Isaiah 28
1 Woe to the proud crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to its fading flower, its glorious ornament perched above the fertile valley of those overcome by wine!
2 Look: the Lord has someone strong and powerful, like a hailstorm, a destructive gale, like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters; he hurls everything to the ground with his hand.
3 The proud crown of Ephraim’s drunkards will be trampled underfoot.
4 Its fading flower, its glorious ornament perched above the fertile valley, will be like an early fig before summer. Whoever sees it swallows it as soon as it is in their hand.
5 On that day the LORD of Armies will be a glorious crown and a beautiful diadem for the remnant of his people.
6 He will be a spirit of justice for the one who sits in judgment, and strength for those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 These too stagger because of wine and reel because of strong drink: priest and prophet stagger because of strong drink; they are confused by wine, reel because of strong drink, stagger in their visions, and stumble in their judgments.
8 For every table is covered with vomit and filth; there is no place left.
9 Who is he going to teach knowledge? To whom will he explain the message? To those weaned from milk, taken from the breast?
10 For it is command upon command, command upon command, rule upon rule, rule upon rule, a little here, a little there.
11 For with stammering lips and a foreign tongue he will speak to this people.
12 He is the one who said to them, “This is the resting place; give rest to the weary. This is the place of repose.” But they would not listen.
13 So the word of the LORD will be to them: command upon command, command upon command, rule upon rule, rule upon rule, a little here, a little there, so that they may walk and fall backward, be broken, trapped, and captured.
14 So hear the word of the LORD, you mockers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 For you have said, “We have made a covenant with death and an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes by, it will not reach us, because we have made lies our refuge and hidden ourselves in falsehood.”
16 Therefore the Lord GOD says: “Look, I am laying a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a firmly laid foundation. Whoever believes will not waver.
17 I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line. Hail will sweep away the shelter of lies, and floodwaters will wash over the hiding place.
18 Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes by, you will be trampled by it.
19 Every time it passes, it will carry you away; it will pass morning after morning, by day and by night. Understanding the message will bring nothing but terror.
20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket too narrow to wrap yourself in.”
21 For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim; he will be stirred as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do his work, a strange work, and carry out his task, an unfamiliar task.
22 Now stop mocking, or your chains will grow tighter, because I have heard from the Lord GOD of Armies of a destruction decreed against the whole land.
23 Pay attention and hear my voice; listen and hear my words.
24 Does a farmer plow all day long to sow seed, breaking up and harrowing his ground?
25 Doesn’t he level its surface, then scatter dill and sow cumin, plant wheat in rows, barley in its marked place, and spelt along the edge of the field?
26 His God instructs him in the right way and teaches him.
27 For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over cumin; dill is beaten with a stick, and cumin with a rod.
28 Grain for bread is ground, but no one threshes it forever. The wheel of his cart and his horses pass over it, but they do not crush it.
29 This too comes from the LORD of Armies: he is wonderful in counsel and great in wisdom.
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