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IsaiahChapter 28

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Woe to the proud crown of Ephraim's drunkards, to the fading flower of its glorious beauty, set on the head of the fertile valley — the crown of those overcome with wine!
Look, the Lord has one who is strong and mighty. Like a hailstorm, like a destroying tempest, like a torrent of mighty, overwhelming waters, he will hurl it to the ground with his hand.
The proud crown of Ephraim's drunkards will be trampled underfoot.
And the fading flower of its glorious beauty, set on the head of the fertile valley, will be like a fig ripe before summer: whoever sees it snatches it and swallows it while it is still in his hand.
On that day the LORD of Hosts will himself be a glorious crown and a beautiful diadem for the remnant of his people,
a spirit of justice for the one who sits in judgment, and strength for those who turn back the battle at the gate.
But these men stagger with wine and reel with strong drink: priest and prophet stagger with strong drink; they are swallowed up by wine, they reel from strong drink. They stagger in their visions; they stumble when they render judgment.
For every table is covered with vomit and filth; there is not a spot left untouched.
"Who does he think he is teaching? To whom does he explain his message? To children just weaned from milk, just taken from the breast?
For it is order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line, a little here, a little there."
So then, with stammering lips and a foreign tongue he will speak to this people —
he who once said to them, "This is the resting place; give rest to the weary. This is the place of repose." But they would not listen.
So the word of the LORD will be to them: order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line, a little here, a little there — so that they will go and stumble backward, be broken, ensnared, and captured.
Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
You say, "We have made a covenant with death; with the grave we have an agreement. When the raging flood sweeps by, it will not touch us, for we have made falsehood our refuge and taken shelter in a lie."
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation. Whoever believes will not be shaken.
I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place.
Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the grave will not stand. When the raging flood sweeps by, it will beat you down.
As often as it passes through, it will carry you off; morning after morning it will pass through, by day and by night. And the understanding of this message will bring nothing but terror.
For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket too narrow to wrap yourself in.
The LORD will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim; he will rouse himself as he did in the Valley of Gibeon — to do his work, his strange work, to perform his task, his alien task.
So now, stop your scoffing, or your chains will be made heavier; for I have heard from the Lord, the LORD of Hosts, of destruction decreed against the whole land.
Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say.
Does the plowman plow all day long before he sows? Does he keep breaking up and harrowing his ground?
No — once he has leveled its surface, he scatters caraway and sows cumin; he plants wheat in rows and barley in its place, and spelt along the edge.
He is instructed in the right way, for his God teaches him.
Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over cumin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick.
Grain must be ground for bread, but no one threshes it endlessly. Though he drives the wheels of his cart over it, his horses do not crush it to powder.
All this too comes from the LORD of Hosts: wonderful is his counsel, and great his wisdom.
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