Isaiah 28
28
XXVIII
1Wo to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,
Even the fading flower, their glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the rich valley of the men that are stupified with wine.
2Behold the strong and mighty one of the Lord!
Like a storm of hail, a destructive tempest;
Like a flood of mighty and overflowing waters,
Shall he dash it to the ground with his mighty hand.
3Under foot shall it be trodden down,
The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim.
4The fading flower, their glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the rich valley,
Shall be as an early fig before summer;
Which a man seeth, and while it is yet scarcely in his hand, he swalloweth it up.
5In that day shall Jehovah of hosts become a beauteous crown,
And glorious diadem, to the residue of his people;
6And a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment;
And strength to them that turn back the battle to the gate.
7But even these have erred through wine, and through strong drink they have reeled:
The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink;
They are overcome by wine, they have reeled through strong drink;
They have erred in vision, they have stumbled in judgment
8For all tables are full of filthy vomit;
So that no place is free.
9Whom, say they, would he teach knowledge?
And to whom would he impart instruction?
Are we infants weaned from the milk?
Scarcely removed from the breasts?
10For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept;
Line upon line, line upon line;
Here a little, and there a little.
11Yea verily, by speakers of a strange language, and in a foreign tongue,
Will He speak to this people.
12For when He said unto them:
This is the true rest; give ye rest unto the weary;
And this is the place of happiness; they would not hear.
13But the word of Jehovah was unto them,
Precept upon precept, precept upon precept;
Line upon line, line upon line;
Here a little, and there a little:
That they should go on, and fall backward, and be broken;
And be snared, and taken.
14Wherefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, ye scoffers;
Ye rulers of this people which is in Jerusalem.
15Because ye have said: We have made a covenant with death,
And with the grave we have made an agreement:
The overflowing scourge, when it passeth through, shall not reach us:
For we have made lying our refuge;
And under falsehood have we hid ourselves.
16Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah:
Behold! I have laid in Zion for a foundation a stone,
A tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation:
He that confideth in it shall not make haste.
17And I will set judgment for a line,
And righteousness for a plummet;
And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lying,
And the hiding place the waters shall overwhelm.
18And your covenant with death shall be annulled;
And your agreement with the grave shall not stand:
When the overflowing scourge posseth through,
By it shall ye be trodden down.
19As oft as it passeth through, shall it seize you;
For morning after morning shall it pass through,
By day and by night:
And even the report alone shall cause terror.
20For the bed is too short, for one to stretch himself out at length;
And the covering too narrow, for one to wrap himself therein.
21For as in mount Perazim, Jehovah will arise;
As in the valley of Gibeon, shall he be moved with anger;
That he may perform his work, his strange work;
And to bring to pass his act, his strange act.
22Now therefore give not up yourselves to scoffing,
Lest your bands be tightened:
For the havock, even the judgment decreed have I heard
From the Lord Jehovah of hosts, upon the whole land.
23Give ye ear, and hear my voice;
Attend, and hearken unto my words.
24Doth the ploughman plough all day long that he may sow?
Doth he always open and break the clods of his ground!
25Doth he not also, when he hath levelled the surface thereof,
Cast abroad the dill, and scatter the cummin;
And set the wheat in rows,
And the barley in its appointed place,
And the spelt in its proper border?
26For He instructeth him as to the right way,
His God it is that teacheth him.
27For the dill is not threshed with the threshing sledge,
Nor is the wheel of the wain made to roll over the cummin:
But the dill is beaten out with a staff,
And the cummin with a rod.
28Bread-corn is threshed:
But not for ever will he continue thus to thresh it;
Though he driveth along the wheels of his wain,
And his horses, he will not bruise it to dust.
29This also cometh from Jehovah of hosts,
Who is wonderful in counsel, great in wisdom.
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Isaiah 28: TEG
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.
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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