Isaiah Chapter 28
An Oracle About Samaria
1 Misfortune awaits the proud crown of Ephraim’s drunks,
the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Samaria,
that’s at the head of the fertile valley
of those drunk with wine.
2 The LORD has a strong and powerful military agent;
he’ll throw Samaria down on the ground
like a hail storm, destructive gale, overwhelming flood.
3 The proud crown of Ephraim’s drunks will get tramped on;
4the fading flower of its glorious beauty
that’s at the head of the fertile valley,
will be like the first-ripe fig of summer:
as soon as it’s seen, it’s picked and eaten.
Is 28:1-4
5 At a later time, the LORD of Hosts will finally become Israel’s crown instead,
a beautiful diadem for his remnant people.
6 He’ll give their judges a desire to render justice
and their soldiers the courage to repel onslaughts at the gates.
7 But for now the priests and prophets
reel with wine and stagger from alcohol,
reeling while having visions,
staggering while rendering verdicts.
8 Their tables are covered with vomit;
there’s filth everywhere.
Is 28:5-8
9 Yet they say, “Who’s the LORD think he’s going to teach?
Who’s he going to explain the message to?
Are we little kids just weaned from milk,
just taken from the breast?
10 They say that because he tells them over and over,
“Precept on precept,
line on line;
here a little, there a little.”
11 So instead, he’ll have to speak to his people
in a foreigner’s language.
12 He told them, “Here’s a place for the weary to rest,”
but they ignored him.
13 So the LORD will keep on lining out his message to them,
“Precept on precept,
line on line;
here a little, there a little”;
till they stumble and fall backward,
broken, snared, and captured.
Is 28:9-13
14 So listen to the LORD’s message,
you scoffing rulers in Jerusalem:
15 “You try to tell yourselves,
‘We’ve made a deal with death,
a treaty with Sheol;
the overwhelming scourge won’t trample us
when it comes along;
we can lie our way out of danger
and hide behind deceit.’”
16 But the Lord GOD says,
“I’m laying a stone in Zion, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a firm foundation;
nothing that’s built on it will shift out of place.
17 I’ll make justice the measuring line
and goodness the level;
hail will sweep away your refuge in lies,
and water will flood your hiding place.
18 I’ll undo your deal with death
and annul your treaty with Sheol;
when the overwhelming scourge comes along,
it will trample you.
Is 28:14-18
19 It’ll seize you again and again;
morning after morning it will come through
and at any time day or night.
That will mean pure terror for you
once you get what that means.”
20 The bed you’ve built is too short to stretch out on;
your blanket’s too narrow to cover up with.
21 The LORD will come like he did at Mount Perazim;
he’ll show his anger like he did in the Valley of Gibeon.
He’ll do his unexpected task
and accomplish his extraordinary work.
22 Don’t carry on like scoffers;
he’ll tighten your bonds even more.
I’ve heard from the Lord GOD of hosts
about his decree to destroy the whole region.
Is 28:19-22
24 When it’s planting time,
does a farmer keep on plowing,
keep breaking up ground and harrowing it?
25 Doesn’t he smooth it out,
sow dill and scatter cummin,
plant wheat in rows,
and broadcast barley and rye in their plots
26 because his God has taught him how to do it?
27A farmer doesn’t thresh dill with a sledge
or drive a cart wheel over cummin;
he beats out dill and cummin with a stick.
28 Does he crush grain for bread?
No, he doesn’t keep threshing it over and over;
the cart wheel and horses’ hooves would ruin it.
29 That goes for the LORD of Hosts too,
who made his advice wonderful
and his wisdom great.
Is 28:23-29