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Isaiah 28 :: New American Standard Bible 2020 (NASB20)

Ephraim’s Captivity Predicted

Isa 28:1

Woe to the proud crown of the habitually drunk of Ephraim,

And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,

Which is at the head of the [fn]fertile valley

Of those who are [fn]overcome with wine!

Isa 28:2

Behold, the Lord has a strong and mighty agent;

As a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction,

Like a storm of mighty overflowing waters,

He has thrown it down to the earth with His hand.

Isa 28:3

The splendid crown of the habitually drunk of Ephraim is trampled underfoot.

Isa 28:4

And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,

Which is at the head of the [fn]fertile valley,

Will be like the first-ripe fig prior to the summer,

Which [fn]one sees,

And [fn]as soon as it is in his [fn]hand,

He swallows it.

Isa 28:5

On that day the LORD of armies will become a beautiful crown

And a glorious wreath to the remnant of His people;

Isa 28:6

A spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment,

A strength to those who repel the [fn]onslaught at the gate.

Isa 28:7

And these also reel with wine and stagger from intoxicating drink:

The priest and the prophet reel with intoxicating drink,

They are confused by wine, they stagger from intoxicating drink;

They reel while [fn]having visions,

They stagger when rendering a verdict.

Isa 28:8

For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, without a single clean place.

Isa 28:9

“To whom would He teach knowledge,

And to whom would He interpret the message?

Those just weaned from milk?

Those just taken from the breast?

Isa 28:10

“For He says,

[fn]Order on order, order on order,

Line on line, line on line,

A little here, a little there.’”

Isa 28:11

Indeed, He will speak to this people

Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue,

Isa 28:12

He who said to them, “This is the place of quiet, give rest to the weary,”

And, “This is the resting place,” but they would not listen.

Isa 28:13

So the word of the LORD to them will be,

[fn]Order on order, order on order,

Line on line, line on line,

A little here, a little there,”

That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.

Judah Is Warned

Isa 28:14

Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers,

Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,

Isa 28:15

Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,

And with [fn]Sheol we have made a [fn]pact.

The [fn]gushing flood will not reach us when it passes by,

Because we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”

Isa 28:16

Therefore this is what the Lord [fn]GOD says:

“Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion, a tested stone,

A precious cornerstone for the foundation, [fn]firmly placed.

The one who believes in it will not be [fn]disturbed.

Isa 28:17

“I will make justice the measuring line

And righteousness the level;

Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,

And the waters will overflow the secret place.

Isa 28:18

“Your covenant with death will be [fn]canceled,

And your pact with Sheol will not stand;

When the [fn]gushing flood passes through,

Then you will become its trampling ground.

Isa 28:19

“As often as it passes through, it will [fn]seize you;

For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,

And it will be [fn]sheer terror to understand [fn]what it means.”

Isa 28:20

The bed is too short on which to stretch out,

And the blanket is too [fn]small to wrap oneself in.

Isa 28:21

For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim,

He will be stirred up as in the Valley of Gibeon,

To do His task, His [fn]unusual task,

And to work His work, His [fn]extraordinary work.

Isa 28:22

And now do not carry on as scoffers,

Or your shackles will be made stronger;

For I have heard from the Lord [fn]GOD of armies

Of decisive destruction on all the earth.

Isa 28:23

Listen and hear my voice,

Pay attention and hear my words.

Isa 28:24

Does the [fn]farmer plow [fn]continually to plant seed?

Does he continually [fn]turn and break up his ground?

Isa 28:25

Does he not level its surface

And sow dill and scatter cumin

And [fn]plant wheat in rows,

Barley in its place and rye within its [fn]area?

Isa 28:26

For his God instructs and teaches him properly.

Isa 28:27

For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,

Nor is the cartwheel [fn]driven over cumin;

But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a club.

Isa 28:28

Grain for bread is crushed,

Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.

Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually [fn]damage it,

He does not thresh it longer.

Isa 28:29

This also comes from the LORD of armies,

Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.

NASB20 Footnotes
Lit valley of fatness
Lit stricken
Lit valley of fatness
Lit the one seeing sees
Lit while it is yet
Lit palm
Lit battle
Lit seeing
Heb Sav lasav, sav lasav, Kav lakav, kav lakav, Zeer sham, zeer sham. These Hebrew fragments, imitating the babbling of a child, mock the prophet’s preaching.
See note v 10. The LORD responds to their scoffing by imitating their mockery, to represent the unintelligible language of a conqueror.
I.e., the netherworld
As in some ancient versions; MT seer
Or overwhelming scourge
Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD
Lit well-laid
Lit in a hurry
Lit covered over
Or overwhelming scourge
Lit take
Lit only
Lit the report; or the message
Lit narrow
Lit task is strange
Lit work is foreign
Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD
Lit plowman
Lit all day
Lit open
Lit put
Lit region
Lit rolled
Lit discomfit
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Isaiah Chapter 28 — Additional Translations: