Isaiah 28

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.