Isaiah 28
Lexham English Bible
Judgment against the Leaders of Ephraim
28 Ah! The garland of the pride of the drunkards of Ephraim
and the withering flower of the glory of his beauty,
which is at the head of the rich valley,[a]
ones overcome[b] with wine!
2 Look! The Lord has a mighty and strong one,
like a rainstorm of hail, a wind storm of destruction,
like a rainstorm of mighty overflowing waters,
he will put them to the earth with his hand.
3 The garland of the pride of the drunkards of Ephraim
will be trampled[c] by feet,
4 and the withering flower of the glory of its beauty
which is at the head of the rich valley[d]
will be like its early fig before summer,
which the one who sees it swallows[e] while it is still in his hand.
5 In that day, Yahweh of hosts will become a garland of glory
and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of his people,
6 and a spirit of justice to the one who sits over judgment,
and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 And these also stagger because of wine
and stagger because of strong drink;
priest and prophet stagger because of strong drink;
they are confused[f] because of wine.
They stagger because of strong drink;
they err in vision.
They stagger in the rendering of a decision,
8 for all the tables are full of disgusting vomit, with no place left.[g]
9 To whom will he teach knowledge,
and to whom will he explain the message?
Those who are weaned from milk,
those taken from the breast?
10 For it is blah-blah upon blah-blah,
blah-blah upon blah-blah,
gah-gah upon gah-gah,
gah-gah upon gah-gah,[h]
a little here, a little there.
11 For he will speak with stammering[i] and another tongue to this people, 12 to whom he has said,
“This is rest; give rest to the weary;
and this is repose”; yet[j] they were not willing to hear.
13 And to them the word of Yahweh will be
blah-blah upon blah-blah
blah-blah upon blah-blah
gah-gah upon gah-gah
gah-gah upon gah-gah,[k]
a little here, a little there,
so that they may go and stumble backward
and be broken and ensnared and captured.
The Cornerstone of Zion
14 Therefore hear the word of Yahweh, men of mockery,
rulers of these people in Jerusalem:
15 Because you have said,
“We have made[l] a covenant with death,
and we have made an agreement with Sheol.
The overwhelming flood, when it passes through, will not come to us,
for we have made lies[m] our refuge,
and we have hidden ourselves in falsehood.”
16 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this:
“Look! I am laying a stone in Zion,
a tested[n] stone,
a precious cornerstone,
a founded foundation:
‘The one who trusts will not panic.’[o]
17 And I will make justice the measuring line,
and righteousness the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,[p]
and waters will flood over the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
you will become a trampling place for the overwhelming flood when it passes through.
19 As often as it passes through,[q] it will take you,
for morning by morning[r] it will pass through,
in the day and in the night,
and understanding the message will be only terror.”
20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,[s]
and the covering is too narrow when wrapping oneself.
21 For Yahweh will rise up as at Mount Perazim;
he will rave as in the valley at Gibeon
to do his deed—his deed is strange—
and to work his work—his work is alien!
22 And now you must not scoff,
or your bonds will be strong,
for I have heard from the Lord, Yahweh of hosts:
complete destruction
decreed upon all the land.
A Parable of Yahweh’s Work
23 Listen, and hear my voice!
Listen attentively, and hear my word!
24 Is it all day that the plowman plows,
opens to sow seed, harrows his ground?
25 When he has leveled its surface,[t] does he not scatter dill,
and sow cumin seed,
and plant[u] wheat in planted rows,[v]
and barley in an appointed place,
and spelt grain as its border?
26 And his God instructs him about the prescription;[w]
he teaches him.
27 For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
nor is a wheel of a utility cart rolled[x] over cumin,
but dill is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28 Grain is crushed fine,
but certainly one does not thresh it forever;
and one drives the wheel of his cart,
but his horses do not crush it.
29 This also comes forth from Yahweh of hosts.
He is wonderful in advice;
he makes great wisdom.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 28:1 Literally “a valley of fat”
- Isaiah 28:1 Literally “ones struck”
- Isaiah 28:3 The Hebrew is plural
- Isaiah 28:4 Literally “a valley of fat”
- Isaiah 28:4 Literally “Which, when the one who sees it sees it, he swallows it”
- Isaiah 28:7 Or “swallowed”
- Isaiah 28:8 Literally “without a place”
- Isaiah 28:10 In this context, the Hebrew expressions tsaw-tsaw and qaw-qaw are likely meant to sound like baby talk, but they could mean “command upon command” and “rule upon rule”
- Isaiah 28:11 Literally “stammer of lip”
- Isaiah 28:12 Or “and”
- Isaiah 28:13 In this context, the Hebrew expressions tsaw-tsaw and qaw-qaw are likely meant to sound like baby talk, but they could mean “command upon command” and “rule upon rule”
- Isaiah 28:15 Literally “cut”
- Isaiah 28:15 Hebrew “lie”
- Isaiah 28:16 Literally “testing”
- Isaiah 28:16 Literally “hurry”
- Isaiah 28:17 Hebrew “lie”
- Isaiah 28:19 Literally “From enough his passing through”
- Isaiah 28:19 Literally “in the morning in the morning”
- Isaiah 28:20 Literally “from stretching oneself”
- Isaiah 28:25 Literally “face”
- Isaiah 28:25 Literally “place”
- Isaiah 28:25 Hebrew “row”
- Isaiah 28:26 That is, “the proper way”
- Isaiah 28:27 Literally “turned”
Isaiah 28
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.
2 Look! 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.
3 The 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.
5 On that day, the Lord of heavenly forces will be a splendid garland and a beautiful wreath for the people who survive, 6 and a spirit of justice for the one who sits in judgment, and a strength for those who repel the assault at the gate.
7 These 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.
8 All the tables are covered with vomit;
filth overruns the place.
9 To 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?
10 It is “tsav letsav, tsav letsav; qav leqav, qav leqav,”[d]
a little of this, a little of that.
11 With derisive speech and a foreign tongue,
he will speak to this people.
12 He has said to them,
“This is the place of rest;
give rest to the weary;
this is the place of repose”;
but they refused to listen.
13 So the Lord’s word will be for them:
“tsav letsav, tsav letsav; qav leqav, qav leqav,”
a little of this, a little of that.
So that they will go and stagger backward,
they will be broken, snared, and captured.
The covenant with death overturned
14 Therefore, hear the Lord’s word,
you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 You said, “We’ve cut a deal with death;[e]
with the underworld[f] we made a pact.
When the overflowing flood passes through, it won’t reach us;
for we have made lies our hiding place,
and in falsehood we take shelter.”
16 Therefore, the Lord God says:
Look! I’m laying in Zion a stone,
a tested stone, a valuable cornerstone,
a sure foundation:
the one who trusts won’t tremble.
17 I will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the plumb line.
But hail will sweep away the hiding place of lies,
and water will overflow the shelter.
18 Your deal with death[g] will be dissolved,
and your pact with the grave[h] won’t stand.
The rushing flood: when it passes through,
you will be annihilated by it.
19 Every time it passes through it will take you,
for morning by morning it will pass,
by day and by night.
It will be nothing but terror to understand the message.
20 The bed is too short to stretch out,
and the shroud is too narrow to cover oneself.
21 Just as on Mount Perazim, the Lord will rise up;
as in the Gibeon Valley he will rage to do his deed—strange is his deed!—
And to work his work—foreign is his work!
22 So now stop your scoffing,
or your chains will be tightened,
because destruction has been ordered—I have heard it!—
by the Lord God of heavenly forces against the whole land.
Plowing and threshing
23 Listen and hear my voice;
pay attention and hear my word:
24 Does the plowman plow without stopping for planting,
opening and harrowing their ground?
25 When he has smoothed its surface,
doesn’t he scatter fennel,[i] and sow cumin,
and plant wheat and barley in their places,
and spelt as a border?
26 They are properly ordered;
their God directs them.[j]
27 Fennel[k] isn’t threshed with a threshing sledge,
nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
but fennel[l] is beaten with a staff,
and cumin with a rod.
28 Bread grain is crushed,
but the thresher[m] doesn’t thresh it forever.
He drives the cart wheel over it;
he spreads it out but doesn’t crush it.
29 This also comes from the Lord of heavenly forces,
who gives wondrous counsel and increases wisdom.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 28:1 DSS (1QIsaa)
- Isaiah 28:4 Heb uncertain
- Isaiah 28:4 Or at the head of the fat valley
- Isaiah 28:10 A Hebrew version of baby talk or gibberish
- Isaiah 28:15 Heb Maveth
- Isaiah 28:15 Heb Sheol
- Isaiah 28:18 Heb Maveth
- Isaiah 28:18 Heb Sheol
- Isaiah 28:25 Or black cumin
- Isaiah 28:26 Or waters them
- Isaiah 28:27 Or black cumin
- Isaiah 28:27 Or black cumin
- Isaiah 28:28 DSS (1QIsaa)
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