Isaiah 28:14-22
The Voice
14 Let this be a warning, the Eternal’s word to you sarcastic jokesters,
you leaders in Jerusalem.
15 For you have made an audacious claim:
Leaders: We have made a pact with death; we’ve made a deal with the grave.
When the scourge of disease and doom comes our way, they won’t touch us.
Death and the grave will pass us by
for our fraud disguises us, and deception is our shield.
16 So the Lord, the Eternal, has this to say:
Eternal One: See here, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone—
a cornerstone, chosen and precious—for a firm foundation.
Whoever trusts in it will never be disgraced.[a]
17 Justice will be the line by which I lay out its floor plan,
and righteousness will be My leveling tool.
A hailstorm will pulverize and wash away the fraud and deception behind which people hide,
and floodwaters will overrun their hiding place.
18 Then your pact with death and the grave will be annulled.
When the scourge that you fear comes along,
It will find you and pummel you down.
19 Whenever it does come your way, it will grab you.
It could be anytime—morning, noon, or night.
To fathom its message will be sheer terror.
20 The bed is too short to stretch out and the blanket is too small
for you to hide in or pretend you are not here.
21 For the Eternal will stand as He did at Mount Perazim
and shake it all up as He did in Gibeon Valley,
To accomplish whatever it is that God wills to accomplish—
strange deeds indeed.
22 So don’t keep laughing it off,
or your chains will be made even stronger.
For I heard from the Lord, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies,
that an absolute end has been determined for the whole earth.
Footnotes
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
