Isaiah 28
New Catholic Bible
The Lord Saves Israel and Judah[a]
Chapter 28
Against Samaria
1 Woe to the proud garlands of Ephraim’s drunkards
and to the fading flowers of its glorious beauty,
the crowning glory of a nation of men
overcome with wine and lying in the streets.
2 But behold, the Lord has one in his service
who is mighty and strong,
and who, like a storm of hail,
like a destroying tempest,
like a torrent of rain and raging flood waters,
will hurl them violently to the ground.
3 The majestic garlands of Ephraim’s drunkards
will be trampled underfoot.
4 And the fading blooms of its glorious beauty,
at the head of the lush valley,
will be like early figs before the summer;
whoever sees them will pluck them
and immediately consume them.
5 On that day the Lord of hosts
will be a crown of glory
and a beautiful diadem
to the remnant of his people,
6 a spirit of justice
to the one who sits in judgment,
and a spirit of strength to those
who repel the enemy at the city gates.
Against Judah
7 These also stagger from wine
and stumble due to strong drink.
Priests and prophets are confused because of liquor;
alcohol leaves them unable to think clearly
or to pronounce fair judgments.
8 Every table is covered with filthy vomit;
no place is clean.
9 “To whom will the prophet impart knowledge?
To whom will he explain his message?
To babies who are newly weaned,
to those just taken from the breast?
10 With him we are given
command after command, command after command,
rule after rule, rule after rule,
here a little, there a little.”[b]
11 Now, with stammering lips
and in an alien tongue,
he will speak to this people,
12 to whom he has said,
“This is the place for rest;
give rest to the weary.
This is the place for repose.”
However, they would not listen.
13 Therefore, to them the word of the Lord will be,
“Command after command, command after command,
rule after rule, rule after rule,
here a little, there a little.”
14 Therefore, listen to the word of the Lord,
you arrogant rulers of this people in Jerusalem.
15 Proudly you have boasted,
“We have made a covenant with death
and entered into a pact with the netherworld.
And so, when the overwhelming scourge occurs,
it will not afflict us.
For we have made lies our refuge
and taken shelter in falsehood.”
16 Therefore, the Lord God
has this to say to you in response:
Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion,
a stone that has been tested,
a precious cornerstone as a firm foundation;
those who place their trust in it will not falter.
17 And I will make justice the measuring line,
with righteousness as the plumb line.
Hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and flood waters will submerge your hiding place.
18 Then your covenant with death will be annulled
and your pact with Sheol will not survive.
When the raging waters roar forth,
you will be overwhelmed by them.
19 As often as the flood sweeps through,
it will engulf you,
sweeping over you day and night,
as terror conveys the message clearly.
20 For your bed will be too short
to enable you to stretch out,
and the blanket will be too narrow
to cover you sufficiently.
21 Then the Lord will rise up as on Mount Perazim,
and he will rage as he did in the Valley of Gibeon,
to accomplish his work, his mysterious work,
and to perform his deed, his strange deed.[c]
22 Therefore, cease your arrogance,
or your bonds will be further tightened.
For the Lord God of hosts has revealed to me
the destruction he has decreed for the entire earth.
23 Listen carefully to my words;
pay close attention to what I have to say.
24 Does the plowman spend his entire time plowing,
breaking up and harrowing his land?
25 Once he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter the fennel and sow cummin,
and plant wheat and barley,
with spelt around the borders?
26 God has instructed him in this
and trained him correctly.
27 Fennel must not be threshed with a sledge,
nor is a cartwheel rolled over cummin.
28 Grain must be crushed for bread,
but it cannot be done so to excess;
one maneuvers the cartwheels and the horses
but is careful not to grind it too fine.
29 All this knowledge comes from the Lord of hosts
whose counsel is wonderful
and whose wisdom is great.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 28:1 The following oracles mark, as it were, the advance of the troops which, toward the end of the eighth century, extended Assyrian dominion toward the western edge of the Fertile Crescent and as far as Egypt. The Hebrew people involved themselves in a dangerous game of alliances. When invasion threatens, Isaiah reminds them that it is in faith that they will find true courage and that amid the whirlwind of events, there is no security except in God. Some parts of this collection are from a later period.
- Isaiah 28:10 In Hebrew, this verse (and v. 13) is a series of monosyllables that imitate the babbling of a drunkard: sau lasau, sau lasau, kau lakau, kau lakau, etc.
- Isaiah 28:21 Recalls David’s victory over the Philistines (2 Sam 5:17-25).
Isaiah 28
GOD’S WORD Translation
Ephraim Will Fall
28 How horrible it will be for the arrogant drunks of Ephraim.
Their glorious beauty is ⌞like⌟ a withered flower.
They are at the entrance to a fertile valley
where they lie drunk from wine.
2 The Lord has one who is strong and powerful.
He is like a hailstorm, a destructive wind.
He is like a thunderstorm, an overwhelming flood.
He will throw them to the ground forcefully.
3 The arrogant drunks of Ephraim will be trampled underfoot.
4 Their glorious beauty is ⌞like⌟ a withered flower.
They are at the entrance to a fertile valley.
They will be like figs that ripened early.
As soon as someone sees them,
they will be taken and eaten.
5 When that day comes, the Lord of Armies will be
like a glorious crown for his few remaining people.
6 He will give a spirit of justice to those who judge.
He will give strength to those who defend the city gates in battle.
7 Priests and prophets stagger from wine and wobble from too much liquor.
They stagger from too much liquor
and become confused from too much wine.
They wobble because of their liquor.
They stagger when they see visions.
They swerve as they judge.
8 All the tables are covered with vomit and excrement.
There isn’t a clean place left.
9 To whom will they make the message understood?
To whom will they explain this message?
To children just weaned from milk?
To those just taken from their ⌞mother’s⌟ breasts?
10 They speak utter nonsense.[a]
11 The Lord will speak to these people.
He will mock them by speaking in a foreign language.
12 He will say to them,
“This is a place for comfort.
This is a place of rest for those who are tired.
This is a place for them to rest.”
But they weren’t willing to listen.
13 The Lord speaks utter nonsense to them.
That is why they will fall backwards.
That is why they will be hurt, trapped, and captured.
A Message to Jerusalem
14 So hear the Lord’s word, you foolish talkers
who rule the people in Jerusalem.
15 You say, “We made a treaty with death
and an agreement with the grave.
When the overwhelming disaster passes by,
it won’t matter to us,
because we have taken refuge in our lies,
and falsehood is our hiding place.”
16 This is what the Almighty Lord says:
I am going to lay a rock in Zion,
a rock that has been tested,
a precious cornerstone,
a solid foundation.
Whoever believes ⌞in him⌟ will not worry.
17 I will make justice a measuring line
and righteousness a plumb line.
Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies,
and floodwaters will wash away your hiding place.
18 Your treaty with death will be wiped away.
Your agreement with the grave will not stand.
When the overwhelming disaster passes by,
you will be trampled by it.
19 Each time it passes by it will take you.
It will pass by morning after morning,
during the day and during the night.
Understanding this message brings only terror.
20 The bed is too short to stretch out on.
The blanket is too narrow to serve as a cover.
21 The Lord will rise as he did on Mount Perazim.
He will wake up as he did in Gibeon Valley.
He will do his work, his unexpected work,
and perform his deeds, his mysterious deeds.
22 Now stop laughing, or your chains will be tightened,
because I have heard that the Almighty Lord of Armies
has finally determined to destroy the whole land.
23 Open your ears, and listen to me!
Pay attention, and hear me!
24 Does a farmer go on plowing every day so he can plant?
Does he continue to break up the soil and make furrows in the ground?
25 When he has smoothed its surface,
doesn’t he scatter black cumin seed and plant cumin?
Doesn’t he plant wild wheat in rows?
Doesn’t he put barley in its own area
and winter wheat at its borders?
26 God will guide him in judgment,
and his God will teach him.
27 Black cumin isn’t threshed [b] with a sledge,
and wagon wheels aren’t rolled over cumin.
Black cumin is beaten with a rod
and cumin with a stick.
28 Grain is ground into flour, but the grinding eventually stops.
It will be threshed.
The wheels of his cart will roll over it,
but his horses won’t crush it.
29 All of this has come from the Lord of Armies.
His counsel is wonderful, and his wisdom is great.
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