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
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Woe to Samaria
28 Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards,(A)
and to the fading flower of its beautiful splendor,
which is on the summit above the rich valley.
Woe to those overcome with wine.
2 Look, the Lord has a strong and mighty one(B)—
like a devastating hail storm,
like a storm with strong flooding waters.
He will bring it across the land with His hand.
3 The majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards
will be trampled underfoot.
4 The fading flower of his beautiful splendor,
which is on the summit above the rich valley,
will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest.(C)
Whoever sees it will swallow it
while it is still in his hand.
5 On that day
the Lord of Hosts will become a crown of beauty
and a diadem of splendor(D)
to the remnant of His people,
6 a spirit of justice
to the one who sits in judgment,(E)
and strength
to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 These also stagger because of wine
and stumble under the influence of beer:
priest and prophet stagger because of beer,
they are confused by wine.(F)
They stumble because of beer,
they are muddled in their visions,
they stumble in their judgments.
8 Indeed, all their tables are covered with vomit;
there is no place without a stench.
9 Who is he[a] trying to teach?
Who is he[b] trying to instruct?
Infants[c] just weaned from milk?
Babies[d] removed from the breast?
10 For he says: “Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there.”[e][f]
11 So He will speak to this people
with stammering speech
and in a foreign language.(G)
12 He had said to them:
“This is the place of rest,
let the weary rest;(H)
this is the place of repose.”
But they would not listen.
13 Then the word of the Lord came to them:
“Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there,”[g][h]
so they go stumbling backward,
to be broken, trapped, and captured.(I)
A Deal with Death
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord,(J) you mockers(K)
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 For you said, “We have cut a deal with Death,
and we have made an agreement with Sheol;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,(L)
it will not touch us,
because we have made falsehood our refuge
and have hidden behind treachery.”
16 Therefore the Lord God said:
“Look, I have laid a stone(M) in Zion,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;(N)
the one who believes will be unshakable.[i](O)
17 And I will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the mason’s level.”(P)
Hail will sweep away the false refuge,
and water will flood your hiding place.
18 Your deal with Death will be dissolved,
and your agreement with Sheol will not last.
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be trampled.
19 Every time it passes through,
it will carry you away;
it will pass through every morning—
every day and every night.
Only terror(Q) will cause you
to understand the message.[j]
20 Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and its cover too small to wrap up in.
21 For the Lord will rise up as He did at Mount Perazim.(R)
He will rise in wrath, as at the Valley of Gibeon,(S)
to do His work, His strange work,
and to perform His task, His disturbing task.
22 So now, do not mock,
or your shackles will become stronger.
Indeed, I have heard from the Lord God of Hosts
a decree of destruction for the whole land.(T)
God’s Wonderful Advice
23 Listen and hear my voice.
Pay attention and hear what I say.
24 Does the plowman plow every day to plant seed?
Does he continuously break up and cultivate the soil?
25 When he has leveled its surface,
does he not then scatter black cumin and sow cumin?
He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots,
with spelt as their border.
26 His God teaches him order;
He instructs him.
27 Certainly black cumin is not threshed
with a threshing board,
and a cart wheel is not rolled over the cumin.
But black cumin is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28 Bread grain is crushed,
but is not threshed endlessly.
Though the wheel of the farmer’s cart rumbles,
his horses do not crush it.
29 This also comes from the Lord of Hosts.
He gives wonderful advice;
He gives great wisdom.(U)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 28:9 Or He
- Isaiah 28:9 Or He
- Isaiah 28:9 Lit Those
- Isaiah 28:9 Lit Those
- Isaiah 28:10 Hb obscure
- Isaiah 28:10 Perhaps the mockers of v. 9 are mimicking the prophet’s words as baby talk.
- Isaiah 28:13 Hb obscure
- Isaiah 28:13 The Lord quotes the mockers' words in v. 10 to represent the unintelligible language of the Assyrian invaders.
- Isaiah 28:16 Lit will not hurry
- Isaiah 28:19 Or The understanding of the message will cause sheer terror
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