Isaiah 28
1Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, 1 Whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, 1 Which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine. 1
2Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, 1 Which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, 1 As a flood of mighty waters overflowing, 1 Shall cast down to the earth with the hand. 1
3The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, 1 Shall be trodden under feet: 1
4And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, 1 And as the hasty fruit before the summer; 1 Which when he that looketh upon it seeth, 1 While it is yet in his hand he eateth it up. 1
5In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, 1 And for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people, 1
6And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, 1 And for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. 1
7But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; 1 The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, 1 They are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; 1 They err in vision, they stumble in judgment. 1
8For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, 1 So that there is no place clean. 1
9Whom shall he teach knowledge? 1 And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? 1 Them that are weaned from the milk, 1 And drawn from the breasts. 1
10For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; 1 Line upon line, line upon line; 1 Here a little, and there a little: 1
11For with stammering lips and another tongue 1 Will he speak to this people. 1
12To whom he said, 1 This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; 1 And this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. 1
13But the word of the Lord was unto them 1 Precept upon precept, precept upon precept; 1 Line upon line, line upon line; 1 Here a little, and there a little; 1 That they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, 1 And snared, and taken. 1
14Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, 1 That rule this people which is in Jerusalem. 1
15Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, 1 And with hell are we at agreement; 1 When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: 1 For we have made lies our refuge, 1 And under falsehood have we hid ourselves: 1
16Therefore thus saith the Lord God, 1 Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, 1 A tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: 1 He that believeth shall not make haste. 1
17Judgment also will I lay to the line, 1 And righteousness to the plummet: 1 And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, 1 And the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 1
18And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, 1 And your agreement with hell shall not stand; 1 When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, 1 Then ye shall be trodden down by it. 1
19From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: 1 For morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: 1 And it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. 1
20For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: 1 And the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. 1
21For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, 1 He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, 1 That he may do his work, his strange work; 1 And bring to pass his act, his strange act. 1
22Now therefore be ye not mockers, 1 Lest your bands be made strong: 1 For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts 1 A consumption, even determined 1 Upon the whole earth. 1
23Give ye ear, and hear my voice; 1 Hearken, and hear my speech. 1
24Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? 1 Doth he open and break the clods of his ground? 1
25When he hath made plain the face thereof, 1 Doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, 1 And cast in the principal wheat 1 And the appointed barley and the rye in their place? 1
26For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him. 1
27For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, 1 Neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; 1 But the fitches are beaten out with a staff, 1 And the cummin with a rod. 1
28Bread corn is bruised; 1 Because he will not ever be threshing it, 1 Nor break it with the wheel of his cart, 1 Nor bruise it with his horsemen. 1
29This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, 1 Which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.