Isaiah 28
28
Warnings to Northern Israel
1Look at Samaria!
The drunks of Ephraim are proud of that city.
It sits on a hill with a rich valley around it.
The Samarians think their city is a beautiful crown of flowers.
But they are drunk with wine,
and this “beautiful crown” is just a dying plant.
2Look, the Lord has someone who is strong and brave.
He will come into the country like a storm of hail and rain.
Like a powerful river of water flooding the country,
he will throw that crown#28:2 that crown That is, Samaria. down to the ground.
3The drunks of Ephraim are proud of their beautiful crown,
but that city will be trampled down.
4That city sits on a hill with a rich valley around it.
But that beautiful crown of flowers is just a dying plant.
It will be like the first figs of summer.
As soon as someone sees a ripe one, they pick it and eat it.
5At that time the Lord All-Powerful will become the “Beautiful Crown.” He will be the “Wonderful Crown of Flowers” for his people who are left. 6Then he will give wisdom to the judges who rule his people. He will give strength to the people who are in battles at the city gates. 7But now those leaders are drunk. The priests and prophets are all drunk with wine and beer. They stumble and fall down. The prophets are drunk when they see their dreams. The judges are drunk when they make their decisions. 8Every table is covered with vomit. There is not a clean place anywhere.
God Wants to Help His People
9 The people say, “Who does he think he is trying to teach and explain his message to? Does he think we are babies who were at their mother’s breast only a very short time ago? 10He speaks to us as though we were babies:
“Saw lasaw saw lasaw
Qaw laqaw qaw laqaw
Ze’er sham ze’er sham.”#28:10 Saw lasaw … ze’er sham This is probably a Hebrew song to teach little children how to write. It sounds like baby talk or a foreign language, but it can also be translated, “A command here, a command there. A rule here, a rule there. A lesson here, a lesson there.” Also in verse 13.
11So God will use this strange way of talking, and he will use other languages to speak to these people.
12In the past he spoke to them and said, “Here is a resting place. Let those who are tired come and rest. This is the place of peace.”
But they would not listen to him. 13So the Lord’s words will be senseless sounds#28:13 senseless sounds Or “gibberish” or “baby talk.” to them:
“Saw lasaw saw lasaw.
Qaw laqaw qaw laqaw.
Ze’er sham ze’er sham.”
When the people try to walk, they will fall backwards. They will be defeated, trapped, and captured.
No One Escapes God’s Judgment
14You leaders in Jerusalem should listen to the Lord’s message, but now you refuse to listen to him. 15You have said, “We have made an agreement with death. We have a contract with death. So we will not be punished. Punishment will pass us without hurting us. We will hide behind our tricks and lies.”
16Because of these things, the Lord GOD says, “I will put a rock—a cornerstone—in the ground in Zion. This will be a very precious stone.#28:16 very precious stone This also means a stone has been tested and shown that it has no cracks. Everything will be built on this very important rock. Anyone who trusts in that rock will not be disappointed.#28:16 Anyone … disappointed This is found in the ancient Greek version. The standard Hebrew text has “Whoever trusts will not panic.”
17“Workers use a string and weight to show their work is straight and true. I will use justice as the string and goodness as the weight when I lay that foundation. But your safe places were built on lies. So they will be destroyed and washed away when the troubles come against you like hail storms and floods. 18Your agreement with death will be erased. Your contract with Sheol will not help you.
“Someone will come and punish you. He will make you like the dirt he walks on. 19He will come and take you away. Your punishment will be terrible. Your punishment will come early in the morning, and it will continue late into the night.
“Then you will understand this story: 20A man tried to sleep on a bed that was too short for him. He had a blanket that was not wide enough to cover him. The bed and blanket were useless, and so were your agreements.”
21The Lord will fight as he did at Mount Perazim. He will be angry as he was in Gibeon Valley.#28:21 Mount Perazim … Gibeon Valley See 1 Chron. 14:8-17. He will do what he must do. It will be what some stranger should do, but he will finish his work. Yes, this is a stranger’s job. 22Now don’t complain about these things. If you fight against them, you will only tighten the ropes around you.
The words I heard will not change. They came from the Lord GOD All-Powerful, the ruler of all the earth, and these things will be done.
The Lord Punishes Fairly
23Listen closely to the message I am telling you. 24Does a farmer plow his field all the time? No, he doesn’t work the soil all the time. 25A farmer prepares the ground, and then he plants the seed. He plants different kinds of seeds different ways. He scatters dill seeds, he throws cumin seeds on the ground, and he plants wheat in rows. A farmer plants barley in its special place, and he plants spelt seeds at the edge of his field.
26Our God is using this to teach you a lesson. This example shows us that God is fair when he punishes his people. 27Does a farmer use large boards with sharp teeth to crush dill seeds? No, and he doesn’t use a wagon to crush cumin seeds. A farmer uses a small stick to break the hulls from these seeds of grain. 28People grind grain to make flour, but they don’t grind it forever. As God does in punishing people, a worker might drive his wagon over the grain to remove the hulls, but he does not allow the horses#28:28 horses This word also means “horse soldiers.” to crush it. 29This lesson comes from the Lord All-Powerful, who gives wonderful advice. He is very wise.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Yeshayah (Isaiah) 28
28
1Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephrayim, and to the fading flower of its splendid comeliness that is on the head of the fertile valley, to those who are overcome with wine!
2See, יהוה has one who is strong and potent, like a downpour of hail and a destroying storm, like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, who casts down to the earth with the hand.
3The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephrayim, is trampled under foot;
4and the fading flower of its splendid comeliness that is on the head of the fertile valley, like the first fruit before the summer, which, when one sees it, he eats it up while it is still in his hand.
5In that day יהוה of hosts is for a crown of splendour and a head-dress of comeliness to the remnant of His people,
6and a spirit of right-ruling to him who sits in right-ruling, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7And these too have gone astray through wine, and through strong drink wandered about. Priest and prophet have gone astray through strong drink, they are swallowed up by wine, they wander about through strong drink, they go astray in vision, they stumble in right-ruling.
8For all tables shall be covered with vomit, no place without filth.
9Whom would He teach knowledge? And whom would He make to understand the message? Those weaned from milk, those taken from the breasts!
10For it is: command upon command, command upon command, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.
11For with a jabbering lip and a foreign tongue He speaks to this people,
12to whom He said, “This is the rest, give rest to the weary,” and, “This is the refreshing.” But they would not hear.
13But the Word of יהוה was to them, “Command upon command, command upon command, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little,” so that they go and shall stumble backward, and be broken and snared and taken captive.
14Therefore hear the Word of יהוה, you men of scorn, who rule this people who are in Yerushalayim,
15because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with She’ol we have effected a vision. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it does not come to us, for we have made lying our refuge, and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”
16Therefore thus said the Master יהוה, “See, I am laying in Tsiyon a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a settled foundation. He who trusts shall not hasten away.
17And I shall make right-ruling the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet. And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lying, and the waters overflow the hiding place.
18And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your vision with She’ol not stand. When an overflowing scourge passes through, then you shall be trampled down by it.
19As often as it passes through it shall take you, for it shall pass through every morning, and by day and by night. And it shall be only trembling to understand the message.”
20For the bed shall be too short for a man to stretch out on, and the covering shall be too narrow to wrap himself in it.
21For יהוה rises up as at Mount Peratsim, and He is wroth as at the Valley of Giḇ‛on, to do His work, His strange work, and to do His deed, His strange deed.
22And now, do not be scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong. For I have heard from the Master יהוה of hosts, a destruction decreed upon all the earth.
23Give ear and hear my voice, listen and hear my Word.
24Does the ploughman keep ploughing all day to sow? Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods?
25When he has levelled its surface, does he not sow the caraway and scatter the cummin, plant the wheat in rows, the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in its place?
26For He instructs him for right-ruling, his Elohim teaches him.
27For caraway is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a wagon wheel rolled over cummin, but caraway is beaten out with a stick, and cummin with a rod.
28Grain is crushed, so one does not go on threshing it forever, nor break it with his wagon wheel, nor crush it with his horsemen.
29Even this has come from יהוה of hosts, who did wonders in counsel, who made wisdom great.
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