Isaiah 28:16–29

16 Therefore thus says the Lord 1God,

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

A costly cornerstone for the foundation, 2firmly placed.

He who believes in it will not be 3disturbed.

17 “I will make ajustice the measuring line

And righteousness the level;

Then bhail will sweep away the refuge of lies

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 aoverwhelming scourge passes through,

Then you become its ctrampling place.

19 “As aoften as it passes through, it will 1seize you;

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

And it will be 2sheer cterror to understand 3what it means.”

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

And the ablanket is too 1small to wrap oneself in.

21 For the Lord will rise up as at Mount aPerazim,

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

To do His ctask, His 1dunusual task,

And to work His work, His 2extraordinary work.

22 And now do not carry on as ascoffers,

Or your fetters will be made stronger;

For I have heard from the Lord 1God of hosts

Of decisive bdestruction on all the earth.

23 Give ear and hear my voice,

Listen and hear my words.

24 Does the 1farmer plow 2continually to plant seed?

Does he continually 3turn and harrow the ground?

25 Does he not level its surface

And sow dill and scatter acummin

And 1plant bwheat in rows,

Barley in its place and rye within its 2area?

26 For his God instructs and teaches him properly.

27 For dill is not threshed with a athreshing sledge,

Nor is the cartwheel 1driven over cummin;

But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a club.

28 Grain for bread is crushed,

Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.

Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually 1damage it,

He does not thresh it longer.

29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts,

Who has made His counsel awonderful and His wisdom bgreat.