Isaiah 28
Easy-to-Read Version
Warnings to Northern Israel
28 Look at Samaria!
The drunks of Ephraim are proud of that city.
It sits on a hill with a rich valley around it.
The Samarians think their city is a beautiful crown of flowers.
But they are drunk with wine,
and this “beautiful crown” is just a dying plant.
2 Look, the Lord has someone who is strong and brave.
He will come into the country like a storm of hail and rain.
Like a powerful river of water flooding the country,
he will throw that crown[a] down to the ground.
3 The drunks of Ephraim are proud of their beautiful crown,
but that city will be trampled down.
4 That city sits on a hill with a rich valley around it.
But that beautiful crown of flowers is just a dying plant.
It will be like the first figs of summer.
As soon as someone sees a ripe one, they pick it and eat it.
5 At that time the Lord All-Powerful will become the “Beautiful Crown.” He will be the “Wonderful Crown of Flowers” for his people who are left. 6 Then he will give wisdom to the judges who rule his people. He will give strength to the people who are in battles at the city gates. 7 But now those leaders are drunk. The priests and prophets are all drunk with wine and beer. They stumble and fall down. The prophets are drunk when they see their dreams. The judges are drunk when they make their decisions. 8 Every table is covered with vomit. There is not a clean place anywhere.
God Wants to Help His People
9 The people say, “Who does he think he is trying to teach and explain his message to? Does he think we are babies who were at their mother’s breast only a very short time ago? 10 He speaks to us as though we were babies:
“Saw lasaw saw lasaw
Qaw laqaw qaw laqaw
Ze’er sham ze’er sham.”[b]
11 So God will use this strange way of talking, and he will use other languages to speak to these people.
12 In the past he spoke to them and said, “Here is a resting place. Let those who are tired come and rest. This is the place of peace.”
But they would not listen to him. 13 So the Lord’s words will be senseless sounds[c] to them:
“Saw lasaw saw lasaw.
Qaw laqaw qaw laqaw.
Ze’er sham ze’er sham.”
When the people try to walk, they will fall backwards. They will be defeated, trapped, and captured.
No One Escapes God’s Judgment
14 You leaders in Jerusalem should listen to the Lord’s message, but now you refuse to listen to him. 15 You have said, “We have made an agreement with death. We have a contract with death. So we will not be punished. Punishment will pass us without hurting us. We will hide behind our tricks and lies.”
16 Because of these things, the Lord God says, “I will put a rock—a cornerstone—in the ground in Zion. This will be a very precious stone.[d] Everything will be built on this very important rock. Anyone who trusts in that rock will not be disappointed.[e]
17 “Workers use a string and weight to show their work is straight and true. I will use justice as the string and goodness as the weight when I lay that foundation. But your safe places were built on lies. So they will be destroyed and washed away when the troubles come against you like hail storms and floods. 18 Your agreement with death will be erased. Your contract with Sheol will not help you.
“Someone will come and punish you. He will make you like the dirt he walks on. 19 He will come and take you away. Your punishment will be terrible. Your punishment will come early in the morning, and it will continue late into the night.
“Then you will understand this story: 20 A man tried to sleep on a bed that was too short for him. He had a blanket that was not wide enough to cover him. The bed and blanket were useless, and so were your agreements.”
21 The Lord will fight as he did at Mount Perazim. He will be angry as he was in Gibeon Valley.[f] He will do what he must do. It will be what some stranger should do, but he will finish his work. Yes, this is a stranger’s job. 22 Now don’t complain about these things. If you fight against them, you will only tighten the ropes around you.
The words I heard will not change. They came from the Lord God All-Powerful, the ruler of all the earth, and these things will be done.
The Lord Punishes Fairly
23 Listen closely to the message I am telling you. 24 Does a farmer plow his field all the time? No, he doesn’t work the soil all the time. 25 A farmer prepares the ground, and then he plants the seed. He plants different kinds of seeds different ways. He scatters dill seeds, he throws cumin seeds on the ground, and he plants wheat in rows. A farmer plants barley in its special place, and he plants spelt seeds at the edge of his field.
26 Our God is using this to teach you a lesson. This example shows us that God is fair when he punishes his people. 27 Does a farmer use large boards with sharp teeth to crush dill seeds? No, and he doesn’t use a wagon to crush cumin seeds. A farmer uses a small stick to break the hulls from these seeds of grain. 28 People grind grain to make flour, but they don’t grind it forever. As God does in punishing people, a worker might drive his wagon over the grain to remove the hulls, but he does not allow the horses[g] to crush it. 29 This lesson comes from the Lord All-Powerful, who gives wonderful advice. He is very wise.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 28:2 that crown That is, Samaria.
- Isaiah 28:10 Saw lasaw … ze’er sham This is probably a Hebrew song to teach little children how to write. It sounds like baby talk or a foreign language, but it can also be translated, “A command here, a command there. A rule here, a rule there. A lesson here, a lesson there.” Also in verse 13.
- Isaiah 28:13 senseless sounds Or “gibberish” or “baby talk.”
- Isaiah 28:16 very precious stone This also means a stone has been tested and shown that it has no cracks.
- Isaiah 28:16 Anyone … disappointed This is found in the ancient Greek version. The standard Hebrew text has “Whoever trusts will not panic.”
- Isaiah 28:21 Mount Perazim … Gibeon Valley See 1 Chron. 14:8-17.
- Isaiah 28:28 horses This word also means “horse soldiers.”
以賽亞書 28
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
北國必遭審判
28 以法蓮酒徒引以為榮的華冠有禍了！
它座落在醉酒者肥美的山谷頂上，
它的榮美如將殘之花。
2 看啊，主已經派來一位強壯有力的人，
他像冰雹和毀滅的暴風，
又像洶湧氾濫的洪水，
他必把那華冠猛力摔在地上。
3 以法蓮酒徒引以為榮的華冠必被踐踏。
4 那肥美山谷上將殘的榮美之花，
必像夏季到來之前早熟的無花果，
人一看見它就把它摘去吞掉。
5 到那日，萬軍之耶和華必做祂餘民的榮冠和華冕。
6 祂必使審判官公正斷案，
賜力量給守城退敵之人。
7 但祭司和先知也因喝酒而搖搖晃晃，
因烈酒而東倒西歪。
他們因烈酒而搖搖晃晃、
酩酊大醉、東倒西歪，
他們錯解異象，糊塗判案。
8 桌子上到處都是嘔吐之物，
一片狼藉。
9 他們抱怨我說：
「他想教導誰知識呢？
他想把信息解釋給誰呢？
是剛剛斷奶、離開母懷的嬰孩嗎？
10 因為他的教導只是命命令令、命命令令、律律例例、律律例例、這裡一點、那裡一點。」
11 因此，耶和華必用外族人的口和語言來教訓他們。
12 耶和華曾對他們說：
「這是安歇之地，
讓疲乏的人安歇吧。
這是安歇之地。」
他們卻不肯聽。
13 所以，對他們來說，
耶和華的話成了命命令令、命命令令、律律例例、律律例例、這裡一點、那裡一點，
以致他們走路時仰面跌倒，摔傷，落網，被捉。
14 你們這些好譏諷、在耶路撒冷統管百姓的人啊，
要聽耶和華的話。
15 你們說：
「我們已經和死亡立約，
與陰間結盟。
災難席捲而來的時候，
我們會安然無恙，
因為我們以謊言為庇護所，
以詭詐為藏身處。」
16 所以主耶和華說：
「看啊，我要在錫安放一塊基石，
一塊經過考驗的石頭，
一塊根基穩固的寶貴房角石，
信靠的人必不致蒙羞。
17 我必以公平為準繩，
以公義作線錘。
冰雹必砸碎你們虛謊的庇護所，
洪水必淹沒你們的藏身處。
18 你們和死亡所立的約必被廢棄，
與陰間的結盟必不能長久。
災難席捲而來的時候，
你們必遭毀滅。
19 災難必不分晝夜、日復一日地掃過，
每次掃過都必將你們擄去。」
明白這信息的人都必驚恐萬分。
20 你們的床太小，不能舒身；
你們的被子太窄，不足裹身。[a]
21 耶和華必像在毗拉心山一樣挺身而出，
像在基遍谷一樣發怒，
要完成祂奇異的作為，
成就祂不尋常的工作。
22 現在你們不要再譏諷了，
以免捆綁你們的繩索勒得更緊，
因為我已從主——萬軍之耶和華那裡聽到毀滅全國的諭旨。
23 你們要側耳聽我的聲音，
留心聽我的話語。
24 難道農夫會一直耕地而不撒種嗎？
難道他會一直犁地、耙地嗎？
25 他耙平土地之後，
難道不種小茴香、大茴香嗎？
不按行種小麥，
在合適的地方種大麥，
在田邊種粗麥嗎？
26 因為上帝指點他，教導他耕種之道。
27 打小茴香不用大槌，用棍子；
打大茴香不用石磙，用棒子。
28 做餅的糧食要磨碎，
沒有人會不停地在場上碾壓糧食。
馬拉著石磙在場上軋過，
也不會把麥子磨碎。
29 這些知識都是萬軍之耶和華所賜的，
祂有奇妙的謀略和偉大的智慧。
Footnotes
- 28·20 此處的床和被子象徵他們虛假的安全感。
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.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.