Isa 28 | NASB1995 | STEP | Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim , And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty , Which is at the head of the fertile valley Of those who are overcome with wine !

‏ Isaiah 28

Ephraim’s Captivity Predicted

1 Woe 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 ^{▼▼ Lit valley of fatness}fertile valley
Of those who are ^{▼▼ Lit smitten}overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has a strong and ^emighty agent;
As a storm of ^fhail, a tempest of destruction,
Like a storm of ^gmighty overflowing waters,
He has cast it down to the earth with His hand.
3 The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is ^htrodden under foot.
4 And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the ^{▼▼ Lit valley of fatness}fertile valley,
Will be like the ^jfirst-ripe fig prior to summer,
Which ^{▼▼ Lit the one seeing sees}one sees,
And ^{▼▼ Lit while it is yet}as soon as it is in his ^{▼▼ Lit palm}hand,
He swallows it.
5 In that day the ⁿLord of hosts will become a beautiful ^ocrown
And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;
6 A ^pspirit of justice for him who sits in judgment,
A ^qstrength to those who repel the ^{▼▼ Lit battle}onslaught at the gate.
7 And these also ^sreel with wine and stagger from strong drink:
^tThe priest and ^uthe prophet reel with strong drink,
They are confused by wine, they stagger from ^vstrong drink;
They reel while ^{▼▼ Lit seeing}having ^xvisions,
They totter when rendering judgment.
8 For all the tables are full of filthy ^yvomit, without a single clean place.

9 “To ^zwhom would He teach knowledge,
And to whom would He interpret the message?
Those just ^aaweaned from milk?
Those just taken from the breast?
10 “For He says,
‘ ^{▼▼ Heb Sav lasav, sav lasav, Kav lakav, kav lakav, Ze’ er sham, ze’ er sham These Hebrew monosyllables, imitating the babbling of a child, mock the prophet’s preaching
,} ^acOrder on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there.’”
11 Indeed, He will speak to this people
Through ^adstammering lips and a foreign tongue,
12 He who said to them, “Here is ^aerest, give rest to the weary,”
And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen.
13 So the word of the Lord to them will be,
^{▼▼ V 10, note 1 The Lord responds to their scoffing by imitating their mockery, to represent the unintelligible language of a conqueror}“Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there,”
That they may go and ^agstumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.

Judah Is Warned

14 Therefore, ^ahhear the word of the Lord, O ^aiscoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a ^ajcovenant with death,
And with ^{▼▼ I.e. the nether world}Sheol we have made a ^{▼▼ So some ancient versions; Heb seer}pact.
^amThe overwhelming ^{▼▼ Or flood}scourge will not reach us when it passes by,
For we have made ^aofalsehood our refuge and we have ^apconcealed ourselves with deception.”

16 Therefore thus says the Lord ^{▼▼ Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord}God, ^ar“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested ^asstone,
A costly cornerstone for the foundation, ^{▼▼ Lit well-laid}firmly placed.
He who believes in it will not be ^{▼▼ Lit in a hurry}disturbed.
17 “I will make ^avjustice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then ^awhail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18 “Your ^axcovenant with death will be ^{▼▼ Lit covered over
,} ^azcanceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the ^baoverwhelming scourge passes through,
Then you become its ^bbtrampling place.
19 “As ^bcoften as it passes through, it will ^{▼▼ Lit take}seize you;
For ^bemorning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,
And it will be ^{▼▼ Lit only}sheer ^bgterror to understand ^{▼▼ Lit the report, or, the message}what it means.”
20 The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the ^biblanket is too ^{▼▼ Lit narrow}small to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lord will rise up as at Mount ^bkPerazim,
He will be stirred up as in the valley of ^blGibeon,
To do His ^bmtask, His ^{▼▼ Lit task is strange
,} ^bounusual task,
And to work His work, His ^{▼▼ Lit work is alien}extraordinary work.
22 And now do not carry on as ^bqscoffers,
Or your fetters will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord ^{▼▼ Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord}God of hosts
Of decisive ^bsdestruction on all the earth.

23 Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my words.
24 Does the ^{▼▼ Lit plowman}farmer plow ^{▼▼ Lit all day}continually to plant seed?
Does he continually ^{▼▼ Lit open}turn and harrow the ground?
25 Does he not level its surface
And sow dill and scatter ^bwcummin
And ^{▼▼ Lit put}plant ^bywheat in rows,
Barley in its place and rye within its ^{▼▼ Lit region}area?
26 For his God instructs and teaches him properly.
27 For dill is not threshed with a ^cathreshing sledge,
Nor is the cartwheel ^{▼▼ Lit rolled}driven over cummin;
But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a club.
28 Grain for bread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually ^{▼▼ Lit discomfit}damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.
29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts,
Who has made His counsel ^cdwonderful and His wisdom ^cegreat.