Isaiah 28:14–22

A Cornerstone in Zion

¹⁴Therefore, ^ahear the word of Yahweh, O ^bscoffers,

Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,

¹⁵Because you have said, “We have cut a ^acovenant with death,

And with Sheol we have made a ¹pact.

^bThe overflowing ²scourge will not reach us when it passes by,

For we have made ^cfalsehood our refuge and we have ^dhidden ourselves with lying.”

¹⁶Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh,

“^aBehold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested ^bstone,

A costly cornerstone for the foundation, ¹firmly placed.

He who believes in it will not be ²disturbed.

¹⁷“I will make ^ajustice the measuring line

And righteousness the level;

Then ^bhail will sweep away the refuge of falsehood,

And the waters will overflow the secret place.

¹⁸“Your ^acovenant with death will be ^1bcanceled,

And your pact with Sheol will not stand;

When the ^coverflowing scourge passes through,

Then you will become its ^dtrampling place.

¹⁹“As ^aoften as it passes through, it will take you;

For ^bmorning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,

And it will be ¹sheer ^cterror to understand the report.”

²⁰The bed is too short on which to stretch out,

And the ^ablanket is too narrow to wrap oneself in.

²¹For Yahweh will rise up as at Mount ^aPerazim;

He will be stirred up as in the valley of ^bGibeon,

To work His ^cwork, His ^1dunusual work,

And to labor in His labor, His ²exceptional labor.

²²So now do not carry on as ^ascoffers,

Lest your fetters be made stronger;

For I have heard from Lord Yahweh of hosts

Of complete ^bdestruction, one that is decreed, on all the earth.