Isaiah 28:1-23

Ephraim's Captivity Predicted

1 Woe to the proud crown of the ¹drunkards of ²Ephraim, And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty, Which is at the head of the fertile valley Of those who are overcome with wine!

2 Behold, the Lord has a strong and ³mighty agent; As a storm of ⁴hail, a tempest of destruction, Like a storm of ⁵mighty overflowing waters, He has cast it down to the earth with His hand.

3 The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is ⁶trodden under foot.

4 And the fading flower of its glorious beauty, Which is at the head of the fertile valley, Will be like the ⁷first-ripe fig prior to summer, Which one sees, And as soon as it is in his hand, He swallows it.

5 In that day the ⁸LORD of hosts will become a beautiful ⁹crown And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;

6 A ¹⁰spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment, A ¹¹strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.

7 And these also ¹²reel with wine and stagger from strong drink: ¹³The priest and ¹⁴the prophet reel with strong drink, They are confused by wine, they stagger from ¹⁵strong drink; They reel while having ¹⁶visions, They totter when rendering judgment.

8 For all the tables are full of filthy ¹⁷vomit, without a single clean place.

9 "To ¹⁸whom would He teach knowledge, And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just ¹⁹weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast?

10 "For He says, '²⁰Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there.' "

11 Indeed, He will speak to this people Through ²¹stammering lips and a foreign tongue,

12 He who said to them, "Here is ²²rest, give rest to the weary," And, "Here is repose," but they would not listen.

13 So the word of the LORD to them will be, "Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there," That they may go and ²³stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.

Judah Is Warned

14 Therefore, ²⁴hear the word of the LORD, O ²⁵scoffers *, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,

15 Because you have said, "We have made a ²⁶covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. ²⁷The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made ²⁸falsehood our refuge and we have ²⁹concealed ourselves with deception."

16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "³⁰Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested ³¹stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.

17 "I will make ³²justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then ³³hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place.

18 "Your ³⁴covenant with death will be ³⁵canceled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the ³⁶overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its ³⁷trampling place.

19 "As ³⁸often as it passes through, it will seize you; For ³⁹morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night, And it will be sheer ⁴⁰terror to understand what it means."

20 The bed is too short on which to stretch out, And the ⁴¹blanket is too small to wrap oneself in.

21 For the LORD will rise up as at Mount ⁴²Perazim, He will be stirred up as in the valley of ⁴³Gibeon, To do His ⁴⁴task, His ⁴⁵unusual task, And to work His work, His extraordinary work.

22 And now do not carry on as ⁴⁶scoffers, Or your fetters will be made stronger; For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts Of decisive ⁴⁷destruction on all the earth.

23 Give ear and hear my voice, Listen and hear my words.

Isaiah 28:1-23 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

• 1. Isaiah 28:7; Hosea 7:5
• 2. Isaiah 9:9
• 3. Isaiah 8:7; Isaiah 40:10
• 4. Isaiah 28:17; Isaiah 30:30; Isaiah 32:19; Ezekiel 13:11
• 5. Isaiah 8:6, 7; Isaiah 30:28; Nahum 1:8
• 6. Isaiah 26:6; Isaiah 28:18
• 7. Hosea 9:10; Micah 7:1; Nahum 3:12
• 8. Isaiah 41:16; Isaiah 45:25; Isaiah 60:1, 19
• 9. Isaiah 62:3
• 10. 1 Kings 3:28; Isaiah 11:2; Isaiah 32:15, 16; John 5:30
• 11. 2 Chronicles 32:6-8; Isaiah 25:4
• 12. Isaiah 5:11, 22; Isaiah 22:13; Isaiah 56:12; Hosea 4:11
• 13. Isaiah 24:2
• 14. Isaiah 9:15
• 15. Habakkuk 2:15, 16
• 16. Isaiah 29:11
• 17. Jeremiah 48:26
• 18. Isaiah 2:3; Isaiah 28:26; Isaiah 30:20; Isaiah 48:17; Isaiah 50:4; Isaiah 54:13
• 19. Psalms 131:2
• 20. 2 Chronicles 36:15; Nehemiah 9:30
• 21. Isaiah 33:19; 1 Corinthians 14:21
• 22. Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 30:15; Isaiah 32:17, 18; Jeremiah 6:16; Matthew 11:28, 29
• 23. Isaiah 8:15; Matthew 21:44
• 24. Isaiah 1:10; Isaiah 28:22
• 25. Isaiah 29:20
• 26. Isaiah 28:18
• 27. Isaiah 8:8; Isaiah 28:2; Isaiah 30:28; Daniel 11:22
• 28. Isaiah 9:15; Isaiah 30:9; Isaiah 44:20; Isaiah 59:3, 4; Ezekiel 13:22
• 29. Isaiah 29:15
• 30. Romans 9:33; Romans 10:11; 1 Peter 2:6
• 31. Psalms 118:22; Isaiah 8:14, 15; Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; Ephesians 2:20
• 32. 2 Kings 21:13; Isaiah 5:16; Isaiah 30:18; Isaiah 61:8; Amos 7:7-9
• 33. Isaiah 28:2
• 34. Isaiah 28:15
• 35. Isaiah 7:7; Isaiah 8:10
• 36. Isaiah 28:15
• 37. Isaiah 28:3; Daniel 8:13
• 38. 2 Kings 24:2
• 39. Isaiah 50:4
• 40. Job 6:4; Job 18:11; Job 24:17; Psalms 55:4; Psalms 88:15; Lamentations 2:22
• 41. Isaiah 59:6
• 42. 2 Samuel 5:20; 1 Chronicles 14:11
• 43. Joshua 10:10, 12; 2 Samuel 5:25; 1 Chronicles 14:16
• 44. Isaiah 10:12; Isaiah 29:14; Isaiah 65:7
• 45. Lamentations 2:15; Lamentations 3:33; Luke 19:41-44
• 46. Isaiah 28:14
• 47. Isaiah 10:22, 23

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "valley of fatness"
• [b]. Lit "smitten"
• [c]. Lit "valley of fatness"
• [d]. Lit "the one seeing sees"
• [e]. Lit "while it is yet"
• [f]. Lit "palm"
• [g]. Lit "battle"
• [h]. Lit "seeing"
• [i]. Heb "Sav lasav, sav lasav, Kav lakav, kav lakav, Ze' er sham, ze' er sham" These Hebrew monosyllables, imitating the babbling of a child, mock the prophet's preaching
• [j]. V 10, note 1 The LORD responds to their scoffing by imitating their mockery, to represent the unintelligible language of a conqueror
• [k]. I.e. the nether world
• [l]. So some ancient versions; Heb "seer"
• [m]. Or "flood"
• [n]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD
• [o]. Lit "well-laid"
• [p]. Lit "in a hurry"
• [q]. Lit "covered over"
• [r]. Lit "take"
• [s]. Lit "only"
• [t]. Lit "the report," or, "the message"
• [u]. Lit "narrow"
• [v]. Lit "task is strange"
• [w]. Lit "work is alien"
• [x]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD