Isaiah 28:14–22

A Cornerstone in Zion

¹⁴Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you ^oscoffers,

who rule this people in Jerusalem!

¹⁵Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,

and with Sheol we have an agreement,

when the ^poverwhelming whip passes through

it will not come to us,

for we have made ^qlies our refuge,

and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;

¹⁶therefore thus says the Lord God,

^r“Behold, I am the one who has laid⁴ as a foundation ^sin Zion,

a stone, a tested stone,

a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:

‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’

¹⁷And I will make justice ^tthe line,

and righteousness ^tthe plumb line;

and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,

and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”

¹⁸Then ^uyour 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.

¹⁹As often as it passes through it will take you;

^vfor morning by morning it will pass through,

by day and by night;

and it will be ^wsheer terror to understand the message.

²⁰For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,

and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.

²¹For the Lord will rise up ^xas on Mount Perazim;

^yas in the Valley of ^zGibeon he will be roused;

to do his deed—strange is his deed!

and to work his work—alien is his work!

²²Now therefore do not ^ascoff,

lest your bonds be made strong;

for I have heard ^ba decree of destruction

from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.