Isaiah 28

1 Woe to the crown of pride, of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious ornament, which is on the eminence of the fat valley of those who are struck down by wine!

Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower the glory of his joy, who were on the head of the fat valley, staggering with wine.

2 Behold, [it cometh] mighty and strong from the Lord, as a tempest of hail, a storm of destruction; as a tempest of mighty overflowing waters, will he cast it down to the earth with force.

Behold the Lord is mighty and strong, as a storm of hail: a destroying whirlwind, as the violence of many waters overflowing, and sent forth upon a spacious land.

3 Under feet shall be trodden the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim:

The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet.

4 And the fading flower of his glorious ornament, which is on the eminence of the fat valley, shall be as its early ripe fruit before the summer; which one, when he just seeth it, while it is scarcely in his hand, hastily devoureth.

And the fading flower the glory of his joy, who is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as a hasty fruit before the ripeness of autumn: which when he that seeth it shall behold, as soon as he taketh it in his hand, he will eat it up.

5 On that day will the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,

In that day the Lord of hosts shall be a crown of glory, and a garland of joy to the residue of his people:

6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to those that drive back the battle to the gate [of the enemy].

And a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and strength to them that return out of the battle to the gate.

7 But these also are now stumbling through wine, and reeling through strong drink: priest and prophet are stumbling through strong drink, they are overpowered with wine, they reel through strong drink; they stumble in [divine] vision, they are unsteady in giving judgment.

But these also have been ignorant through wine, and through drunkenness have erred: the priest and the prophet have been ignorant through drunkenness, they are swallowed up with wine, they have gone astray in drunkenness, they have not known him that seeth, they have been ignorant of judgment.

8 For all tables are full of vomit of filthiness, there is no place [clean].

For all tables were full of vomit and filth, so that there was no more place.

9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he give to understand doctrine? those that are weaned from the milk, those that are taken from the breasts.

Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand the hearing? them that are weaned from the milk, that are drawn away from the breasts.

10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.

For command, command again; command, command again; expect, expect again; expect, expect again: a little there, a little there.

11 For [as] with stammering lips and a foreign tongue will he speak to this people;

For with the speech of lips, and with another tongue he will speak to this people.

12 When he said unto them, This is the rest, cause ye the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing; but they would not hear.

To whom he said: This is my rest, refresh the weary, and this is my refreshing: and they would not hear.

13 Therefore shall be unto them the word of the Lord, precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; in order that they may go, and stumble backward, and be broken, and snared, and caught.

And the word of the Lord shall be to them: Command, command again; command, command again: expect, expect again; expect, expect again: a little there, a little there: that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, who rule this people that is in Jerusalem.

Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, who rule over my people that is in Jerusalem.

15 Because ye have said, “We have entered into a covenant with death, and with the nether world have we made an agreement; the overflowing scourge, when it passeth by, shall not come at us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we sought a hiding-place.” (Sheol h7585)

For you have said: We have entered into a league with death, and we have made a covenant with hell. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come upon us: for we have placed our hope in lies, and by falsehood we are protected. (Sheol h7585)

16 Therefore thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Behold, I have laid in Zion as a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a costly corner-stone, well founded: he that believeth will not make haste.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will lay a stone in the foundations of Sion, a tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, founded in the foundation. He that believeth, let him not hasten.

17 And I will make of justice a measuring line, and of righteousness a plummet: and the hail shall sweep off the refuge of lies, and the hiding-place against the waters shall these flood away.

And I will set judgment in weight, and justice in measure: and hail shall overturn the hope of falsehood: and waters shall overflow its protection.

18 And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with the nether world shall not have permanence; the overflowing scourge, when it passeth by—then shall ye be trodden down by it. (Sheol h7585)

And Sour league with death shall be abolished, and your covenant with hell shall not stand: when the overflowing scourge shall pass, you shall be trodden down by it. (Sheol h7585)

19 As often as it passeth by shall it take you; for morning by morning shall it pass by, by day and by night; and the mere understanding of the report shall cause terror.

Whensoever it shall pass through, it shall take you away: because in the morning early it shall pass through, in the day and in the night, and vexation alone shall make you understand what you hear.

20 For the bed shall be too short for [a man] to stretch himself out [on it]: and the covering too narrow to wrap himself in.

For the bed is straitened, so that one must fall out, and a short covering cannot cover both.

21 For as on mount Perazim will the Lord rise up, as in the valley of Gib'on will he be wroth, that he may do his work, his singular work; and to accomplish his labor, his strange labor.

For the Lord shall stand up as in the mountain of divisions: he shall be angry as in the valley which is in Gabaon: that he may do his work, his strange work: that he may perform his work, his work is strange to him.

22 And now be ye no longer scornful, lest your bonds be made strong; for as completed and fully decreed have I heard it from the Lord Eternal of hosts over all the earth.

And now do not mock, lest your bonds be tied strait. For I have heard of the Lord the God of hosts a consumption and a cutting short upon all the earth.

23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice; listen, and hear my speech.

Give ear, and hear my voice, hearken, and hear my speech.

24 Doth the ploughman plough all the time to sow? doth he open and harrow his ground [continually]?

Shall the ploughman plough all the day to sow, shall he open and harrow his ground?

25 Is it not so? that, when he hath made level its surface he scattereth fennel, and streweth about cumin, and planteth the wheat in rows, and barley on its assigned [place], and millet on its proper spot?

Will he not, when he hath made plain the surface thereof, sow gith, and scatter cummin, and put wheat in order, and barley, and millet, and vetches in their bounds?

26 For his God instructed him rightly, taught him [so to do].

For he will instruct him in judgment: his God will teach him.

27 Truly not with a threshing instrument is fennel threshed, and a wagon-wheel is not turned about upon cumin; but fennel is beaten out with a staff, and cumin with a stick.

For gith shall not be thrashed with saws, neither shall the cart wheel turn about upon cummin: but gith shall be beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a staff.

28 Bread-corn is crushed; but not for ever doth [man] keep threshing it; and though he drive over it the wheel of his wagon and his horses, he will not [thereby] crush it.

But bread corn shall be broken small: but the thrasher shall not thrash it for ever, neither shall the cart wheel hurt it, nor break it with its teeth.

29 This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts; wonderful is he in counsel, and excellent in [his] wise deeds.

This also is come forth from the Lord God of hosts, to make his counsel wonderful, and magnify justice.