Isaiah 28:13–16

And the word of the Lord will be to them

precept upon precept, precept upon precept,

line upon line, line upon line,

here a little, there a little,

that they may go, and fall backward,

and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,

who rule this people in Jerusalem!

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

and with Sheol we have an agreement,

when the overwhelming whip passes through

it will not come to us,

for we have made lies our refuge,

and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;

therefore thus says the Lord God,

“Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion,

a stone, a tested stone,

a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:

‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’

So then, the word of the Lord to them will become:

Do this, do that,

a rule for this, a rule for that;

a little here, a little there—

so that as they go they will fall backward;

they will be injured and snared and captured.

Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers

who rule this people in Jerusalem.

You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death,

with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement.

When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by,

it cannot touch us,

for we have made a lie our refuge

and falsehood our hiding place.”

So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,

a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;

the one who relies on it

will never be stricken with panic.

The word of the Lord will come to them:

“Law after law, law after law,

line after line, line after line,

a little here, a little there,”

so they go stumbling backward,

to be broken, trapped, and captured.

Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers

who rule this people in Jerusalem.

For you said, “We have made a covenant with Death,

and we have an agreement with Sheol;

when the overwhelming catastrophe passes through,

it will not touch us,

because we have made falsehood our refuge

and have hidden behind treachery.”

Therefore the Lord God said:

“Look, I have laid a stone in Zion,

a tested stone,

a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;

the one who believes will be unshakable.

So the Lord will spell out his message for them again,

one line at a time,

one line at a time,

a little here,

and a little there,

so that they will stumble and fall.

They will be injured, trapped, and captured.

Therefore, listen to this message from the Lord,

you scoffing rulers in Jerusalem.

You boast, “We have struck a bargain to cheat death

and have made a deal to dodge the grave.

The coming destruction can never touch us,

for we have built a strong refuge made of lies and deception.”

Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem,

a firm and tested stone.

It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on.

Whoever believes need never be shaken.

And to them the word of Yahweh will be

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,

so that they may go and stumble backward

and be broken and ensnared and captured.

Therefore hear the word of Yahweh, men of mockery,

rulers of these people in Jerusalem:

Because you have said,

“We have made a covenant with death,

and we have made an agreement with Sheol.

The overwhelming flood, when it passes through, will not come to us,

for we have made lies our refuge,

and we have hidden ourselves in falsehood.”

Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this:

“Look! I am laying a stone in Zion,

a tested stone,

a precious cornerstone,

a founded foundation:

‘The one who trusts will not panic.’

But the word of the Lord was unto them

Precept upon precept, precept upon precept;

Line upon line, line upon line;

Here a little, and there a little;

That they might go, and fall backward, and be broken,

And snared, and taken.

Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men,

That rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death,

And with hell are we at agreement;

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

For we have made lies our refuge,

And under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

Therefore thus saith the Lord God,

Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone,

A tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation:

He that believeth shall not make haste.