Isaiah 28
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Judgment on Corrupt Rulers, Priests, and Prophets
28 Woe to the proud garland of the drunkards of Ephraim
and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
at the head of the fertile valley,
those overcome with wine!(A)
2 See, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong,
like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest,
like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters;
with force he will hurl them down to the earth.(B)
3 Trampled under foot will be
the proud garland of the drunkards of Ephraim.(C)
4 And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
at the head of the fertile valley,
will be like a first-ripe fig before the summer;
whoever sees it eats it up
as soon as it comes to hand.(D)
5 On that day the Lord of hosts will be a garland of glory
and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of his people(E)
6 and a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment
and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.(F)
7 These also reel with wine
and stagger with strong drink;
the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink;
they are confused with wine;
they stagger with strong drink;
they err in vision;
they stumble in giving judgment.(G)
8 All tables are covered with filthy vomit;
no place is clean.(H)
9 “Whom will he teach knowledge,
and to whom will he explain the message?
Those who are weaned from milk,
those taken from the breast?(I)
10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little.”[a](J)
11 Truly, with stammering lip
and with another tongue
he will speak to this people,(K)
12 to whom he has said,
“This is rest;
give rest to the weary,
and this is repose,”
yet they would not hear.(L)
13 Therefore the word of the Lord will be to them,
“Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little,”[b]
in order that they may go and fall backward
and be broken and snared and taken.(M)
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers
who rule this people in Jerusalem.(N)
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;(O)
16 therefore thus says the Lord God,
“See, I am laying[c] in Zion a foundation stone,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation:
‘One who trusts will not panic.’(P)
17 And I will make justice the line
and righteousness the plummet;
hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.(Q)
18 Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be beaten down by it.(R)
19 As often as it passes through, it will take you,
for morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night,
and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.”(S)
20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it,
and the covering is too narrow to wrap oneself in it.
21 For the Lord will rise up as on Mount Perazim;
he will rage as in the valley of Gibeon
to do his deed—strange is his deed!—
and to work his work—alien is his work!(T)
22 Now therefore do not scoff,
or your bonds will be made stronger,
for I have heard a decree of destruction
from the Lord God of hosts upon the whole land.(U)
23 Listen and hear my voice;
Pay attention and hear my speech.
24 Do those who plow for sowing plow continually?
Do they continually open and harrow their ground?
25 When they have leveled its surface,
do they not scatter dill, sow cumin,
and plant wheat in rows
and barley in its proper place[d]
and spelt as the border?
26 For they are well instructed;
their God teaches them.
27 For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
but dill is beaten out with a stick
and cumin with a rod.(V)
28 Grain is crushed for bread,
but one does not thresh it forever;
one drives the cart wheel and horses over it
but does not pulverize it.
29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts;
he is wonderful in counsel
and excellent in wisdom.(W)
Isaiah 28
International Standard Version
The Captivity of Ephraim
28 How terrible it will be for that arrogant garland—
the drunks of Ephraim!
How terrible it will be for that fading flower of his glorious beauty,
which sits on the heads of people bloated with food,[a]
of people overcome with wine!
2 Look! The Lord[b] has one who is mighty and strong,
like a hailstorm and destructive tempest,
like a storm of mighty, overflowing water—
and[c] he will give rest to the land.
3 With hands[d] and feet, that proud garland[e]—
those drunks of Ephraim—will be trampled.
4 And that fading flower, his glorious beauty,
which sits on the heads of people bloated with food,
will be like an early fig before summer—
whenever someone sees it, he swallows it
as soon as it’s in his hand.
5 At that time,[f] the Lord of the Heavenly Armies will become a glorious crown,
a beautiful diadem for the remnant of his people,
6 and a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment,
a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 These people also[g] stagger from wine
and reel from strong drink.
Priests and prophets stagger from strong drink;
they’re drunk from[h] wine;
they reel from strong drink,
waver when seeing visions,
and stumble when rendering decisions.
8 For all the tables are covered in vomit and filth,
with no clean[i] space left.
Misuse of God’s Word
9 To whom will he teach knowledge,
and to whom will he explain the message?
To children just weaned from milk?
To those just taken from the breast?
10 For it is: “Do this and do that,
do this and do that,
Line upon line, line upon line,
a little here, a little there.”
11 Very well, then, through the mouths of foreigners[j]
and foreign languages
the Lord will speak to this people
12 to whom he said,
“This is the resting place,
so give rest to the weary”’
and,
“This is the place of repose”—
but they would not listen.
13 So, then, the message from the Lord to them will become:
“Do this and do that,
do this and do that,
line upon line,
line upon line,
a little here,
a little there,”
so that they will go,
but fall backward,
and be injured, snared, and captured.
God’s Precious Cornerstone
14 “Therefore hear[k] the message from the Lord, you scoffers
who rule this people that are in Jerusalem.
15 Because you said:
‘We have entered into a covenant with death,
and we have an agreement with Sheol,[l]
so when the overwhelming scourge makes its choice,[m]
it cannot reach us,
since we have made lies our refuge
and have concealed ourselves inside falsehood,’
16 therefore this is what the Lord God[n] says:
“Look! I am laying[o] a foundation stone in Zion, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a sure[p] foundation:
Whoever believes firmly will not act hastily.
17 And I will make justice the measuring line,
and righteousness the plumb line;
hail will sweep away your refuge of lies,
and floods[q] will overflow your hiding place.
18 “Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol[r] will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge sweeps by,
you will be trampled by it.
19 As often as it sweeps through,
it will carry you away,
for it will sweep by morning after morning in the day;
but understanding this message will bring sheer terror at night,[s]
20 because the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and its blankets too narrow to wrap around oneself!
God is on Mount Perazim
21 For the Lord will stand upon[t] Mount Perazim,[u]
he will rouse himself in[v] the Valley of Gibeon;
to carry out his work—
his strange deed,
and to perform his task—
his alien task!
22 But as for you,[w] don’t start mocking,
or your chains will become tighter;
for I have heard from the Lord[x] of the Heavenly Armies about destruction,
and it is decreed against the whole land.
The God who Plows and Harvests
23 “Pay attention!
Listen to what I have to say;
Pay attention,
and hear my speech.
24 Does he who plows for sowing plow all the time?
Does he keep on breaking up and harrowing his field?
25 When he has leveled its surface,
he scatters caraway[y] and sows cumin, doesn’t he?
He plants wheat in rows,
barley in its designated place,
and feed for livestock[z] around its borders,[aa] doesn’t he?
26 His God instructs him regarding the correct way,
directing him how to plant.[ab]
27 For caraway is not threshed with a sharp sledge,
nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin.
Instead, caraway is winnowed with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28 It[ac] must be ground;[ad]
one cannot keep threshing it forever.
Even if he drives his cart[ae] and horses over it,
he cannot crush it.
29 This insight also comes from the Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
who is distinguished[af] in practical advice
and[ag] magnificent in sound wisdom.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 28:1 Lit. the valley of those grown fat
- Isaiah 28:2 So 1QIsaa; MT reads Lord
- Isaiah 28:2 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks and
- Isaiah 28:3 So 1QIsaa; cf. LXX; or He will throw them forcefully down to the ground; cf. MT
- Isaiah 28:3 So 1QIsaa LXX; or 3 Underfoot that proud garland; cf. MT
- Isaiah 28:5 Lit. On that day
- Isaiah 28:7 1QIsaa lacks people also; MT lacks people
- Isaiah 28:7 Lit. are devoured by
- Isaiah 28:8 1QIsaa MT lack clean
- Isaiah 28:11 Or through foreign lips
- Isaiah 28:14 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsac MT LXX read hear (pl.)
- Isaiah 28:15 I.e. the place where the dead dwell in the afterlife
- Isaiah 28:15 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read sweeps by
- Isaiah 28:16 So 1QIsaa corrector
- Isaiah 28:16 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab; MT reads I have laid
- Isaiah 28:16 So 1QIsaa MT; MTmss LXX lack sure
- Isaiah 28:17 Lit. waters
- Isaiah 28:18 I.e. the place where the dead dwell in the afterlife
- Isaiah 28:19 So 1QIsaa; MT reads by day and by night; and there will be sheer terror.
- Isaiah 28:21 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads as
- Isaiah 28:21 I.e. a mountain near Jerusalem, perhaps the Mount of Olives; cf. 2Sam 6:8
- Isaiah 28:21 So 1QIsaa; MT reads as
- Isaiah 28:22 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads So now
- Isaiah 28:22 So 1QIsaa MTmss LXX Syr; MT reads the Lord God
- Isaiah 28:25 Or scatters black cumin
- Isaiah 28:25 Lit. and spelt; i.e. a grass grown and used as fodder
- Isaiah 28:25 So 1QIsaa; MT reads its border; LXX reads your borders
- Isaiah 28:26 DSS MT lack how to plant
- Isaiah 28:28 I.e. grain; so 1QIsaa MT; 4QIsak reads And it
- Isaiah 28:28 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsak MT read must be ground for bread
- Isaiah 28:28 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsaa corrector MT read the wheel of his cart
- Isaiah 28:29 So 1QIsaa; MT reads wonderful
- Isaiah 28:29 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks and
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