Parallel Bible results for "isaiah 28"

Isaiah 28

New Living Translation NLT

1 What sorrow awaits the proud city of Samaria— the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel. It sits at the head of a fertile valley, but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower. It is the pride of a people brought down by wine.

2 For the Lord will send a mighty army against it. Like a mighty hailstorm and a torrential rain, they will burst upon it like a surging flood and smash it to the ground.

3 The proud city of Samaria— the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel — will be trampled beneath its enemies’ feet.

4 It sits at the head of a fertile valley, but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower. Whoever sees it will snatch it up, as an early fig is quickly picked and eaten.

5 Then at last the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will himself be Israel’s glorious crown. He will be the pride and joy of the remnant of his people.

6 He will give a longing for justice to their judges. He will give great courage to their warriors who stand at the gates.

7 Now, however, Israel is led by drunks who reel with wine and stagger with alcohol. The priests and prophets stagger with alcohol and lose themselves in wine. They reel when they see visions and stagger as they render decisions.

8 Their tables are covered with vomit; filth is everywhere.

9 “Who does the LORD think we are?” they ask. “Why does he speak to us like this? Are we little children, just recently weaned?

10 He tells us everything over and over— one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there!”

11 So now God will have to speak to his people through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language!

12 God has told his people, “Here is a place of rest; let the weary rest here. This is a place of quiet rest.” But they would not listen.

13 So the LORD will spell out his message for them again, one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there, so that they will stumble and fall. They will be injured, trapped, and captured.

14 Therefore, listen to this message from the LORD, you scoffing rulers in Jerusalem.

15 You boast, “We have struck a bargain to cheat death and have made a deal to dodge the grave. The coming destruction can never touch us, for we have built a strong refuge made of lies and deception.”

16 Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken.

17 I will test you with the measuring line of justice and the plumb line of righteousness. Since your refuge is made of lies, a hailstorm will knock it down. Since it is made of deception, a flood will sweep it away.

18 I will cancel the bargain you made to cheat death, and I will overturn your deal to dodge the grave. When the terrible enemy sweeps through, you will be trampled into the ground.

19 Again and again that flood will come, morning after morning, day and night, until you are carried away.” This message will bring terror to your people.

20 The bed you have made is too short to lie on. The blankets are too narrow to cover you.

21 The LORD will come as he did against the Philistines at Mount Perazim and against the Amorites at Gibeon. He will come to do a strange thing; he will come to do an unusual deed:

22 For the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, has plainly said that he is determined to crush the whole land. So scoff no more, or your punishment will be even greater.

23 Listen to me; listen, and pay close attention.

24 Does a farmer always plow and never sow? Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting?

25 Does he not finally plant his seeds— black cumin, cumin, wheat, barley, and emmer wheat— each in its proper way, and each in its proper place?

26 The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding.

27 A heavy sledge is never used to thresh black cumin; rather, it is beaten with a light stick. A threshing wheel is never rolled on cumin; instead, it is beaten lightly with a flail.

28 Grain for bread is easily crushed, so he doesn’t keep on pounding it. He threshes it under the wheels of a cart, but he doesn’t pulverize it.

29 The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great 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.