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Isaiah 28
Good News Translation
Isaiah 28
Good News Translation
A Warning to the Northern Kingdom
28 The kingdom of Israel is doomed! Its glory is fading like the crowns of flowers on the heads of its drunken leaders. Their proud heads are well perfumed, but there they lie, dead drunk. 2 The Lord has someone strong and powerful ready to attack them, someone who will come like a hailstorm, like a torrent of rain, like a rushing, overpowering flood, and will overwhelm the land. 3 The pride of those drunken leaders will be trampled underfoot. 4 The fading glory of those proud leaders will disappear like the first figs of the season, picked and eaten as soon as they are ripe.
5 A day is coming when the Lord Almighty will be like a glorious crown of flowers for his people who survive. 6 He will give a sense of justice to those who serve as judges, and courage to those who defend the city gates from attack.
Isaiah and the Drunken Prophets of Judah
7 Even the prophets and the priests are so drunk that they stagger. They have drunk so much wine and liquor that they stumble in confusion. The prophets are too drunk to understand the visions that God sends, and the priests are too drunk to decide the cases that are brought to them. 8 The tables where they sit are all covered with vomit, and not a clean spot is left.
9 They complain about me. They say, “Who does that man think he's teaching? Who needs his message? It's only good for babies that have just stopped nursing! 10 He is trying to teach us letter by letter, line by line, lesson by lesson.”
11 (A)If you won't listen to me, then God will use foreigners speaking some strange-sounding language to teach you a lesson. 12 He offered rest and comfort to all of you, but you refused to listen to him. 13 That is why the Lord is going to teach you letter by letter, line by line, lesson by lesson. Then you will stumble with every step you take. You will be wounded, trapped, and taken prisoner.
A Cornerstone for Zion
14 Now you arrogant leaders who rule here in Jerusalem over this people, listen to what the Lord is saying. 15 (B)You boast that you have made a treaty with death and reached an agreement with the world of the dead. You are certain that disaster will spare you when it comes, because you depend on lies and deceit to keep you safe. 16 (C)This, now, is what the Sovereign Lord says: “I am placing in Zion a foundation that is firm and strong. In it I am putting a solid cornerstone on which are written the words, ‘Faith that is firm is also patient.’ 17 Justice will be the measuring line for the foundation, and honesty will be its plumb line.”
Hailstorms will sweep away all the lies you depend on, and floods will destroy your security. 18 The treaty you have made with death will be abolished, and your agreement with the world of the dead will be canceled. When disaster sweeps down, you will be overcome. 19 It will strike you again and again, morning after morning. You will have to bear it day and night. Each new message from God will bring new terror! 20 You will be like the person in the proverb, who tries to sleep in a bed too short to stretch out on, with a blanket too narrow to wrap himself in. 21 (D)The Lord will fight as he did at Mount Perazim and in the valley of Gibeon, in order to do what he intends to do—strange as his actions may seem. He will complete his work, his mysterious work.
22 Don't laugh at the warning I am giving you! If you do, it will be even harder for you to escape. I have heard the Lord Almighty's decision to destroy the whole country.
God's Wisdom
23 Listen to what I am saying; pay attention to what I am telling you. 24 Farmers don't constantly plow their fields and keep getting them ready for planting. 25 Once they have prepared the soil, they plant the seeds of herbs such as dill and cumin. They plant rows of wheat and barley,[a] and at the edges of their fields they plant other grain. 26 They know how to do their work, because God has taught them. 27 They never use a heavy club to beat out dill seeds or cumin seeds; instead they use light sticks of the proper size. 28 They do not ruin the wheat by threshing it endlessly, and they know how to thresh it by driving a cart over it without bruising the grains. 29 All this wisdom comes from the Lord Almighty. The plans God makes are wise, and they always succeed.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 28:25 Hebrew has an additional word, the meaning of which is unclear.
Isaiah 28
New International Version
Isaiah 28
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)
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.
Good News Translation (GNT) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.