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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
Isaiah 28:14-30:11
King James Version
Isaiah 28:14-30:11
King James Version
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.
29 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.
3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
4 And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
6 Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
8 It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
19 The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
21 That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
22 Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
23 But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
30 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
2 That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
4 For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5 They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
6 The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.
8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord:
10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
New International Version (NIV) 
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