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A Covenant With Death

14 So now, hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 You said:
    We have made a covenant with death,
    an agreement with the grave.[a]
    When the punishing whip[b] comes, it will not touch us,
    for we have made lies our refuge,
    and we have hidden ourselves behind falsehood.

A Cornerstone for Zion

16 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:
    Look, I am laying a stone in Zion as a foundation,
    a tested stone,
    a precious cornerstone to provide a sure foundation.
    Whoever believes will not be put to shame.[c]
17 I will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the plumb line.
A hailstorm will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and floodwaters will wash away your shelter.
18 Your covenant with death will be canceled,
and your agreement with the grave will not stand.
When the punishing whip comes,
you will be beaten down by it.
19 Every time it comes, it will carry you away.
It could come any morning, any day, any night.

If you understand this message, you will be utterly terrified:
20     The bed is too short to lie on,
    and the blanket is too narrow to cover you.
21 For the Lord will rise up as he did on Mount Perazim.
He will be enraged, as he was in the valley of Gibeon,
    to do his work, his strange work,
    and to accomplish his task, his foreign task.
22 Now stop your scornful attitude, or your chains
        will be made stronger,
because I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord,
        the Lord of Armies,
    against the whole earth.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 28:15 Hebrew sheol
  2. Isaiah 28:15 Or overwhelming judgment. The two words in this phrase do not match well. The noun means whip. The adjective means flooding. Also in verse 18.
  3. Isaiah 28:16 The translation here follows the Greek text. The Hebrew and Latin read will not be in haste.