Isaiah 28:6-16

6 and 1a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and 2strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 3These also reel with wine and 4stagger with strong drink; the priest and 5the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed by[a] wine, they stagger with strong drink, they reel in vision, they stumble in giving judgment.
8 For all tables are full of filthy vomit, with no space left.
9 6"To whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast?
10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little."
11 7For by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the LORD will speak to this people,
12 to whom he has said, 8"This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose"; yet they would not hear.
13 And the word of the LORD will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, 9that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

A Cornerstone in Zion

14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you 10scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15 Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement, when the 11overwhelming whip passes through it will not come to us, for we have made 12lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter";
16 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 13"Behold, I am the one who has laid[b] as a foundation 14in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'Whoever believes will not be in haste.'

Isaiah 28:6-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 28

In this chapter the ten tribes of Israel and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, are threatened with divine judgments, because of their sins and iniquities mentioned. The ten tribes, under the name of Ephraim, for their pride and drunkenness, Isa 28:1 the means of their destruction, the Assyrian monarch, compared to a hail storm, and a flood of mighty waters, Isa 28:2 which destruction, for their sins, is repeated, and represented as sudden and swift; when they would be like a fading flower and hasty fruit, Isa 28:3,4 and then, as for the two tribes, though they had a glorious prince at the head of them, who had a spirit of wisdom and judgment for government, and of valour and courage for war, Isa 28:5,6 yet the generality of the people, led on by the example of priest and prophet, went into the same sensual gratifications as they of the ten tribes did, Isa 28:7,8 and became sottish and unteachable, and were like children just taken from the breast, and to be used as such, Isa 28:9-11 and though the doctrine proposed to be taught them was such as, if received, would be of the greatest advantage to them, for their comfort and refreshment, yet it was refused by them with the utmost contempt; which was to be their ruin, Isa 28:12,13, wherefore the rulers of Jerusalem are threatened with the judgments of God, which should come upon them night and day, the report of which would be a vexation to them; and from which they should not be screened by their covenant with death and hell, or by their shelters and coverings with lies and falsehood, in which they placed their confidence, Isa 28:14,15 Isa 28:17-22 in the midst of which account, for the comfort of the Lord's people, stands a glorious prophecy, concerning the sure foundation laid in Zion, on which all that are built are safe and happy, Isa 28:16 and the certainty of these judgments is illustrated by the method which the ploughman takes in sowing his corn, and threshing it out; for which he has instruction and direction from the Lord of hosts, Isa 28:23-29.

Cross References 14

  • 1. [1 Kings 3:28]
  • 2. [Isaiah 38:6]
  • 3. [Isaiah 3:12]
  • 4. Hosea 4:11
  • 5. Isaiah 9:15; Isaiah 56:10, 12
  • 6. Jeremiah 6:10
  • 7. Cited 1 Corinthians 14:21; See Isaiah 5:26-29
  • 8. Isaiah 30:15; [Matthew 11:28, 29]
  • 9. Isaiah 8:15
  • 10. ver. 22; Isaiah 29:20
  • 11. ver. 2, 18; [Isaiah 8:7, 8]
  • 12. [Romans 1:25]
  • 13. Cited Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:6; [Psalms 118:22; Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11]
  • 14. Isaiah 14:32

Footnotes 2

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.