Isaiah 28
1. Woe 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 !
2. Behold, 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.
3. The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden * under feet:
4. And 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 * .
5. In 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,
6. And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth * in judgment, and for strength to them that turn * the battle to the gate.
7. But 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.
8. For all tables are full * of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
9. Whom shall he teach * knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand * doctrine?them that are weaned * from the milk,and drawn from the breasts.
10. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line,line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
11. For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak * to this people.
12. To 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 * .
13. But 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 * .
14. Wherefore hear * the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule * this people which is in Jerusalem.
15. Because 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:
16. Therefore 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 * .
17. Judgment 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.
18. And 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.
19. From 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.
20. For 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.
21. For 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.
22. Now 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.
23. Give ye ear * , and hear * my voice; hearken * , and hear * my speech.
24. Doth the plowman * plow * all day to sow * ? doth he open * and break the clods * of his ground?
25. When 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?
26. For his God doth instruct * him to discretion, and doth teach * him.
27. For 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.
28. Bread 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.
29. This also cometh forth * from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful * in counsel, and excellent * in working.
