Isaiah 28

Woe to the Leaders of Ephraim and Judah

¹Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards,

to the fading flower, his glorious beauty,

set on the head of a fertile valley—

to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine!

²See, the Lord has one who is powerful and strong.

Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind,

like a driving rain and a flooding downpour,

he will throw it forcefully to the ground.

³That wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards,

will be trampled underfoot.

⁴That fading flower, his glorious beauty,

set on the head of a fertile valley,

will be like figs ripe before harvest—

as soon as people see them and take them in hand,

they swallow them.

⁵In that day the Lord Almighty

will be a glorious crown,

a beautiful wreath

for the remnant of his people.

⁶He will be a spirit of justice

to the one who sits in judgment,

a source of strength

to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

⁷And these also stagger from wine

and reel from beer:

Priests and prophets stagger from beer

and are befuddled with wine;

they reel from beer,

they stagger when seeing visions,

they stumble when rendering decisions.

⁸All the tables are covered with vomit

and there is not a spot without filth.

⁹“Who is it he is trying to teach?

To whom is he explaining his message?

To children weaned from their milk,

to those just taken from the breast?

¹⁰For it is:

Do this, do that,

a rule for this, a rule for that;

a little here, a little there.”

¹¹Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues

God will speak to this people,

¹²to whom he said,

“This is the resting place, let the weary rest”;

and, “This is the place of repose”—

but they would not listen.

¹³So then, the word of the Lord to them will become:

Do this, do that,

a rule for this, a rule for that;

a little here, a little there—

so that as they go they will fall backward;

they will be injured and snared and captured.

¹⁴Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers

who rule this people in Jerusalem.

¹⁵You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death,

with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement.

When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by,

it cannot touch us,

for we have made a lie our refuge

and falsehood our hiding place.”

¹⁶So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,

a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;

the one who relies on it

will never be stricken with panic.

¹⁷I will make justice the measuring line

and righteousness the plumb line;

hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie,

and water will overflow your hiding place.

¹⁸Your covenant with death will be annulled;

your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand.

When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by,

you will be beaten down by it.

¹⁹As often as it comes it will carry you away;

morning after morning, by day and by night,

it will sweep through.”

The understanding of this message

will bring sheer terror.

²⁰The bed is too short to stretch out on,

the blanket too narrow to wrap around you.

²¹The Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim,

he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon—

to do his work, his strange work,

and perform his task, his alien task.

²²Now stop your mocking,

or your chains will become heavier;

the Lord, the Lord Almighty, has told me

of the destruction decreed against the whole land.

²³Listen and hear my voice;

pay attention and hear what I say.

²⁴When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually?

Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?

²⁵When he has leveled the surface,

does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin?

Does he not plant wheat in its place,

barley in its plot,

and spelt in its field?

²⁶His God instructs him

and teaches him the right way.

²⁷Caraway is not threshed with a sledge,

nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin;

caraway is beaten out with a rod,

and cumin with a stick.

²⁸Grain must be ground to make bread;

so one does not go on threshing it forever.

The wheels of a threshing cart may be rolled over it,

but one does not use horses to grind grain.

²⁹All this also comes from the Lord Almighty,

whose plan is wonderful,

whose wisdom is magnificent.