Isaiah 28

¹Ho! crown of pride of those who are given up to wine in Ephraim, and the dead flower of his glory which is on the head of those who are overcome by strong drink!

²See, the Lord has a strong and cruel one; like a rain of ice, a storm of destruction, like the overflowing of a strong river, he will violently overcome them.

³The crown of pride of those who are given up to wine in Ephraim will be crushed under foot;

⁴And the dead flower of his glory, which is on the head of the fertile valley, will be like the first early fruit before the summer; which a man takes and puts in his mouth the minute he sees it.

⁵In that day will the Lord of armies be a crown of glory, and a fair ornament, to the rest of his people;

⁶And a spirit of wisdom to the judge, and strength to those who keep back the attackers at the door of the town.

⁷And further, these are uncertain through wine, and have gone out of the right way through strong drink: the priest and the prophet are uncertain through strong drink, they are overcome by wine, they have gone out of the way through strong drink; their vision is false, they go wrong in their decisions.

⁸For all the tables are covered with coughed-up food, so that there is not a clean place.

⁹To whom will he give knowledge? and to whom will he make clear the word? Will it be to those who have newly given up milk, and who have only now been taken from the breast?

¹⁰For it is one rule after another; one line after another; here a little, there a little.

¹¹No, but with broken talk, and with a strange tongue, he will give his word to this people:

¹²To whom he said, This is the rest, give rest to him who is tired; and by this you may get new strength; but they would not give ear.

¹³For this cause the word of the Lord will be to them rule after rule, line after line, here a little, there a little; so that they may go on their way, and falling back may be broken, and taken in the net.

¹⁴Give ear then to the word of the Lord, you men of pride, the rulers of this people in Jerusalem:

¹⁵Because you have said, We have made death our friend, and with the underworld we have made an agreement; when the overflowing waters come through they will not come near us; for we are looking to false words for help, taking cover in what is untrue:

¹⁶For this cause says the Lord God, See, I am placing in Zion as a base, a stone, a tested stone, an angle-stone which is certain and of great value: and he who has faith will not give way.

¹⁷And I will make right decision the measuring-line, and righteousness the weight: and the ice-storm will take away the safe place of false words, and the secret place will be covered by the flowing waters.

¹⁸And the help you were looking for from death will come to nothing, and your agreement with the underworld will be broken; when the overflowing waters come through, then you will be overcome by them.

¹⁹Whenever they come through they will overtake you; for they will come through morning after morning, by day and by night: and the news will be nothing but fear.

²⁰For the bed is not long enough for a man to be stretched out on: and the cover is not wide enough for him to be covered with.

²¹For the Lord will come up as on Mount Perazim, he will be moved to wrath as in the valley of Gibeon; so that he may do his work--strange is his work; and give effect to his act--unnatural is his act.

²²And now, take care that you do not make sport of him, or your bands will be made strong; for I have had word from the Lord, the Lord of armies, of an end, of a complete end, which is to come on all the land.

²³Let your ears be open to my voice; give attention to what I say.

²⁴Is the ploughman for ever ploughing? does he not get the earth ready and broken up for the seed?

²⁵When the face of the earth has been levelled, does he not put in the different sorts of seed, and the grain in lines, and the barley in its place, and the spelt at the edge?

²⁶For his God is his teacher, giving him the knowledge of these things.

²⁷For the fitches are not crushed with a sharp instrument, and a cart-wheel is not rolled over the cummin; but the grain of the fitches is hammered out with a stick, and of the cummin with a rod.

²⁸Is the grain for bread crushed? He does not go on crushing it for ever, but he lets his cart-wheels and his horses go over it without crushing it.

²⁹This comes from the Lord of armies, purposing wonders, and wise in all his acts.

Isaiah 28

¹Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!

²Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.

³The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:

⁴And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

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

⁶And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.

⁷But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.

⁸For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

⁹Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

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

¹¹For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

¹²To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

¹³But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

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

¹⁵Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

¹⁶Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

¹⁷Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

¹⁸And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

¹⁹From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

²⁰For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.

²¹For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.

²²Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.

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

²⁴Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?

²⁵When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?

²⁶For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

²⁷For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.

²⁸Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.

²⁹This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.