestic garland of Ephraim’s drunks
    will be trampled underfoot.
⁴    The withered flower, which is a thing of beauty^[b]
        as it sits on the head of those bloated with fat,^[c]
        will be like an early fig before the summer harvest:
    whoever sees it swallows it as soon as it is in hand.

⁵On that day, the Lord of heavenly forces will be a splendid garland and a beautiful wreath for the people who survive, ⁶and a spirit of justice for the one who sits in judgment, and a strength for those who repel the assault at the gate.

⁷These also stagger from wine and stumble from beer:
    priest and prophet stagger from beer;
    they are confused by wine;
    they stray on account of beer;
    they err when receiving visions;
    they stumble when making judgments.
⁸All the tables are covered with vomit;
    filth overruns the place.

⁹To whom will God teach knowledge?
    To whom will he explain the message?
    To those just weaned from milk?
    To those who have hardly outgrown the breast?
¹⁰It is “tsav letsav, tsav letsav; qav leqav, qav leqav,”^[d]
    a little of this, a little of that.
¹¹With derisive speech and a foreign tongue,
    he will speak to this people.