Isaiah 28

¹Ah! majestic garland

of the drunkards of Ephraim,

Fading blooms of his glorious beauty,

at the head of the fertile valley,

upon those stupefied with wine.

²See, the Lord has 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;

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.

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.

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.

⁸Yes, all the tables

are covered with vomit,

with filth, and no place left clean.

⁹“To whom would he impart knowledge?[#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 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!’”

¹¹Yes, with stammering lips and in a strange language[#God will answer the mockers and defend Isaiah. : spoken by the invading army.]

he will speak to this people,

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.

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.

¹⁴Therefore, hear the word of the Lord , you scoffers,

who rule this people in Jerusalem:

¹⁵You have declared, “We have made a covenant with death,

with Sheol 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,”—

¹⁶Therefore, thus says the Lord God :

See, I am laying a stone in Zion,

a stone that has been tested,

A precious cornerstone as a sure foundation;

whoever puts faith in it will not waver.

¹⁷I will make judgment a measuring line,

and justice a level.—

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.

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,

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.

²³Give ear and hear my voice,[#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.]

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,

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.