Isaiah 28:14–22

¹⁴Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men,

Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,

¹⁵Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,

And with Sheol we are in agreement.

When the overflowing scourge passes through,

It will not come to us,

^hFor we have made lies our refuge,

And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”

A Cornerstone in Zion

¹⁶Therefore thus says the Lord God:

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

A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;

Whoever believes will not act hastily.

¹⁷Also I will make justice the measuring line,

And righteousness the plummet;

The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,

And the waters will overflow the hiding place.

¹⁸Your covenant with death will be annulled,

And your agreement with Sheol will not stand;

When the overflowing scourge passes through,

Then you will be trampled down by it.

¹⁹As often as it goes out it will take you;

For morning by morning it will pass over,

And by day and by night;

It will be a terror just to understand the report.”

²⁰For the bed is too short to stretch out on,

And the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it.

²¹For the Lord will rise up as at Mount ^jPerazim,

He will be angry as in the Valley of ^kGibeon—

That He may do His work, ^lHis awesome work,

And bring to pass His act, His ³unusual act.

²²Now therefore, do not be mockers,

Lest your bonds be made strong;

For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts,

^mA ⁴destruction determined even upon the whole earth.