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
Chapter 28
A sad song about Ephraim #28:1 Ephraim was the Israelite kingdom in the north. Its capital city was Samaria.
1It will be very bad for Ephraim's beautiful city, Samaria! The people who live there drink too much wine and they become drunk. They are proud of their great city. It is on a hill above a valley where many good things grow. It is like a beautiful flower, but it will be beautiful no more and it will die.
2Look! The Lord God is sending a strong and powerful army to attack it. #28:2 This was probably the Assyrian army. It comes like a strong storm of ice. Its wind destroys everything. It is like rain that pours down and causes a flood. He will knock down Ephraim's great city to the ground with his great power!
3The drunk people of Samaria think that their city is great. But their enemies will knock it down and walk all over it. 4The city is like a beautiful flower that will soon die. It is on a hill above a valley where many good things grow. But it will be like a fig on a tree. It is ready to eat before the harvest time. When someone sees it, he will quickly pick it. And he will eat it!
5At that time. the Lord Almighty will be a great leader of his people. He will be like a beautiful crown for his people who still remain alive. 6He will help judges to decide what is right. He will give strength to the people who keep the city safe from those who attack it.
7But now wine causes the leaders in Ephraim to become drunk. They cannot walk in a straight line because they drink too much beer. Beer causes the priests and the prophets to fall over. Wine confuses their minds. When they see visions, they cannot understand them. When they judge people, they cannot decide what is right.
8They are sick over all their tables. Everywhere is covered with dirt.
9They say, ‘Why does the Lord try to teach us like that? Who does he think that we are? He speaks to us as if we are babies! He thinks that we have just left our mother's breast! 10He teaches us one rule at a time, one line at a time. He says it several times, a little bit here, a little bit there.’
11So now the Lord will use foreign enemies to speak to these people. He will speak to them in a strange language.
12In the past, he said to them, ‘This is a place where you can rest when you are tired. It is a place where you can be safe.’ But his people refused to listen. 13So the Lord's message will seem to them like, ‘One rule at a time, one line at a time, a little bit here, a little bit there.’ So as they try to move forward, they will fall over. An enemy will hurt them, and he will catch them in a trap.
A message about Jerusalem
14So listen to the Lord's message, you leaders in Jerusalem who rule these people. Do not laugh at what the Lord is doing.
15You boast, ‘We have made a covenant with death. Yes, we have made an agreement with Sheol. When trouble comes to our city like a deep flood of water, we will be safe. We trust in our lies to keep us safe.’
16So the Almighty Lord says this:
‘Look! I am putting a special stone in Zion. It is a valuable stone, because it makes a strong foundation at the corner of my building. Anyone who trusts in that foundation will never be disappointed.
17 Justice and righteousness will make that foundation strong and true. But if you trust in lies, a storm of ice will destroy your safe place. A flood of water will destroy the place where you are hiding. 18I will stop your covenant with death. Your agreement with Sheol will not continue. When trouble comes like a deep flood of water, it will drown you. 19A flood of punishment will come again and again, and it will carry you away. It will come every morning, and all through the day and the night.’
When you understand this message from the Lord, you will be very afraid. 20You will not be able to rest, like a tall person who tries to sleep on a short bed. Your blanket will not cover your whole body.
21But the Lord will do a great thing, like he did at Mount Perazim. He will be very angry, as he was in the Gibeon Valley. He will do something that is very wonderful and strange.
22So do not laugh at me when I warn you. If you do not listen, your punishment will become even worse. The Lord Almighty has told me what he has decided. He has decided to destroy the whole land.
23So listen carefully to my message. Hear what I am saying!
24A farmer ploughs the ground because he wants to plant seeds in it. He does not continue to plough for ever. 25When he has prepared the ground, he plants many different seeds. He plants dill and cummin. He plants wheat, barley and different grains in their proper places.
26God teaches the farmer and he tells him the right thing to do. 27After the harvest, the farmer knows how to remove seeds from dill or from cummin. He will not pull a heavy iron weight over dill. He will not run the wheels of a cart over cummin. Instead, he will hit them with a light stick.
28When he crushes grain to make flour for bread, he does not do it for a long time. He drives the wheels of his cart over the grain, but he does not let his horses crush it.
29The Lord Almighty causes farmers to know all that. His ideas are very wise, and he shows us how to live in a wise way.
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