Ephraim’s Captivity Predicted
1 Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,
And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the fertile valley
Of those who are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has a strong and mightyagent;
As a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction,
Like a storm of mighty overflowing waters,
He has castitdown to the earth withHishand.
3 The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trodden under foot.
4 And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the fertile valley,
Will be like the first-ripe fig prior to summer,
Which one sees,
Andas soon as it is in his hand,
He swallows it.
5 In that day the Lordof hosts will become a beautiful crown
And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;
6 A spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment,
A strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.
7 And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink:
The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink,
They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink;
They reel while having visions,
They totterwhen renderingjudgment.
8 For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, without asingle cleanplace.
9 “To whom would He teach knowledge,
And to whom would He interpret the message?
Thosejustweaned from milk?
Thosejusttaken from the breast?
10 “ForHe says,
‘Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there.'”
11 Indeed, He will speak to this people
Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue,
12 He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,”
And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen.
13 So the word of the Lordto them will be,
“Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there,”
That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.
Judah Is Warned
14 Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, O scoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we have made a pact.
The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by,
For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”
16 Therefore thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,
A costly cornerstoneforthe foundation, firmly placed.
He who believesin itwill not be disturbed.
17 “I will make justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18 “Your covenant with death will be canceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
Then you become its tramplingplace.
19 “As often as it passes through, it will seize you;
For morning after morning it will pass through,anytimeduring the day or night,
And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”
20 The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the blanket is too small to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lordwill rise up asatMount Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon,
To do His task, His unusual task,
And to work His work, His extraordinary work.
22 And now do not carry on as scoffers,
Or your fetters will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord Godof hosts
Of decisive destruction on all the earth.
23 Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my words.
24 Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed?
Does hecontinuallyturn and harrow the ground?
25 Does he not level its surface
And sow dill and scatter cummin
And plant wheat in rows,
Barley in its place and rye within its area?
26 For his God instructs and teaches him properly.
27 For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
Nor is the cartwheel driven over cummin;
But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a club.
28 Grain forbread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel ofhiscart and his horseseventuallydamageit,
He does not thresh it longer.
29 This also comes from the Lordof hosts,
Whohas madeHiscounsel wonderful andHiswisdom great.
—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/28-fedf13a34b9e5bfb299df6ce644f08f6.mp3?version_id=100—