Isaiah 28:9-16

Common English Bible

⁹To 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?
¹⁰It is “tsav letsav, tsav letsav; qav leqav, qav leqav,”^[a]
    a little of this, a little of that.
¹¹With derisive speech and a foreign tongue,
    he will speak to this people.
¹²He 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.
¹³So 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

¹⁴Therefore, hear the Lord’s word,
    you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
¹⁵You said, “We’ve cut a deal with death;^[b]
    with the underworld^[c] 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.”
¹⁶Therefore, 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.