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A Message about Samaria

28 What sorrow awaits the proud city of Samaria—
    the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel.[a]
It sits at the head of a fertile valley,
    but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower.
It is the pride of a people
    brought down by wine.
For the Lord will send a mighty army against it.
    Like a mighty hailstorm and a torrential rain,
they will burst upon it like a surging flood
    and smash it to the ground.
The proud city of Samaria—
    the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel[b]
    will be trampled beneath its enemies’ feet.
It sits at the head of a fertile valley,
    but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower.
Whoever sees it will snatch it up,
    as an early fig is quickly picked and eaten.

Then at last the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    will himself be Israel’s glorious crown.
He will be the pride and joy
    of the remnant of his people.
He will give a longing for justice
    to their judges.
He will give great courage
    to their warriors who stand at the gates.

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Footnotes

  1. 28:1 Hebrew What sorrow awaits the crowning glory of the drunks of Ephraim, referring to Samaria, capital of the northern kingdom of Israel.
  2. 28:3 Hebrew The crowning glory of the drunks of Ephraim; see note on 28:1.

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!
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.
With hands[d] and feet, that proud garland[e]
    those drunks of Ephraim—will be trampled.
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.

At that time,[f] the Lord of the Heavenly Armies will become a glorious crown,
    a beautiful diadem for the remnant of his people,
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.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 28:1 Lit. the valley of those grown fat
  2. Isaiah 28:2 So 1QIsaa; MT reads Lord
  3. Isaiah 28:2 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks and
  4. Isaiah 28:3 So 1QIsaa; cf. LXX; or He will throw them forcefully down to the ground; cf. MT
  5. Isaiah 28:3 So 1QIsaa LXX; or Underfoot that proud garland; cf. MT
  6. Isaiah 28:5 Lit. On that day