Font Size
Isaiah 27-29
English Standard Version
Isaiah 27-29
English Standard Version
The Redemption of Israel
27 In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong (A)sword will punish (B)Leviathan the fleeing serpent, (C)Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay (D)the dragon that is in the sea.
2 In that day,
(E)“A pleasant vineyard,[a] (F)sing of it!
3 I, the Lord, am its keeper;
every moment I water it.
Lest anyone punish it,
I keep it night and day;
4 I have no wrath.
(G)Would that I had thorns and briers to battle!
I would march against them,
I would burn them up together.
5 Or let them lay hold of my protection,
let them make peace with me,
let them make peace with me.”
6 (H)In days to come[b] Jacob shall take root,
Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots
and fill the whole world with fruit.
7 (I)Has he struck them (J)as he struck those who struck them?
Or have they been slain (K)as their slayers were slain?
8 (L)Measure by measure,[c] by exile you contended with them;
(M)he removed them with his fierce breath[d] in the day of the east wind.
9 Therefore by this (N)the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for,
and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:[e]
(O)when he makes all the stones of the altars
like chalkstones crushed to pieces,
no (P)Asherim or incense altars will remain standing.
10 (Q)For the fortified city is solitary,
a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness;
there the calf grazes;
there it lies down and strips its branches.
11 When its boughs are dry, they are broken;
women come and make a fire of them.
(R)For this is a people without discernment;
therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them;
he who formed them will show them no favor.
12 In that day (S)from the river Euphrates[f] to the Brook of Egypt the Lord will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. 13 And in that day (T)a great trumpet will be blown, (U)and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt (V)will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Judgment on Ephraim and Jerusalem
28 Ah, the proud crown of (W)the drunkards of Ephraim,
and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has (X)one who is mighty and strong;
like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest,
like (Y)a storm of mighty, overflowing waters,
he casts down to the earth with his hand.
3 (Z)The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim
will be trodden underfoot;
4 (AA)and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley,
will be like (AB)a first-ripe fig[g] before the summer:
when someone sees it, he swallows it
as soon as it is in his hand.
5 (AC)In that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory,[h]
and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,
6 and (AD)a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
and (AE)strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 (AF)These also reel with wine
and (AG)stagger with strong drink;
the priest and (AH)the prophet reel with strong drink,
they are swallowed by[i] wine,
they stagger with strong drink,
they reel in vision,
they stumble in giving judgment.
8 For all tables are full of filthy vomit,
with no space left.
9 (AI)“To whom will he teach knowledge,
and to whom will he explain the message?
Those who are weaned from the milk,
those taken from the breast?
10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little.”
11 (AJ)For by people of strange lips
and with a foreign tongue
the Lord will speak to this people,
12 to whom he has said,
(AK)“This is rest;
give rest to the weary;
and this is repose”;
yet they would not hear.
13 And 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,
(AL)that they may go, and fall backward,
and be broken, and snared, and taken.
A Cornerstone in Zion
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you (AM)scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the (AN)overwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made (AO)lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
16 therefore thus says the Lord God,
(AP)“Behold, I am the one who has laid[j] as a foundation (AQ)in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
17 And I will make justice (AR)the line,
and righteousness (AS)the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
18 Then (AT)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.
19 As often as it passes through it will take you;
(AU)for morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be (AV)sheer terror to understand the message.
20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,
and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lord will rise up (AW)as on Mount Perazim;
(AX)as in the Valley of (AY)Gibeon he will be roused;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
and to work his work—alien is his work!
22 Now therefore do not (AZ)scoff,
lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard (BA)a decree of destruction
from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.
23 Give ear, and hear my voice;
give attention, and hear my speech.
24 Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
25 (BB)When he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
and put in wheat in rows
and barley in its proper place,
and emmer[k] as the border?
26 (BC)For he is rightly instructed;
his God teaches him.
27 Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
but dill is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28 Does one crush grain for bread?
No, he does not thresh it forever;[l]
when he drives his cart wheel over it
with his horses, he does not crush it.
29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts;
he is (BD)wonderful in counsel
and excellent in wisdom.
The Siege of Jerusalem
29 Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
the city (BE)where David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the feasts run their round.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and she shall be to me like an Ariel.[m]
3 (BF)And I will encamp against you all around,
and will besiege you (BG)with towers
and I will raise siegeworks against you.
4 (BH)And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
your voice shall come from the ground like (BI)the voice of a ghost,
and from the dust your speech shall whisper.
5 But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like (BJ)small dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
(BK)And in an instant, suddenly,
6 (BL)you will be visited by the Lord of hosts
with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7 And (BM)the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
shall be (BN)like a dream, a vision of the night.
8 (BO)As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,
and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking,
and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
so shall the multitude of all the nations be
that fight against Mount Zion.
9 Astonish yourselves[n] and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk,[o] but not with wine;
(BP)stagger,[p] but not with strong drink!
10 (BQ)For the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep,
and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is (BR)sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”
13 And the Lord said:
“Because (BS)this people (BT)draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14 therefore, behold, (BU)I will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and (BV)the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
15 Ah, (BW)you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
whose deeds are (BX)in the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 (BY)You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
17 Is it not yet a very little while
(BZ)until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
18 In that day (CA)the deaf shall hear
(CB)the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
(CC)the eyes of the blind shall see.
19 (CD)The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless shall come to nothing
and (CE)the scoffer cease,
and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
21 who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
and (CF)lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty plea (CG)turn aside him who is in the right.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, (CH)who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale.
23 For when he sees his children,
(CI)the work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
(CJ)they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 And those (CK)who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who murmur will accept instruction.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 27:2 Many Hebrew manuscripts A vineyard of wine
- Isaiah 27:6 Hebrew In those to come
- Isaiah 27:8 Or By driving her away; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- Isaiah 27:8 Or wind
- Isaiah 27:9 Septuagint and this is the blessing when I take away his sin
- Isaiah 27:12 Hebrew from the River
- Isaiah 28:4 Or fruit
- Isaiah 28:5 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike
- Isaiah 28:7 Or confused by
- Isaiah 28:16 Dead Sea Scroll I am laying
- Isaiah 28:25 A type of wheat
- Isaiah 28:28 Or Grain is crushed for bread; he will surely thresh it, but not forever
- Isaiah 29:2 Ariel could mean lion of God, or hero (2 Samuel 23:20), or altar hearth (Ezekiel 43:15–16)
- Isaiah 29:9 Or Linger awhile
- Isaiah 29:9 Or They are drunk
- Isaiah 29:9 Or they stagger
Isaiah 27-29
New International Version
Isaiah 27-29
New International Version
Deliverance of Israel
27 In that day,(A)
the Lord will punish with his sword(B)—
his fierce, great and powerful sword—
Leviathan(C) the gliding serpent,(D)
Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster(E) of the sea.
2 In that day(F)—
“Sing(G) about a fruitful vineyard:(H)
3 I, the Lord, watch over it;
I water(I) it continually.
I guard(J) it day and night
so that no one may harm(K) it.
4 I am not angry.
If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!
I would march against them in battle;
I would set them all on fire.(L)
5 Or else let them come to me for refuge;(M)
let them make peace(N) with me,
yes, let them make peace with me.”
6 In days to come Jacob will take root,(O)
Israel will bud and blossom(P)
and fill all the world with fruit.(Q)
7 Has the Lord struck her
as he struck(R) down those who struck her?
Has she been killed
as those were killed who killed her?
8 By warfare[a] and exile(S) you contend with her—
with his fierce blast he drives her out,
as on a day the east wind(T) blows.
9 By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned(U) for,
and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:(V)
When he makes all the altar stones(W)
to be like limestone crushed to pieces,
no Asherah poles[b](X) or incense altars(Y)
will be left standing.
10 The fortified city stands desolate,(Z)
an abandoned settlement, forsaken(AA) like the wilderness;
there the calves graze,(AB)
there they lie down;(AC)
they strip its branches bare.
11 When its twigs are dry, they are broken off(AD)
and women come and make fires(AE) with them.
For this is a people without understanding;(AF)
so their Maker has no compassion on them,
and their Creator(AG) shows them no favor.(AH)
12 In that day the Lord will thresh(AI) from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt,(AJ) and you, Israel, will be gathered(AK) up one by one. 13 And in that day(AL) a great trumpet(AM) will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled(AN) in Egypt(AO) will come and worship(AP) the Lord on the holy mountain(AQ) in Jerusalem.
Woe to the Leaders of Ephraim and Judah
28 Woe(AR) to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s(AS) drunkards,
to the fading flower, his glorious beauty,
set on the head of a fertile valley(AT)—
to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine!(AU)
2 See, the Lord has one who is powerful(AV) and strong.
Like a hailstorm(AW) and a destructive wind,(AX)
like a driving rain and a flooding(AY) downpour,
he will throw it forcefully to the ground.
3 That wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s(AZ) drunkards,
will be trampled(BA) underfoot.
4 That fading flower, his glorious beauty,
set on the head of a fertile valley,(BB)
will be like figs(BC) ripe before harvest—
as soon as people see them and take them in hand,
they swallow them.
5 In that day(BD) the Lord Almighty
will be a glorious(BE) crown,(BF)
a beautiful wreath
for the remnant(BG) of his people.
6 He will be a spirit of justice(BH)
to the one who sits in judgment,(BI)
a source of strength
to those who turn back the battle(BJ) at the gate.
7 And these also stagger(BK) from wine(BL)
and reel(BM) from beer:
Priests(BN) and prophets(BO) stagger from beer
and are befuddled with wine;
they reel from beer,
they stagger when seeing visions,(BP)
they stumble when rendering decisions.
8 All the tables are covered with vomit(BQ)
and there is not a spot without filth.
9 “Who is it he is trying to teach?(BR)
To whom is he explaining his message?(BS)
To children weaned(BT) from their milk,(BU)
to those just taken from the breast?
10 For it is:
Do this, do that,
a rule for this, a rule for that[c];
a little here, a little there.(BV)”
11 Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues(BW)
God will speak to this people,(BX)
12 to whom he said,
“This is the resting place, let the weary rest”;(BY)
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(BZ)—
so that as they go they will fall backward;
they will be injured(CA) and snared and captured.(CB)
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord,(CC) you scoffers(CD)
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death,(CE)
with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement.
When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by,(CF)
it cannot touch us,
for we have made a lie(CG) our refuge
and falsehood[d] our hiding place.(CH)”
16 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,(CI) a tested stone,(CJ)
a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;(CK)
the one who relies on it
will never be stricken with panic.(CL)
17 I will make justice(CM) the measuring line
and righteousness the plumb line;(CN)
hail(CO) will sweep away your refuge, the lie,
and water will overflow(CP) your hiding place.
18 Your covenant with death will be annulled;
your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand.(CQ)
When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by,(CR)
you will be beaten down(CS) by it.
19 As often as it comes it will carry you away;(CT)
morning after morning,(CU) by day and by night,
it will sweep through.”
The understanding of this message
will bring sheer terror.(CV)
20 The bed is too short to stretch out on,
the blanket too narrow to wrap around you.(CW)
21 The Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim,(CX)
he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon(CY)—
to do his work,(CZ) his strange work,
and perform his task, his alien task.
22 Now stop your mocking,(DA)
or your chains will become heavier;
the Lord, the Lord Almighty, has told me
of the destruction decreed(DB) against the whole land.(DC)
23 Listen(DD) and hear my voice;
pay attention and hear what I say.
24 When a farmer plows for planting,(DE) 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?(DF)
Does he not plant wheat in its place,[e]
barley(DG) in its plot,[f]
and spelt(DH) in its field?
26 His God instructs him
and teaches(DI) him the right way.
27 Caraway is not threshed(DJ) with a sledge,(DK)
nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin;
caraway is beaten out with a rod,(DL)
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(DM) 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,(DN)
whose wisdom is magnificent.(DO)
Woe to David’s City
29 Woe(DP) to you, Ariel, Ariel,(DQ)
the city(DR) where David settled!
Add year to year
and let your cycle of festivals(DS) go on.
2 Yet I will besiege Ariel;(DT)
she will mourn and lament,(DU)
she will be to me like an altar hearth.[g](DV)
3 I will encamp against you on all sides;
I will encircle(DW) you with towers
and set up my siege works(DX) against you.
4 Brought low, you will speak from the ground;
your speech will mumble(DY) out of the dust.(DZ)
Your voice will come ghostlike(EA) from the earth;
out of the dust your speech will whisper.(EB)
5 But your many enemies will become like fine dust,(EC)
the ruthless(ED) hordes like blown chaff.(EE)
Suddenly,(EF) in an instant,
6 the Lord Almighty will come(EG)
with thunder(EH) and earthquake(EI) and great noise,
with windstorm and tempest(EJ) and flames of a devouring fire.(EK)
7 Then the hordes of all the nations(EL) that fight against Ariel,(EM)
that attack her and her fortress and besiege her,
will be as it is with a dream,(EN)
with a vision in the night—
8 as when a hungry person dreams of eating,
but awakens(EO) hungry still;
as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking,
but awakens faint and thirsty still.(EP)
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.(EQ)
9 Be stunned and amazed,(ER)
blind yourselves and be sightless;(ES)
be drunk,(ET) but not from wine,(EU)
stagger,(EV) but not from beer.
10 The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:(EW)
He has sealed your eyes(EX) (the prophets);(EY)
he has covered your heads (the seers).(EZ)
11 For you this whole vision(FA) is nothing but words sealed(FB) 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(FC) come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,(FD)
but their hearts are far from me.(FE)
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.[h](FF)
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;(FG)
the wisdom of the wise(FH) will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.(FI)”
15 Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide(FJ) their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us?(FK) Who will know?”(FL)
16 You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!(FM)
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed(FN) it,
“You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,(FO)
“You know nothing”?(FP)
17 In a very short time,(FQ) will not Lebanon(FR) be turned into a fertile field(FS)
and the fertile field seem like a forest?(FT)
18 In that day(FU) the deaf(FV) will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness(FW)
the eyes of the blind will see.(FX)
19 Once more the humble(FY) will rejoice in the Lord;
the needy(FZ) will rejoice in the Holy One(GA) of Israel.
20 The ruthless(GB) will vanish,(GC)
the mockers(GD) will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil(GE) will be cut down—
21 those who with a word make someone out to be guilty,
who ensnare the defender in court(GF)
and with false testimony(GG) deprive the innocent of justice.(GH)
22 Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed(GI) Abraham,(GJ) says to the descendants of Jacob:
“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;(GK)
no longer will their faces grow pale.(GL)
23 When they see among them their children,(GM)
the work of my hands,(GN)
they will keep my name holy;(GO)
they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One(GP) of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Those who are wayward(GQ) in spirit will gain understanding;(GR)
those who complain will accept instruction.”(GS)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 27:8 See Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Isaiah 27:9 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
- 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
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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.