Isaiah 28
Legacy Standard Bible
Woe to Ephraim
28 Woe to the proud crown of the (A)drunkards of (B)Ephraim,
And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the [a]fertile valley
Of those who are [b]overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has a strong and (C)courageous agent;
As a storm of (D)hail, a tempest of destruction,
Like a storm of (E)mighty overflowing waters,
He has set it down to the earth with His hand.
3 The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is (F)trodden under foot.
4 And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the [c]fertile valley,
Will be like the (G)first-ripe fig prior to summer,
Which [d]one sees,
And [e]as soon as it is in his [f]hand,
He swallows it.
5 In that day (H)Yahweh of hosts will become a beautiful (I)crown
And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;
6 A (J)spirit of just judgment for him who sits in judgment,
A (K)might to those who turn back the [g]onslaught at the gate.
7 And these also (L)reel with wine and stagger from strong drink:
(M)The priest and (N)the prophet reel with strong drink;
They are swallowed up by wine, they stagger from (O)strong drink;
They reel while [h]having (P)visions;
They totter when rendering a verdict.
8 For all the tables are full of filthy (Q)vomit, without a single clean place.
9 “(R)Whom would He instruct in knowledge,
And whom would He provide understanding about the report?
Those just (S)weaned from milk?
Those just taken from the breast?
10 For He says,
‘[i](T)Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there.’”
11 Indeed, He will speak to this people
Through (U)stammering lips and a foreign tongue,
12 He who said to them, “Here is (V)rest, give rest to the weary,”
And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen.
13 So the word of Yahweh to them will be,
“[j]Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there,”
That they may go and (W)stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.
A Cornerstone in Zion
14 Therefore, (X)hear the word of Yahweh, O (Y)scoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have cut a (Z)covenant with death,
And with Sheol we have made a [k]pact.
(AA)The overflowing [l]scourge will not reach us when it passes by,
For we have made (AB)falsehood our refuge and we have (AC)hidden ourselves with lying.”
16 Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh,
“(AD)Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested (AE)stone,
A costly cornerstone for the foundation, [m]firmly placed.
He who believes in it will not be [n]disturbed.
17 I will make (AF)justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then (AG)hail will sweep away the refuge of falsehood,
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18 Your (AH)covenant with death will be [o](AI)canceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the (AJ)overflowing scourge passes through,
Then you will become its (AK)trampling place.
19 As (AL)often as it passes through, it will take you;
For (AM)morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,
And it will be [p]sheer (AN)terror to understand the report.”
20 The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the (AO)blanket is too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21 For Yahweh will rise up as at Mount (AP)Perazim;
He will be stirred up as in the valley of (AQ)Gibeon,
To work His (AR)work, His [q](AS)unusual work,
And to labor in His labor, His [r]exceptional labor.
22 So now do not carry on as (AT)scoffers,
Lest your fetters be made stronger;
For I have heard from Lord Yahweh of hosts
Of complete (AU)destruction, one that is decreed, on all the earth.
23 Give ear and hear my voice,
Pay attention and hear my words.
24 Does the [s]farmer plow [t]continually to plant seed?
Does he continually [u]turn and harrow his ground?
25 Does he not level its surface
And sow dill and scatter (AV)cumin
And [v]plant (AW)wheat in rows,
Barley in its place and rye within its [w]area?
26 For his God disciplines and teaches him proper judgment.
27 For dill is not threshed with a (AX)threshing sledge,
Nor is the wheel of a cart [x]driven over cumin;
But dill is beaten out with a staff, and cumin with a rod.
28 Grain for bread is crushed,
But he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually [y]disturb it,
He does not crush it longer.
29 This also comes from Yahweh of hosts,
Who has made His counsel (AY)wonderful and His wisdom (AZ)great.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 28:1 Lit valley of fatness
- Isaiah 28:1 Lit smitten
- Isaiah 28:4 Lit valley of fatness
- Isaiah 28:4 Lit the one seeing sees
- Isaiah 28:4 Lit while it is yet
- Isaiah 28:4 Lit palm
- Isaiah 28:6 Lit battle
- Isaiah 28:7 Lit seeing
- Isaiah 28:10 Heb Sav lasav, sav lasav, Kav lakav, kav lakav, Ze’ er sham, ze’ er sham; These Hebrew monosyllables, imitating the babbling of a child, mock the prophet’s preaching
- Isaiah 28:13 See v 10 note 1, Yahweh responds to their scoffing by imitating their mockery, to represent the unintelligible language of a conqueror
- Isaiah 28:15 As in some ancient versions; Heb seer
- Isaiah 28:15 Or flood
- Isaiah 28:16 Lit well-laid
- Isaiah 28:16 Lit in a hurry
- Isaiah 28:18 Lit covered over
- Isaiah 28:19 Lit only
- Isaiah 28:21 Lit task is strange
- Isaiah 28:21 Lit work is foreign
- Isaiah 28:24 Lit plowman
- Isaiah 28:24 Lit all day
- Isaiah 28:24 Lit open
- Isaiah 28:25 Lit put
- Isaiah 28:25 Lit region
- Isaiah 28:27 Lit rolled
- Isaiah 28:28 Lit confuse
Isaiah 28
Evangelical Heritage Version
A Warning to the Northern Kingdom
28
Woe to drunken Ephraim’s proud crown,
to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
on the peak that overlooks a fertile valley.
Woe to those who are overcome with wine!
2 Look, the Lord has someone who is strong and mighty.
Like a hailstorm,
like a destructive windstorm,
like a hurricane that drives surging waters,
he will throw them down to the earth with his own hand.
3 Drunken Ephraim’s proud crown will be trampled underfoot.
4 The fading flower of its glorious beauty, on the peak overlooking
a fertile valley,
will be like the early figs before summer,
which someone picks and swallows as soon as he sees them.
5 On that day the Lord of Armies will become a glorious crown
and a beautifully braided headband for the remnant of his people.
6 He will provide a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment,
and strength for those who turn back the battle at the gate.
The Drunken Prophets and Priests
7 They stagger into error because of wine,
and they stumble off the way because of beer.
The priests and prophets stagger with beer,
and they are dizzy from wine.
They stumble from beer.
They stagger when they see visions.
They reel when they render judgment.
8 All their tables are covered with vomit.
There is not a spot without filth.
9 They[a] say:
Who is he trying to teach?
Who needs his instruction?
A baby who has just been weaned from milk?
An infant just taken from the breast?
10 They say:
Law by law, law by law,
rule by rule, rule by rule,[b]
a little here, a little there.
11 So the Lord will speak to this people
with barbarous lips and in a foreign tongue.
12 He said to them,
“This is the resting place.
Let the weary rest.
This is the place to be refreshed,”
but they would not listen.
13 That is why to them the word of the Lord will be:
Law by law, law by law,
rule by rule, rule by rule,[c]
a little here, a little there.
As a result they will try to walk,
but they will fall backwards.
They will be hurt, trapped, and taken.
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.[d]
When the punishing whip[e] 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.[f]
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.
A Parable
23 Listen! Hear my voice.
Pay attention to what I say.
24 Does the plowman keep plowing all day in order to plant?
Does he keep tilling the soil and turning over the dirt?
25 When he has leveled the surface,
doesn’t he plant the dill
and scatter cumin seed?
He plants the wheat in one place,
barley in another field,
and spelt along the edge.
26 His God instructs him
and teaches him good judgment.
27 Of course he does not thresh the dill with a threshing sledge,
nor does he roll the wheel of a cart over the cumin.
No, he beats the dill with a stick
and strikes the cumin with a staff.
28 Flour for bread needs to be ground,
so he does not thresh endlessly.
He drives the wheels of his threshing cart over it
and even his team of horses,
but he does not pulverize it.
29 This also springs forth from the Lord of Armies.
He gives amazing advice.
He provides great guidance.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 28:9 That is, the drunken priests and prophets who mock Isaiah
- Isaiah 28:10 The Hebrew text reads sav lasav sav lasav kav lakav kav lakav. It is possible that these are meaningless sounds imitating a baby’s babble and mocking the prophet’s words and rejecting God’s laws.
- Isaiah 28:13 The Hebrew is the same as in verse 10, but now the Lord uses the words of the mockers as a warning about the foreign speech of the invading Assyrians.
- Isaiah 28:15 Hebrew sheol
- 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.
- Isaiah 28:16 The translation here follows the Greek text. The Hebrew and Latin read will not be in haste.
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