7 And these also stagger from wine

and reel from beer:

Priests and prophets stagger from beer

and are befuddled with wine;

they reel from beer,

they stagger when seeing visions,

they stumble when rendering decisions.

8 All the tables are covered with vomit

and there is not a spot without filth.

9 “Who is it he is trying to teach?

To whom is he explaining his message?

To children weaned from their milk,

to those just taken from the breast?

10 For it is:

Do this, do that,

a rule for this, a rule for that;

a little here, a little there.”

11 Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues

God will speak to this people,

7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way;

The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink,

They are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink;

They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.

8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness,

So that there is no place clean.

9 Whom shall he teach knowledge?

And whom shall he make to understand doctrine?

Them that are weaned from the milk,

And drawn from the breasts.

10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept;

Line upon line, line upon line;

Here a little, and there a little:

11 For with stammering lips and another tongue

Will he speak to this people.

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!

7 But they also have erred through wine,

And through intoxicating drink are out of the way;

The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink,

They are swallowed up by wine,

They are out of the way through intoxicating drink;

They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.

8 For all tables are full of vomit and filth;

No place is clean.

9 “Whom will he teach knowledge?

And whom will he make to understand the message?

Those just weaned from milk?

Those just drawn from the breasts?

10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,

Line upon line, line upon line,

Here a little, there a little.”

11 For with stammering lips and another tongue

He will speak to this people,

7 But now those leaders are drunk with wine;

they stumble from drinking too much beer.

The priests and prophets are drunk with beer

and are filled with wine.

They stumble from too much beer.

The prophets are drunk when they see their visions;

the judges stumble when they make their decisions.

8 Every table is covered with vomit,

so there is not a clean place anywhere.

9 The Lord is trying to teach the people a lesson;

he is trying to make them understand his teachings.

But the people are like babies too old for breast milk,

like those who no longer nurse at their mother’s breast.

10 So they make fun of the Lord’s prophet and say:

“A command here, a command there.

A rule here, a rule there.

A little lesson here, a little lesson there.”

11 So the Lord will use strange words and foreign languages

to speak to these people.

7 And even these reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. 8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

9 Whom will he teach knowledge? and whom will he make to understand the message? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts? 10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little.

11 Nay, but by men of strange lips and with another tongue will he speak to this people;

7 But these also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are they gone astray. The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink; they are overpowered by wine, they are gone astray through strong drink; they have erred in vision, they have stumbled in judgment. 8 For all tables are full of filthy vomit, so that there is no more place.

9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand the report? Them that are weaned from the milk, withdrawn from the breasts? 10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little. … 11 For with stammering lips and a strange tongue will he speak to this people;

7 Priests and prophets stagger from wine and wobble from too much liquor. 

They stagger from too much liquor 

and become confused from too much wine. 

They wobble because of their liquor. 

They stagger when they see visions. 

They swerve as they judge. 

8 All the tables are covered with vomit and excrement. 

There isn’t a clean place left. 

9 To whom will they make the message understood? 

To whom will they explain this message? 

To children just weaned from milk? 

To those just taken from their ⸤mother’s⸥ breasts? 

10 They speak utter nonsense.

11 The Lord will speak to these people. 

He will mock them by speaking in a foreign language. 

7 These also stagger because of wine

and stumble under the influence of beer:

priest and prophet stagger because of beer,

they are confused by wine.

They stumble because of beer,

they are muddled in their visions,

they stumble in their judgments.

8 Indeed, all their tables are covered with vomit;

there is no place without a stench.

9 Who is he trying to teach?

Who is he trying to instruct?

Infants just weaned from milk?

Babies removed from the breast?

10 For he says: “Law after law, law after law,

line after line, line after line,

a little here, a little there.”

11 So He will speak to this people

with stammering speech

and in a foreign language.

7 These also reel with wine

and stagger with strong drink;

the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink,

they are confused with wine,

they stagger with strong drink;

they err in vision,

they stumble in giving judgment.

8 All tables are covered with filthy vomit;

no place is clean.

9 “Whom will he teach knowledge,

and to whom will he explain the message?

Those who are weaned from 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 Truly, with stammering lip

and with alien tongue

he will speak to this people,

7 And these also stagger because of wine

and stagger because of strong drink;

priest and prophet stagger because of strong drink;

they are confused because of wine.

They stagger because of strong drink;

they err in vision.

They stagger in the rendering of a decision,

8 for all the tables are full of disgusting vomit, with no place left.

9 To whom will he teach knowledge,

and to whom will he explain the message?

Those who are weaned from milk,

those taken from the breast?

10 For it is blah-blah upon blah-blah,

blah-blah upon blah-blah,

gah-gah upon gah-gah,

gah-gah upon gah-gah,

a little here, a little there.

11 For he will speak with stammering and another tongue to this people,

7 Israel’s leaders are drunk from wine.

They can’t walk straight.

They are drunk from beer.

They are unsteady on their feet.

Priests and prophets drink beer.

They can’t walk straight.

They are mixed up from drinking too much wine.

They drink too much beer.

They are unsteady on their feet.

The prophets see visions but don’t really understand them.

The priests aren’t able to make good decisions.

8 They throw up. All of the tables are covered

with the mess they’ve made.

There isn’t one spot on the tables

that isn’t smelly and dirty.

9 My people are making fun of me. They say,

“Who does he think he’s trying to teach?

Who does he think he’s explaining his message to?

Is it to children who do not need their mother’s milk anymore?

Is it to those who have just been taken from her breast?

10 Here is how he teaches.

Do this and do that.

Do that and do this.

Obey this rule and obey that rule.

Obey that rule and obey this rule.

Learn a little here and learn a little there.”

11 All right then, these people won’t listen to me.

So God will speak to them.

He will speak by using people who speak unfamiliar languages.

He will speak by using the mouths of strangers.

7 And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink:

The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink,

They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink;

They reel while having visions,

They totter when rendering judgment.

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

9 “To whom would He teach knowledge,

And to whom would He interpret the message?

Those just weaned from milk?

Those just taken from the breast?

10 “For He says,

‘Order 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 stammering lips and a foreign tongue,