Isaiah 28
Woe to Ephraim
28Woe to the proud crown of the adrunkards of bEphraim,And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,Which is at the head of the 1fertile valleyOf those who are 2overcome with wine!2Behold, the Lord has a strong and acourageous agent;As a storm of bhail, a tempest of destruction,Like a storm of cmighty overflowing waters,He has set it down to the earth with His hand.3The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is atrodden under foot.4And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,Which is at the head of the 1fertile valley,Will be like the afirst-ripe fig prior to summer,Which 2one sees,And 3as soon as it is in his 4hand,He swallows it.5In that day aYahweh of hosts will become a beautiful bcrownAnd a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;6A aspirit of just judgment for him who sits in judgment,A bmight to those who turn back the 1onslaught at the gate.7And these also areel with wine and stagger from strong drink:bThe priest and cthe prophet reel with strong drink;They are swallowed up by wine, they stagger from dstrong drink;They reel while 1having evisions;They totter when rendering a verdict.8For all the tables are full of filthy avomit, without a single clean place.9“aWhom would He instruct in knowledge,And whom would He provide understanding about the report?Those just bweaned from milk?Those just taken from the breast?10“For He says,‘1,aOrder on order, order on order,Line on line, line on line,A little here, a little there.’”11Indeed, He will speak to this peopleThrough astammering lips and a foreign tongue,12He who said to them, “Here is arest, give rest to the weary,”And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen.13So the word of Yahweh to them will be,“1Order on order, order on order,Line on line, line on line,A little here, a little there,”That they may go and astumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.A Cornerstone in Zion
14Therefore, ahear the word of Yahweh, O bscoffers,Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,15Because you have said, “We have cut a acovenant with death,And with Sheol we have made a 1pact.bThe overflowing 2scourge will not reach us when it passes by,For we have made cfalsehood our refuge and we have dhidden ourselves with lying.”16Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, “aBehold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested bstone,A costly cornerstone for the foundation, 1firmly placed.He who believes in it will not be 2disturbed.
17“I will make ajustice the measuring lineAnd righteousness the level;Then bhail will sweep away the refuge of falsehood,And the waters will overflow the secret place.18“Your acovenant with death will be 1,bcanceled,And your pact with Sheol will not stand;When the coverflowing scourge passes through,Then you will become its dtrampling place.19“As aoften as it passes through, it will take you;For bmorning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,And it will be 1sheer cterror to understand the report.”20The bed is too short on which to stretch out,And the ablanket is too narrow to wrap oneself in.21For Yahweh will rise up as at Mount aPerazim;He will be stirred up as in the valley of bGibeon,To work His cwork, His 1,dunusual work,And to labor in His labor, His 2exceptional labor.22So now do not carry on as ascoffers,Lest your fetters be made stronger;For I have heard from Lord Yahweh of hostsOf complete bdestruction, one that is decreed, on all the earth.23Give ear and hear my voice,Pay attention and hear my words.24Does the 1farmer plow 2continually to plant seed?Does he continually 3turn and harrow his ground?25Does he not level its surfaceAnd sow dill and scatter acuminAnd 1plant bwheat in rows,Barley in its place and rye within its 2area?26For his God disciplines and teaches him proper judgment.27For dill is not threshed with a athreshing sledge,Nor is the wheel of a cart 1driven over cumin;But dill is beaten out with a staff, and cumin with a rod.28Grain for bread is crushed,But he does not continue to thresh it forever.Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually 1disturb it,He does not crush it longer.29This also comes from Yahweh of hosts,Who has made His counsel awonderful and His wisdom bgreat.