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Isaiah 28:14-30:11
Contemporary English Version
Isaiah 28:14-30:11
Contemporary English Version
False Security Is Fatal
14 You rulers of Jerusalem
do nothing but sneer;
now you must listen
to what the Lord says.
15 (A) Do you think you have
an agreement with death
and the world of the dead?
Why do you trust in your lies
to keep you safe from danger
and the mighty flood?
16 (B) And so the Lord says,
“I'm laying a firm foundation
for the city of Zion.
It's a valuable cornerstone
proven to be trustworthy;
no one who trusts it
will ever be disappointed.
17 Justice and fairness
will be the measuring lines
that help me build.”
Hailstones and floods
will destroy and wash away
your shelter of lies.
18 Your agreement with death
and the world of the dead
will be broken.
Then angry, roaring waves
will sweep over you.
19 Morning, noon, and night
an overwhelming flood
will wash you away.
The terrible things that happen
will teach you this lesson:
20 Your bed is too short,
your blanket too skimpy.[a]
21 (C) The Lord will fiercely attack
as he did at Mount Perazim[b]
and in Gibeon Valley.[c]
But this time the Lord
will do something surprising,
not what you expect.
22 So you had better stop sneering
or you will be in worse shape
than ever before.
I heard the Lord All-Powerful
threaten the whole country
with destruction.
All Wisdom Comes from the Lord
23 Pay close attention
to what I am saying.
24 Farmers don't just plow
and break up the ground.
25 When a field is ready,
they scatter the seeds
of dill and cumin;
they plant the seeds
of wheat and barley
in the proper places
and sow other grains
around the edges.
26 They learn this from their God.
27 After dill and cumin
have been harvested,
the stalks are pounded,
not run over with a wagon.
28 Wheat and barley are pounded,
but not beaten to pulp;
they are run over with a wagon,
but not ground to dust.
29 This wonderful knowledge comes
from the Lord All-Powerful,
who has such great wisdom.
Jerusalem Will Suffer
The Lord said:
29 Jerusalem, city of David,
the place of my altar,[d]
you are in for trouble!
Celebrate your festivals
year after year.
2 I will still make you suffer,
and your people will cry
when I make an altar of you.[e]
3 I will surround you and prepare
to attack from all sides.[f]
4 From deep in the earth,
you will call out for help
with only a faint whisper.
5 Then your cruel enemies
will suddenly be swept away
like dust in a windstorm.
6 I, the Lord All-Powerful,
will come to your rescue
with a thundering earthquake
and a fiery whirlwind.
7 Every brutal nation
that attacks Jerusalem
and makes it suffer
will disappear like a dream
when night is over.
8 Those nations that attack
Mount Zion
will suffer from hunger
and thirst.
They will dream of food and drink
but wake up weary and hungry
and thirsty as ever.
Prophets Who Fool Themselves
9 Be shocked and stunned,
you prophets!
Refuse to see.
Get drunk and stagger,
but not from wine.
10 (D) The Lord has made you drowsy;
he put you into a deep sleep
and covered your head.
11 Now his message is like a sealed letter to you. Some of you say, “We can't read it, because it's sealed.” 12 Others say, “We can't read it, because we don't know how to read.”
13 (E) The Lord has said:
“These people praise me
with their words,
but they never really
think about me.
They worship me by repeating
rules made up by humans.
14 (F) So once again I will do things
that shock and amaze them,
and I will destroy the wisdom
of those who claim to know
and understand.”
15 You are in for trouble,
if you try to hide your plans
from the Lord!
Or if you think what you do
in the dark can't be seen.
16 (G) You have it all backwards.
A clay dish doesn't say
to the potter,
“You didn't make me.
You don't even know how.”
Hope for the Future
17 Soon the forest of Lebanon
will become a field with crops,
thick as a forest.[g]
18 The deaf will be able to hear
whatever is read to them;
the blind will be freed
from a life of darkness.
19 The poor and the needy
will celebrate and shout
because of the Lord,
the holy God of Israel.
20 All who are cruel and arrogant
will be gone forever.
Those who live by crime
will disappear,
21 together with everyone
who tells lies in court
and keeps innocent people
from getting a fair trial.
22 The Lord who rescued Abraham
has this to say
about Jacob's descendants:
“They will no longer
be ashamed and disgraced.
23 When they see how great
I have made their nation,
they will praise and honor me,
the holy God of Israel.
24 Everyone who is confused
will understand,
and all who have complained
will obey my teaching.”
Don't Expect Help from Egypt
30 This is the Lord's message for his rebellious people:
“You follow your own plans
instead of mine;
you make treaties
without asking me,
and you keep on sinning.
2 You trust Egypt for protection.
So you refuse my advice
and send messengers to Egypt
to beg their king for help.
3 “You will be disappointed,
completely disgraced
for trusting Egypt.
4 The king's power reaches
from the city of Zoan
as far south as Hanes.[h]
5 But Egypt can't protect you,
and to trust that nation
is useless and foolish.”
6 This is a message
about the animals
of the Southern Desert:
“You people carry treasures
on donkeys and camels.
You travel to a feeble nation
through a troublesome desert
filled with lions
and flying fiery dragons.
7 Egypt can't help you!
That's why I call that nation
a helpless monster.”[i]
Israel Refuses To Listen
8 The Lord told me to write down his message for his people, so that it would be there forever. 9 They have turned against the Lord and can't be trusted. They have refused his teaching 10 and have said to his messengers and prophets:
Don't tell us what God has shown you and don't preach the truth. Just say what we want to hear, even if it's false. 11 Stop telling us what God has said! We don't want to hear any more about the holy One of Israel.
Footnotes
- 28.20 Your bed … skimpy: Isaiah quotes a popular saying to teach that the treaty made with Egypt (verse 18) cannot give the nation security from its enemies.
- 28.21 Mount Perazim: This may refer to David's defeat of the Philistines at Baal Perazim (2 Samuel 5.17-21).
- 28.21 Gibeon Valley: This refers to Joshua's victory at Gibeon (Joshua 10.1-11).
- 29.1 the place of my altar: One possible meaning for “ariel, ariel” of the Hebrew text. In Hebrew “ariel” can mean “God's hero” or “God's lion” or “God's altar.”
- 29.2 when … you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 29.3 from all sides: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. One ancient translation has “like David.”
- 29.17 with … forest: Or “and Mount Carmel will be covered with forests.”
- 30.4 Zoan … Hanes: Or “Your messengers have reached the city of Zoan and gone as far as Hanes.” Zoan was in northeast Egypt; Hanes was to the south.
- 30.7 a helpless monster: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Isaiah 28:14-30:11
New International Version
Isaiah 28:14-30:11
New International Version
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord,(A) you scoffers(B)
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death,(C)
with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement.
When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by,(D)
it cannot touch us,
for we have made a lie(E) our refuge
and falsehood[a] our hiding place.(F)”
16 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,(G) a tested stone,(H)
a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;(I)
the one who relies on it
will never be stricken with panic.(J)
17 I will make justice(K) the measuring line
and righteousness the plumb line;(L)
hail(M) will sweep away your refuge, the lie,
and water will overflow(N) your hiding place.
18 Your covenant with death will be annulled;
your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand.(O)
When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by,(P)
you will be beaten down(Q) by it.
19 As often as it comes it will carry you away;(R)
morning after morning,(S) by day and by night,
it will sweep through.”
The understanding of this message
will bring sheer terror.(T)
20 The bed is too short to stretch out on,
the blanket too narrow to wrap around you.(U)
21 The Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim,(V)
he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon(W)—
to do his work,(X) his strange work,
and perform his task, his alien task.
22 Now stop your mocking,(Y)
or your chains will become heavier;
the Lord, the Lord Almighty, has told me
of the destruction decreed(Z) against the whole land.(AA)
23 Listen(AB) and hear my voice;
pay attention and hear what I say.
24 When a farmer plows for planting,(AC) does he plow continually?
Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?
25 When he has leveled the surface,
does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin?(AD)
Does he not plant wheat in its place,[b]
barley(AE) in its plot,[c]
and spelt(AF) in its field?
26 His God instructs him
and teaches(AG) him the right way.
27 Caraway is not threshed(AH) with a sledge,(AI)
nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin;
caraway is beaten out with a rod,(AJ)
and cumin with a stick.
28 Grain must be ground to make bread;
so one does not go on threshing it forever.
The wheels of a threshing cart(AK) may be rolled over it,
but one does not use horses to grind grain.
29 All this also comes from the Lord Almighty,
whose plan is wonderful,(AL)
whose wisdom is magnificent.(AM)
Woe to David’s City
29 Woe(AN) to you, Ariel, Ariel,(AO)
the city(AP) where David settled!
Add year to year
and let your cycle of festivals(AQ) go on.
2 Yet I will besiege Ariel;(AR)
she will mourn and lament,(AS)
she will be to me like an altar hearth.[d](AT)
3 I will encamp against you on all sides;
I will encircle(AU) you with towers
and set up my siege works(AV) against you.
4 Brought low, you will speak from the ground;
your speech will mumble(AW) out of the dust.(AX)
Your voice will come ghostlike(AY) from the earth;
out of the dust your speech will whisper.(AZ)
5 But your many enemies will become like fine dust,(BA)
the ruthless(BB) hordes like blown chaff.(BC)
Suddenly,(BD) in an instant,
6 the Lord Almighty will come(BE)
with thunder(BF) and earthquake(BG) and great noise,
with windstorm and tempest(BH) and flames of a devouring fire.(BI)
7 Then the hordes of all the nations(BJ) that fight against Ariel,(BK)
that attack her and her fortress and besiege her,
will be as it is with a dream,(BL)
with a vision in the night—
8 as when a hungry person dreams of eating,
but awakens(BM) hungry still;
as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking,
but awakens faint and thirsty still.(BN)
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.(BO)
9 Be stunned and amazed,(BP)
blind yourselves and be sightless;(BQ)
be drunk,(BR) but not from wine,(BS)
stagger,(BT) but not from beer.
10 The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:(BU)
He has sealed your eyes(BV) (the prophets);(BW)
he has covered your heads (the seers).(BX)
11 For you this whole vision(BY) is nothing but words sealed(BZ) in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” 12 Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”
13 The Lord says:
“These people(CA) come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,(CB)
but their hearts are far from me.(CC)
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.[e](CD)
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;(CE)
the wisdom of the wise(CF) will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.(CG)”
15 Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide(CH) their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us?(CI) Who will know?”(CJ)
16 You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!(CK)
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed(CL) it,
“You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,(CM)
“You know nothing”?(CN)
17 In a very short time,(CO) will not Lebanon(CP) be turned into a fertile field(CQ)
and the fertile field seem like a forest?(CR)
18 In that day(CS) the deaf(CT) will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness(CU)
the eyes of the blind will see.(CV)
19 Once more the humble(CW) will rejoice in the Lord;
the needy(CX) will rejoice in the Holy One(CY) of Israel.
20 The ruthless(CZ) will vanish,(DA)
the mockers(DB) will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil(DC) will be cut down—
21 those who with a word make someone out to be guilty,
who ensnare the defender in court(DD)
and with false testimony(DE) deprive the innocent of justice.(DF)
22 Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed(DG) Abraham,(DH) says to the descendants of Jacob:
“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;(DI)
no longer will their faces grow pale.(DJ)
23 When they see among them their children,(DK)
the work of my hands,(DL)
they will keep my name holy;(DM)
they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One(DN) of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Those who are wayward(DO) in spirit will gain understanding;(DP)
those who complain will accept instruction.”(DQ)
Woe to the Obstinate Nation
30 “Woe(DR) to the obstinate children,”(DS)
declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance,(DT) but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt(DU)
without consulting(DV) me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,(DW)
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.(DX)
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
Egypt’s shade(DY) will bring you disgrace.(DZ)
4 Though they have officials in Zoan(EA)
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5 everyone will be put to shame
because of a people(EB) useless(EC) to them,
who bring neither help(ED) nor advantage,
but only shame and disgrace.(EE)”
6 A prophecy(EF) concerning the animals of the Negev:(EG)
Through a land of hardship and distress,(EH)
of lions(EI) and lionesses,
of adders and darting snakes,(EJ)
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’(EK) backs,
their treasures(EL) on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
7 to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.(EM)
Therefore I call her
Rahab(EN) the Do-Nothing.
8 Go now, write it on a tablet(EO) for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,(EP)
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.(EQ)
9 For these are rebellious(ER) people, deceitful(ES) children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.(ET)
10 They say to the seers,(EU)
“See no more visions(EV)!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,(EW)
prophesy illusions.(EX)
11 Leave this way,(EY)
get off this path,
and stop confronting(EZ) us
with the Holy One(FA) of Israel!”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 28:15 Or false gods
- Isaiah 28:25 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Isaiah 28:25 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Isaiah 29:2 The Hebrew for altar hearth sounds like the Hebrew for Ariel.
- Isaiah 29:13 Hebrew; Septuagint They worship me in vain; / their teachings are merely human rules
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