Isaiah 28–30

28^*Woe to ^athe crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim,

Whose ^bglorious beauty is a fading flower,

^bWhich are ^con the head of the fat valleys of them that are ^†overcome with wine!

²Behold, the Lord hath ^da mighty and strong one,

Which as a tempest of ^ehail and a ^fdestroying ^gstorm,

As a flood of ^hmighty waters ^goverflowing,

Shall ⁱcast down to the earth with the hand.

^3aThe crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim,

Shall be trodden ^†under feet:

⁴And ^bthe glorious beauty, ^bwhich is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower,

And as ^kthe hasty fruit before the summer;

Which when he that looketh upon it seeth,

While it is yet in his hand he ^†eateth it up.

^5lIn that day shall the Lord of hosts be for ^ma crown of glory,

And for a diadem of ^bbeauty, unto the residue of his people,

⁶And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment,

And for strength to them that turn the battle ⁿto the gate.

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

^qThe 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 ^rjudgment.

⁸For ^sall tables are full of vomit and filthiness,

So that there is no place clean.

^9tWhom shall he teach knowledge?

And whom shall he make to understand ^†doctrine?

^uThem that are weaned from the milk,

And drawn from the breasts.

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

^vLine upon line, line upon line;

Here a little, and there a little:

¹¹For ^wwith ^†xstammering lips and another tongue

^||Will he speak to this people.

¹²To whom he said,

^yThis is the rest wherewith ye may cause ^zthe weary to rest;

And this is ^athe refreshing: ^wyet they would not hear.

¹³But the word of the Lord was unto them

^bPrecept upon precept, precept upon precept;

^bLine upon line, line upon line;

Here a little, and there a little;

That they might go, and ^cfall backward, and ^cbe broken,

And ^csnared, and ^ctaken.

¹⁴Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ^dye scornful men,

That rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

¹⁵Because ye have said, We have ^emade a covenant with death,

And ^ewith hell are we at agreement;

When ^fthe overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us:

For ^gwe have made lies our refuge,

And ^gunder falsehood have we hid ourselves:

¹⁶Therefore thus saith the Lord God,

^hBehold, I lay in Zion for a foundation ⁱa stone,

^jA tried stone, ⁱa precious corner stone, ^ka sure foundation:

^hlHe that believeth shall not make haste.

¹⁷Judgment also will I lay to ^bmthe line,

And righteousness to ^mthe plummet:

And ⁿthe hail shall sweep away ^gthe refuge of lies,

And the waters shall ^foverflow ^gthe hiding place.

¹⁸And ^eyour covenant with death shall be disannulled,

And ^eyour agreement with hell shall not stand;

^fWhen the overflowing scourge shall pass through,

Then ye shall be ^†trodden down by it.

¹⁹From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you:

For ⁿⁿmorning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night:

And it shall be ^oa vexation only ^||to understand ^pthe report.

²⁰For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it:

And ^qthe covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.

²¹For the Lord shall rise up ^ras in mount Perazim,

He shall be wroth ^sas in the valley of ^tGibeon,

That he may do his work, ^uhis strange work;

And bring to pass his act, his strange act.

²²Now therefore ^dbe ye not mockers,

Lest your bands be made strong:

For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts

^wA consumption, even determined

Upon the whole earth.

²³Give ye ear, and hear my voice;

Hearken, and hear my speech.

²⁴Doth the plowman plow all day to sow?

Doth he open and ^xbreak the clods of his ground?

²⁵When he hath made plain the face thereof,

Doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin,

And cast in ^||the principal wheat

And the appointed barley and the ^||rie in their ^†place?

^26||For his God doth instruct him to ^ydiscretion, and doth teach him.

²⁷For the fitches are not threshed with ^za threshing instrument,

Neither is a cart ^awheel turned about upon the cummin;

But the fitches are ^aabeaten out with a staff,

And the cummin with a rod.

²⁸Bread corn is bruised;

Because he will not ever be threshing it,

Nor break it with the wheel of his cart,

Nor bruise it with his horsemen.

²⁹This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts,

^bWhich is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in ^cworking.

29^||Woe to ^aAriel, to Ariel, ^||the city ^bwhere David ^cdwelt!

Add ye year to year; let them ^†dkill ^esacrifices.

²Yet I will distress ^aAriel,

And there shall be heaviness and sorrow:

And it shall be unto me as ^aAriel.

³And I will ^ccamp against thee ^fround about,

And ^gwill lay siege against thee with ^ha mount,

And I will raise ⁱforts against thee.

⁴And ^kthou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground,

And ^lthy speech shall be low out of the dust,

And thy voice shall be, as of ^mone that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground,

And thy speech shall ^†mwhisper out of the dust.

⁵Moreover the multitude of thy ⁿstrangers shall be like small dust,

And the multitude of ⁿthe terrible ones shall be ^oas chaff that passeth away:

Yea, it shall be ^pat an instant suddenly.

⁶Thou shalt be ^qvisited of the Lord of hosts

With thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise,

With ^rstorm and tempest, and ^sthe flame of devouring fire.

^7tAnd the multitude of all the nations that fight against ^aAriel,

Even all that fight against her and her ^umunition, and that distress her,

Shall be ^vas a dream of a night vision.

⁸It shall even be as when an hungry man ^vwdreameth, and, behold, he eateth;

But ^whe awaketh, and his soul is empty:

Or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh;

But he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and ^xhis soul hath appetite:

So shall the multitude of all the nations be,

That fight against mount Zion.

⁹Stay yourselves, and wonder;

^||Cry ye out, and cry:

^yThey are drunken, ^zbut not with wine;

They stagger, but not with strong drink.

¹⁰For ^athe Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of ^bdeep sleep,

And hath ^cclosed your eyes:

The prophets and your ^†rulers, the seers hath he covered.

^11dAnd the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a ^||book ^ethat is sealed,

Which men deliver to one that is learned,

Saying, Read this, I pray thee:

And he saith, I cannot; ^efor it is sealed:

¹²And the book is delivered to him that is not learned,

Saying, Read this, I pray thee:

And he saith, I am not learned.

¹³Wherefore the Lord said,

^fForasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth,

And with their lips do ^ghonour me,

But have removed their heart far from me,

And their fear toward me is taught by ^hthe precept of men:

¹⁴ⁱTherefore, behold, ^†I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people,

Even a marvellous work and a wonder:

For ^jthe wisdom of their wise men shall perish,

And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

¹⁵Woe unto ^kthem that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord,

And their works are in the dark,

And ^lthey say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?

¹⁶Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay:

For ^mshall the work say of him that made it, He made me not?

Or shall ⁿthe thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

¹⁷Is it not ^oyet a very little while,

And ^pLebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,

^qAnd the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?

¹⁸And ^rin that day ^sshall the deaf hear the words of the book,

And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.

^19tThe meek also ^†shall increase their joy in the Lord,

And ^uthe poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

²⁰For ^vthe terrible one ^wis brought to nought, and the ^xscorner ^wis consumed,

And all that watch for iniquity are cut off:

²¹That make a man an offender for a word,

And lay a snare for ^yhim that reproveth in the gate,

And ^zturn aside the just ^afor a thing of nought.

²²Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob,

Jacob shall not now be ashamed,

Neither shall his face now wax pale.

²³But when he seeth his children, ^bthe work of mine hands, in the midst of him,

^cThey shall sanctify my name,

And sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,

And shall fear ^dthe God of Israel.

²⁴They also that erred in spirit ^†shall come to understanding,

And ^ethey that murmured shall learn ^fdoctrine.

30Woe to ^athe rebellious children, saith the Lord,

^bThat take counsel, but not of me;

And that ^ccover with a covering, but not of my spirit,

^dThat they may add sin to sin:

²That walk ^eto go down into Egypt,

And have not ^fasked at my mouth;

To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,

And to trust in ^gthe shadow of Egypt!

³Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame,

And ^hthe trust in ^gthe shadow of Egypt your confusion.

⁴For his princes were at ⁱZoan,

And ^jhis ambassadors came to ^kHanes.

^5lThey were all ashamed of ^ma people that could not profit them,

Nor be an help nor profit,

But a shame, and also a reproach.

⁶ⁿThe burden of ^othe beasts of the south:

Into the land of ^ptrouble and ^panguish,

^qFrom whence come the young and ^rold lion,

^stThe viper and ^sufiery flying serpent,

^vThey will carry their riches upon the shoulders of ^wyoung asses,

And ^vtheir treasures upon the bunches of camels,

To ^ma people that shall not profit them.

⁷For ^hthe Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose:

Therefore have I cried ^||concerning this, Their ^xstrength is to sit still.

⁸Now go, ^ywrite it before them in a table,

And ^znote it in a book,

That it may be for ^†the time to come

For ever and ever:

⁹That ^athis is a rebellious people, lying children,

Children that will not hear the law of the Lord:

¹⁰Which say to the ^bseers, See not;

And to the prophets, ^cProphesy not unto us right things,

^dSpeak unto us smooth things,

Prophesy deceits:

¹¹Get you out of the way,

Turn aside out of the path,

Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.

¹²Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel,

Because ye despise this word,

And trust in ^||oppression and ^eperverseness,

And stay thereon:

¹³…