Parallel Bible results for "isaiah 28"

Isaiah 28

English Standard Version ESV

1 Ah, the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine!

2 Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong; like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters, he casts down to the earth with his hand.

3 The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trodden underfoot;

4 and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is on the head of the rich valley, will be like a first-ripe fig before the summer: when someone sees it, he swallows it as soon as it is in his hand.

5 In that day the LORD of hosts will be a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,

6 and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

7 These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed by 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 "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 For by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the LORD will speak to this people,

12 to whom he has said, "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, that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers, 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 overwhelming whip passes through it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter";

16 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'Whoever believes will not be in haste.'

17 And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter."

18 Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be beaten down by it.

19 As often as it passes through it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.

20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on, and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.

21 For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim; as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused; to do his deed--strange is his deed! and to work his work--alien is his work!

22 Now therefore do not scoff, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord GOD of hosts against the whole land.

23 Give ear, and hear my voice; give attention, and hear my speech.

24 Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Does he continually open and harrow his ground?

25 When he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter dill, sow cumin, and put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and emmer as the border?

26 For he is rightly instructed; his God teaches him.

27 Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin, but dill is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod.

28 Does one crush grain for bread? No, he does not thresh it forever; when he drives his cart wheel over it with his horses, he does not crush it.

29 This also comes from the LORD of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.

The Message Bible MSG

1 Doom to the pretentious drunks of Ephraim, shabby and washed out and seedy - Tipsy, sloppy-fat, beer-bellied parodies of a proud and handsome past.

2 Watch closely: God has someone picked out, someone tough and strong to flatten them. Like a hailstorm, like a hurricane, like a flash flood, one-handed he'll throw them to the ground.

3 Samaria, the party hat on Israel's head, will be knocked off with one blow.

4 It will disappear quicker than a piece of meat tossed to a dog.

5 At that time, God-of-the-Angel-Armies will be the beautiful crown on the head of what's left of his people:

6 Energy and insights of justice to those who guide and decide, strength and prowess to those who guard and protect.

7 These also, the priest and prophet, stagger from drink, weaving, falling-down drunks, Besotted with wine and whiskey, can't see straight, can't talk sense.

8 Every table is covered with vomit. They live in vomit.

9 "Is that so? And who do you think you are to teach us? Who are you to lord it over us? We're not babies in diapers to be talked down to by such as you -

10 'Da, da, da, da, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's a good little girl, that's a good little boy.'"

11 But that's exactly how you will be addressed. God will speak to this people In baby talk, one syllable at a time -

12 and he'll do it through foreign oppressors. He said before, "This is the time and place to rest, to give rest to the weary. This is the place to lay down your burden." But they won't listen.

13 So God will start over with the simple basics and address them in baby talk, one syllable at a time - "Da, da, da, da, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's a good little girl, that's a good little boy." And like toddlers, they will get up and fall down, get bruised and confused and lost.

14 Now listen to God's Message, you scoffers, you who rule this people in Jerusalem.

15 You say, "We've taken out good life insurance. We've hedged all our bets, covered all our bases. No disaster can touch us. We've thought of everything. We're advised by the experts. We're set." The Meaning of the Stone

16 But the Master, God, has something to say to this: "Watch closely. I'm laying a foundation in Zion, a solid granite foundation, squared and true. And this is the meaning of the stone: a trusting life won't topple.

17 I'll make justice the measuring stick and righteousness the plumb line for the building. A hailstorm will knock down the shantytown of lies, and a flash flood will wash out the rubble.

18 "Then you'll see that your precious life insurance policy wasn't worth the paper it was written on. Your careful precautions against death were a pack of illusions and lies. When the disaster happens, you'll be crushed by it.

19 Every time disaster comes, you'll be in on it - disaster in the morning, disaster at night." Every report of disaster will send you cowering in terror.

20 There will be no place where you can rest, nothing to hide under.

21 God will rise to full stature, raging as he did long ago on Mount Perazim And in the valley of Gibeon against the Philistines. But this time it's against you. Hard to believe, but true. Not what you'd expect, but it's coming.

22 Sober up, friends, and don't scoff. Scoffing will just make it worse. I've heard the orders issued for destruction, orders from God-of-the-Angel-Armies - ending up in an international disaster.

23 Listen to me now. Give me your closest attention.

24 Do farmers plow and plow and do nothing but plow? Or harrow and harrow and do nothing but harrow?

25 After they've prepared the ground, don't they plant? Don't they scatter dill and spread cumin, Plant wheat and barley in the fields and raspberries along the borders?

26 They know exactly what to do and when to do it. Their God is their teacher.

27 And at the harvest, the delicate herbs and spices, the dill and cumin, are treated delicately.

28 n the other hand, wheat is threshed and milled, but still not endlessly. The farmer knows how to treat each kind of grain.

29 He's learned it all from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, who knows everything about when and how and where.