Isaiah 28
28
Warnings to North 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.
It sits on a hill above a rich valley where drunkards live.
2Look, the Lord has someone who is strong and full of power.
That person will come like a storm of hail and strong wind.
He will come 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.
It sits on a hill above a rich valley.
That city will be like the first fig of summer.
When a person sees it,
he quickly picks it and eats it.
5At that time the Lord of heaven’s armies
will be like a beautiful crown.
He will be like a wonderful crown of flowers
for his people who are left alive.
6Then the Lord will give wisdom
to the judges who rule his people.
The Lord will give 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.
They 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.
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 little babies.
They are like babies who just nursed 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 lesson here, a 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 lesson here, a lesson there.”
They will fall back and will be defeated.
They will be trapped and captured.
14You who brag should listen to the Lord’s message.
Pay attention, you leaders in Jerusalem.
15You say, “We have made an agreement with death.
We have a contract with death.
When punishment passes by,
it won’t hurt us.
We will be safe with our lies.
We will hide behind our tricks.”
16Because of these things, this is what the Lord God says:
“I will put a stone in the ground in Jerusalem.
This will be 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.
I will use goodness to measure by.
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 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 hear of this punishment will be terrified.”
20You will be like the man who tried to sleep
on a bed that was too short for him.
And his blanket 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.
Then the Lord will do his work, his strange work.
He will finish his job, his strange job.
22Now, you must not make fun of these things.
If you do, the ropes around you will become tighter.
The Lord of heaven’s armies has told me these things.
He 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 prepares the ground.
Then he plants the dill seed and scatters the cummin seed.
He plants the wheat in rows.
He plants barley in its special place,
and other wheat in its own 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 to crush cummin.
He uses a small stick to break open the dill.
With a stick he opens the cummin.
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 comes from the Lord of heaven’s armies.
He gives wonderful advice. He is very wise.
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Isaiah 28: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Isaiah 28
28
A Message about Samaria
1What sorrow awaits the proud city of Samaria—
the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel.#28:1 Hebrew What sorrow awaits the crowning glory of the drunks of Ephraim, referring to Samaria, capital of the northern kingdom of Israel.
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.
2For 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.
3The proud city of Samaria—
the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel#28:3 Hebrew The crowning glory of the drunks of Ephraim; see note on 28:1.—
will be trampled beneath its enemies’ feet.
4It 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.
5Then 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.
6He will give a longing for justice
to their judges.
He will give great courage
to their warriors who stand at the gates.
7Now, however, Israel is led by drunks
who reel with wine and stagger with alcohol.
The priests and prophets stagger with alcohol
and lose themselves in wine.
They reel when they see visions
and stagger as they render decisions.
8Their tables are covered with vomit;
filth is everywhere.
9“Who does the Lord think we are?” they ask.
“Why does he speak to us like this?
Are we little children,
just recently weaned?
10He tells us everything over and over—
one line at a time,
one line at a time,
a little here,
and a little there!”
11So now God will have to speak to his people
through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language!
12God has told his people,
“Here is a place of rest;
let the weary rest here.
This is a place of quiet rest.”
But they would not listen.
13So the Lord will spell out his message for them again,
one line at a time,
one line at a time,
a little here,
and a little there,
so that they will stumble and fall.
They will be injured, trapped, and captured.
14Therefore, listen to this message from the Lord,
you scoffing rulers in Jerusalem.
15You boast, “We have struck a bargain to cheat death
and have made a deal to dodge the grave.#28:15 Hebrew Sheol; also in 28:18.
The coming destruction can never touch us,
for we have built a strong refuge made of lies and deception.”
16Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem,#28:16a Hebrew in Zion.
a firm and tested stone.
It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on.
Whoever believes need never be shaken.#28:16b Greek version reads Look! I am placing a stone in the foundation of Jerusalem [literally Zion], / a precious cornerstone for its foundation, chosen for great honor. / Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced. Compare Rom 9:33; 1 Pet 2:6.
17I will test you with the measuring line of justice
and the plumb line of righteousness.
Since your refuge is made of lies,
a hailstorm will knock it down.
Since it is made of deception,
a flood will sweep it away.
18I will cancel the bargain you made to cheat death,
and I will overturn your deal to dodge the grave.
When the terrible enemy sweeps through,
you will be trampled into the ground.
19Again and again that flood will come,
morning after morning,
day and night,
until you are carried away.”
This message will bring terror to your people.
20The bed you have made is too short to lie on.
The blankets are too narrow to cover you.
21The Lord will come as he did against the Philistines at Mount Perazim
and against the Amorites at Gibeon.
He will come to do a strange thing;
he will come to do an unusual deed:
22For the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
has plainly said that he is determined to crush the whole land.
So scoff no more,
or your punishment will be even greater.
23Listen to me;
listen, and pay close attention.
24Does a farmer always plow and never sow?
Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting?
25Does he not finally plant his seeds—
black cumin, cumin, wheat, barley, and emmer wheat—
each in its proper way,
and each in its proper place?
26The farmer knows just what to do,
for God has given him understanding.
27A heavy sledge is never used to thresh black cumin;
rather, it is beaten with a light stick.
A threshing wheel is never rolled on cumin;
instead, it is beaten lightly with a flail.
28Grain for bread is easily crushed,
so he doesn’t keep on pounding it.
He threshes it under the wheels of a cart,
but he doesn’t pulverize it.
29The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher,
and he gives the farmer great wisdom.
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