Isaiah 28
28
Warnings to Israel
1How terrible it will be for Samaria, the pride of Israel’s drunken people!
That beautiful crown of flowers is just a dying plant
set on a hill above a rich valley where drunkards live.
2Look, the Lord has someone who is strong and powerful.
Like a storm of hail and strong wind,
like a sudden flood of water pouring over the country,
he will throw Samaria down to the ground.
3That city, the pride of Israel’s drunken people,
will be trampled underfoot.
4That beautiful crown of flowers is just a dying plant
set on a hill above a rich valley.
That city will be like the first fig of summer.
Anyone who sees it
quickly picks it and eats it.
5At that time the Lord All-Powerful
will be like a beautiful crown,
like a wonderful crown of flowers
for his people who are left alive.
6Then he will give wisdom to the judges who must decide cases
and strength to those who battle at the city gate.
7But now those leaders are drunk with wine;
they stumble from drinking too much beer.
The priests and prophets are drunk with beer
and are filled with wine.
They stumble from too much beer.
The prophets are drunk when they see their visions;
the judges stumble when they make their decisions.
8Every table is covered with vomit,
so there is not a clean place anywhere.
9The Lord is trying to teach the people a lesson;
he is trying to make them understand his teachings.
But the people are like babies too old for breast milk,
like those who no longer nurse at their mother’s breast.
10So they make fun of the Lord’s prophet and say:
“A command here, a command there.
A rule here, a rule there.
A little lesson here, a little lesson there.”
11So the Lord will use strange words and foreign languages
to speak to these people.
12God said to them,
“Here is a place of rest;
let the tired people come and rest.
This is the place of peace.”
But the people would not listen.
13So the words of the Lord will be,
“A command here, a command there.
A rule here, a rule there.
A little lesson here, a little lesson there.”
They will fall back and be defeated;
they will be trapped and captured.
14So listen to the Lord’s message, you who brag,
you leaders in Jerusalem.
15You say, “We have made an agreement with death;
we have a contract with death.
When terrible punishment passes by,
it won’t hurt us.
Our lies will keep us safe,
and our tricks will hide us.”
16Because of these things, this is what the Lord God says:
“I will put a stone in the ground in Jerusalem,
a tested stone.
Everything will be built on this important and precious rock.
Anyone who trusts in it will never be disappointed.
17I will use justice as a measuring line
and goodness as the standard.
The lies you hide behind will be destroyed as if by hail.
They will be washed away as if in a flood.
18Your agreement with death will be erased;
your contract with death will not help you.
When terrible punishment comes,
you will be crushed by it.
19Whenever punishment comes, it will take you away.
It will come morning after morning;
it will defeat you by day and by night.
Those who understand this punishment will be terrified.”
20You will be like the person who tried to sleep
on a bed that was too short
and with a blanket that was too narrow
to wrap around himself.
21The Lord will fight as he did at Mount Perazim.
He will be angry as he was in the Valley of Gibeon.
He will do his work, his strange work.
He will finish his job, his strange job.
22Now, you must not make fun of these things,
or the ropes around you will become tighter.
The Lord God All-Powerful has told me
how the whole earth will be destroyed.
The Lord Punishes Fairly
23Listen closely to what I tell you;
listen carefully to what I say.
24A farmer does not plow his field all the time;
he does not go on working the soil.
25He makes the ground flat and smooth.
Then he plants the dill and scatters the cumin.
He plants the wheat in rows,
the barley in its special place,
and other wheat as a border around the field.
26His God teaches him
and shows him the right way.
27A farmer doesn’t use heavy boards to crush dill;
he doesn’t use a wagon wheel to crush cumin.
He uses a small stick to break open the dill,
and with a stick he opens the cumin.
28The grain is ground to make bread.
People do not ruin it by crushing it forever.
The farmer separates the wheat from the chaff with his cart,
but he does not let his horses grind it.
29This lesson also comes from the Lord All-Powerful,
who gives wonderful advice, who is very wise.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 28
28
Woe to Samaria
1Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards,#Is 28:7; Hs 7:5
and to the fading flower of its beautiful splendor,
which is on the summit above the rich valley.
Woe to those overcome with wine.
2Look, the Lord has a strong and mighty one#Is 8:7; 40:10 —
like a devastating hail storm,
like a storm with strong flooding water.
He will bring it across the land with his hand.
3The majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards
will be trampled underfoot.
4The fading flower of his beautiful splendor,
which is on the summit above the rich valley,
will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest.#Hs 9:10; Mc 7:1; Nah 3:12
Whoever sees it will swallow it
while it is still in his hand.
5On that day
the Lord of Armies will become a crown of beauty
and a diadem of splendor#Is 62:3
to the remnant of his people,
6a spirit of justice
to the one who sits in judgment,#1Kg 3:28; Is 11:2; 32:1,15–16; Jn 5:30
and strength
to those who repel attacks at the city gate.
7Even these stagger because of wine
and stumble under the influence of beer:
Priest and prophet stagger because of beer.
They are confused by wine.#Is 5:11,22; 9:15; 22:13; 56:12; Hs 4:11
They stumble because of beer.
They are muddled in their visions.
They stumble in their judgments.
8Indeed, all their tables are covered with vomit;
there is no place without a stench.
9Who is he trying to teach?
Who is he trying to instruct?
Infants#28:9 Lit Those just weaned from milk?
Babies#28:9 Lit Those removed from the breast?
10“Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there.”#28:10 Hb obscure, also in v. 13
11For he will speak to this people
with stammering speech
and in a foreign language.#Is 5:26–29; 33:19; 1Co 14:21
12He had said to them,
“This is the place of rest;
let the weary rest;#Is 11:10; 30:15; 32:17–18; Jr 6:16; Mt 11:28–29
this is the place of repose.”
But they would not listen.
13The word of the Lord will come to them:
“Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there,”
so they go stumbling backward,
to be broken, trapped, and captured.#Is 8:15; Mt 21:44
A Deal with Death
14Therefore hear the word of the Lord,#Is 1:10; 39:5,8; 66:5 you scoffers#Is 29:20
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15For you said, “We have made a covenant with Death,
and we have an agreement with Sheol;
when the overwhelming catastrophe#28:15 Or whip; Hb obscure, also in v. 18 passes through,#Is 8:7–8
it will not touch us,
because we have made falsehood our refuge
and have hidden behind treachery.”
16Therefore the Lord God said:
“Look, I have laid a stone#Is 8:14; 26:4 in Zion,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;#Mt 21:42; Mk 12:10; Lk 20:17; Ac 4:11; 1Co 3:11; Eph 2:20
the one who believes will be unshakable.#28:16 Lit will not hurry#Rm 9:33; 1Pt 2:6
17And I will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the mason’s level.”#2Kg 21:13; Is 5:16; 30:18; 61:8; Am 7:7–9
Hail will sweep away the false refuge,
and water will flood your hiding place.
18Your covenant with Death will be dissolved,
and your agreement with Sheol will not last.
When the overwhelming catastrophe passes through,
you will be trampled.
19Every time it passes through,
it will carry you away;
it will pass through every morning —
every day and every night.
Only terror#2Ch 29:8; Jr 15:4; 24:9; 29:18 will cause you
to understand the message.#28:19 Or The understanding of the message will cause sheer terror
20Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and its cover too small to wrap up in.
21For the Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim.#2Sm 5:20; 1Ch 14:11
He will rise in wrath, as at the Valley of Gibeon,#Jos 10:10,12; 2Sm 5:25; 1Ch 14:16
to do his work, his unexpected work,
and to perform his task, his unfamiliar task.
22So now, do not scoff,
or your shackles will become stronger.
Indeed, I have heard from the Lord God of Armies
a decree of destruction for the whole land.#Is 10:22–23; Rm 9:27–28
God’s Wonderful Advice
23Listen and hear my voice.
Pay attention and hear what I say.
24Does the plowman plow every day to plant seed?
Does he continuously break up and cultivate the soil?
25When he has leveled its surface,
does he not then scatter black cumin and sow cumin?
He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots,
with spelt as their border.
26His God teaches him order;
he instructs him.
27Certainly black cumin is not threshed
with a threshing board,
and a cart wheel is not rolled over the cumin.
But black cumin is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28Bread grain is crushed,
but is not threshed endlessly.
Though the wheel of the farmer’s cart rumbles,
his horses do not crush it.
29This also comes from the Lord of Armies.
He gives wondrous advice;
he gives great wisdom.#Is 9:6; Jr 32:19
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