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
The Fate of Samaria#These verses once constituted an independent oracle against the Northern Kingdom, probably originally spoken during the time between its overthrow by Assyria in 732 and its destruction in 722/721. Isaiah has reused them as an introduction to his oracle against Judah (vv. 7–22), because the leaders of Judah were guilty of the same excesses that had once marked Ephraim’s leadership.
1Ah! majestic garland
of the drunkards of Ephraim,#Ephraim: the Northern Kingdom. Its capital, Samaria, was built upon a hill, suggestive of a majestic garland adorning a human head. The characterization of the leadership of Ephraim as drunken underscores its inattention to justice and good government (cf. 5:11–13; Am 6:1–6).
Fading blooms of his glorious beauty,
at the head of the fertile valley,
upon those stupefied with wine.#Hos 7:5; Am 6:1–6.
2See, the Lord has a strong one, a mighty one,#A strong one, a mighty one: Assyria (cf. 8:7–8).
who, like an onslaught of hail, a destructive storm,
Like a flood of water, great and overflowing,
levels to the ground with violence;#Is 25:4–5; 28:17–18; 30:30.
3With feet that will trample
the majestic garland of the drunkards of Ephraim.
4The fading blooms of his glorious beauty
at the head of the fertile valley
Will be like an early fig before summer:
whoever sees it,
swallows it as soon as it is in hand.#Is 17:6; Na 3:12.
5On that day the Lord of hosts
will be a glorious crown
And a brilliant diadem
for the remnant of his people,
6A spirit of judgment
for the one who sits in judgment,
And strength for those
who turn back the battle at the gate.
Against Judah
7But these also stagger from wine
and stumble from strong drink:
Priest and prophet stagger from strong drink,
overpowered by wine;
They are confused by strong drink,
they stagger in their visions,
they totter when giving judgment.#Is 5:11–12; Mi 2:11.
8Yes, all the tables
are covered with vomit,
with filth, and no place left clean.
9#The words of those who ridicule Isaiah. The Hebrew of v. 10, by its very sound, conveys the idea of mocking imitation of what the prophet says, as though he spoke like a stammering child: “sau lasau, sau lasau, kau lakau, kau lakau, ze’er sham, ze’er sham.” But in v. 13 God repeats these words in deadly earnest, putting them in the mouth of the victorious Assyrian army. “To whom would he impart knowledge?
To whom would he convey the message?
To those just weaned from milk,
those weaned from the breast?
10For he says,
‘Command on command, command on command,
rule on rule, rule on rule,
here a little, there a little!’”
11#God will answer the mockers and defend Isaiah. Strange language: spoken by the invading army. Yes, with stammering lips and in a strange language
he will speak to this people,#Jer 5:15; 1 Cor 14:21; Dt 28:49; Bar 4:15.
12to whom he said:
“This is the resting place,
give rest to the weary;
And this is the place of repose”—
but they refused to hear.#Is 30:9.
13So for them the word of the Lord shall be:
“Command on command, command on command,
Rule on rule, rule on rule,
here a little, there a little!”
So that when they walk, they shall stumble backward,
broken, ensnared, and captured.#Is 8:15.
14Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
who rule#Who rule: there is a play on words; the same expression could also mean, “Proverb makers,” that is, scoffers of this people. this people in Jerusalem:#Is 3:1–4; 5:18–21.
15You have declared, “We have made a covenant with death,
with Sheol#28:15, 18] A covenant with death, with Sheol: an alliance with foreign powers, such as Egypt and Babylon. Have made lies…a hiding place: this confidence in human aid will prove to be false and deceitful, incapable of averting the dreaded disaster. Raging flood: the Assyrian invasion; cf. 8:7–8. we have made a pact;
When the raging flood passes through,
it will not reach us;
For we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have found a hiding place,”—#Wis 1:16; Jer 5:12.
16Therefore, thus says the Lord God:
See, I am laying a stone in Zion,#A stone in Zion: the true and sure foundation of salvation, i.e., the presence of God, who had chosen and founded Zion as his city (Ps 78:68–69; Is 14:32) and had chosen the Davidic dynasty to rule over his people (Ps 78:70–72; Is 9:1–6; 11:1–10). Cornerstone: the assurance of salvation, rejected by the people of Judah in the prophet’s time, is picked up in Ps 118:22 and later applied to Christ; cf. Mt 21:42; Lk 20:17; Acts 4:11; Rom 9:33; 1 Pt 2:7. Chapters 28–31 alternate between threats of the danger of rebelling against Assyria (with implied trust in Egypt) with assurances of the power and protection of the Lord.
a stone that has been tested,
A precious cornerstone as a sure foundation;
whoever puts faith in it will not waver.#Ps 118:22; Mt 21:42; Acts 4:11; Rom 9:33; 1 Pt 2:6.
17I will make judgment a measuring line,
and justice a level.—#Line…level: instruments used in constructing a building, to keep it true. They are used metaphorically here to refer to the qualities that Zion, the city of God, must manifest, judgment and justice, not bloodshed (Mi 3:10), nor deceit and violence, which would result in a bulging unstable wall doomed to destruction (Is 30:12–14). Cf. 1 Cor 3:10–17.
Hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters shall flood the hiding place.
18Your covenant with death shall be canceled
and your pact with Sheol shall not stand.
When the raging flood passes through,
you shall be beaten down by it.#Is 28:2–3.
19Whenever it passes, it shall seize you;
morning after morning it shall pass,
by day and by night.
Sheer terror
to impart the message!
20For the bed shall be too short to stretch out in,
and the cover too narrow to wrap in.
21For the Lord shall rise up as on Mount Perazim,
bestir himself as in the Valley of Gibeon,#Mount Perazim…Valley of Gibeon: where David defeated the Philistines; cf. 2 Sm 5:20, 25; 1 Chr 14:11, 16. God’s new work will be strange, because instead of fighting for Judah as the Lord did in David’s time, God will now fight against Jerusalem (see 29:1–4).
To carry out his work—strange his work!
to perform his deed—alien his deed!
22Now, cease scoffing,
lest your bonds be tightened,
For I have heard a decree of destruction
from the Lord, the God of hosts,
for the whole land.#Is 5:18–19; 10:23.
The Parable of the Farmer
23#The practical variation of the farmer’s work reflects the way God deals with his people, wisely adapted to circumstances; he does not altogether crush them in their weakness. Give ear and hear my voice,
pay attention and hear my word:
24Is the plowman forever plowing in order to sow,
always loosening and harrowing the field?
25When he has leveled the surface,
does he not scatter caraway and sow cumin,#Caraway…cumin: herbs used in seasoning food. Spelt: a variety of wheat.
Put in wheat and barley,
with spelt as its border?
26His God has taught him this rule,
he has instructed him.
27For caraway is not threshed with a sledge,
nor does a cartwheel roll over cumin.
But caraway is beaten out with a staff,
and cumin with a rod.
28Grain is crushed for bread, but not forever;
though he thresh it thoroughly,
and drive his cartwheel and horses over it,
he does not pulverize it.
29This too comes from the Lord of hosts;
wonderful is his counsel and great his wisdom.#Rom 11:33.
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