Isaiah 28

English Standard Version

Judgment on Ephraim and Jerusalem

28 Ah, the proud crown of ^(A)the drunkards of Ephraim,
    and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
    which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine!
²Behold, the Lord has ^(B)one who is mighty and strong;
    like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest,
like ^(C)a storm of mighty, overflowing waters,
    he casts down to the earth with his hand.
³^(D)The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim
    will be trodden underfoot;
⁴^(E)and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
    which is on the head of the rich valley,
will be like ^(F)a first-ripe fig^[a] before the summer:
    when someone sees it, he swallows it
    as soon as it is in his hand.

⁵^(G)In that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory,^[b]
and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,
⁶and ^(H)a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
and ^(I)strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

⁷^(J)These also reel with wine
    and ^(K)stagger with strong drink;
the priest and ^(L)the prophet reel with strong drink,
    they are swallowed by^[c] wine,
    they stagger with strong drink,
they reel in vision,
    they stumble in giving judgment.
⁸For all tables are full of filthy vomit,
    with no space left.

⁹^(M)“To whom will he teach knowledge,
    and to whom will he explain the message?
Those who are weaned from the milk,
    those taken from the breast?
¹⁰For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
    line upon line, line upon line,
    here a little, there a little.”

¹¹^(N)For by people of strange lips
    and with a foreign tongue
the Lord will speak to this people,
¹²    to whom he has said,
^(O)“This is rest;
    give rest to the weary;
and this is repose”;
    yet they would not hear.
¹³And the word of the Lord will be to them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
    line upon line, line upon line,
    here a little, there a little,
^(P)that they may go, and fall backward,
    and be broken, and snared, and taken.

A Cornerstone in Zion

¹⁴Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you ^(Q)scoffers,
    who rule this people in Jerusalem!
¹⁵Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
    and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the ^(R)overwhelming whip passes through
    it will not come to us,
for we have made ^(S)lies our refuge,
    and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
¹⁶therefore thus says the Lord God,
^(T)“Behold, I am the one who has laid^[d] as a foundation ^(U)in Zion,
    a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
    ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
¹⁷And I will make justice ^(V)the line,
    and righteousness ^(W)the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
    and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
¹⁸Then ^(X)your covenant with death will be annulled,
    and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
    you will be beaten down by it.
¹⁹As often as it passes through it will take you;
    ^(Y)for morning by morning it will pass through,
    by day and by night;
and it will be ^(Z)sheer terror to understand the message.
²⁰For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,
    and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
²¹For the Lord will rise up ^(AA)as on Mount Perazim;
    ^(AB)as in the Valley of ^(AC)Gibeon he will be roused;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
    and to work his work—alien is his work!
²²Now therefore do not ^(AD)scoff,
    lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard ^(AE)a decree of destruction
    from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.

²³Give ear, and hear my voice;
    give attention, and hear my speech.
²⁴Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
    Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
²⁵^(AF)When he has leveled its surface,
    does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
and put in wheat in rows
    and barley in its proper place,
    and emmer^[e] as the border?
²⁶^(AG)For he is rightly instructed;
    his God teaches him.

²⁷Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
    nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
but dill is beaten out with a stick,
    and cumin with a rod.
²⁸Does one crush grain for bread?
    No, he does not thresh it forever;^[f]
when he drives his cart wheel over it
    with his horses, he does not crush it.
²⁹This also comes from the Lord of hosts;
    he is ^(AH)wonderful in counsel
    and excellent in wisdom.

Footnotes

Isaiah 28:4 Or fruit
Isaiah 28:5 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike
Isaiah 28:7 Or confused by
Isaiah 28:16 Dead Sea Scroll I am laying
Isaiah 28:25 A type of wheat
Isaiah 28:28 Or Grain is crushed for bread; he will surely thresh it, but not forever