Isaiah 28

⁵ In that day the Lord Almighty
    will be a glorious crown,
a beautiful wreath
    for the remnant of his people.
⁶ He will be a spirit of justice
    to the one who sits in judgment,
a source of strength
    to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

⁷ And these also stagger from wine
    and reel from beer:
priests and prophets stagger from beer
    and are befuddled with wine;
they reel from beer,
    they stagger when seeing visions,
    they stumble when rendering decisions.
⁸ All the tables are covered with vomit
    and there is not a spot without filth.

⁹ ‘Who is it he is trying to teach?
    To whom is he explaining his message?
To children weaned from their milk,
    to those just taken from the breast?
¹⁰ For it is:
    do this, do that,
    a rule for this, a rule for that;^[a]
    a little here, a little there.’

¹¹ Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues
    God will speak to this people,
¹² to whom he said,
    ‘This is the resting-place, let the weary rest’;
and, ‘This is the place of repose’–
    but they would not listen.
¹³ So then, the word of the Lord to them will become:
    do this, do that,
    a rule for this, a rule for that;
    a little here, a little there –
so that as they go they will fall backwards;
    they will be injured and snared and captured.

¹⁴ Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers
    who rule this people in Jerusalem.
¹⁵ You boast, ‘We have entered into a covenant with death,
    with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement.
When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by,
    it cannot touch us,
for we have made a lie our refuge
    and falsehood^[b] our hiding-place.’

‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,
    a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;
the one who relies on it
    will never be stricken with panic.
¹⁷ I will make justice the measuring line
    and righteousness the plumb-line;
hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie,
    and water will overflow your hiding-place.
¹⁸ Your covenant with death will be annulled;
    your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand.
When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by,
    you will be beaten down by it.
¹⁹ As often as it comes it will carry you away;
    morning after morning, by day and by night,
    it will sweep through.’

The understanding of this message
    will bring sheer terror.
²⁰ The bed is too short to stretch out on,
    the blanket too narrow to wrap around you.
²¹ The Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim,
    he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon –
to do his work, his strange work,
    and perform his task, his alien task.
²² Now stop your mocking,
    or your chains will become heavier;
the Lord, the Lord Almighty, has told me
    of the destruction decreed against the whole land.

²³ Listen and hear my voice;
    pay attention and hear what I say.
²⁴ When a farmer ploughs for planting, does he plough continually?
    Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?
²⁵ When he has levelled the surface,
    does he not sow caraway and scatter cummin?
Does he not plant wheat in its place,^[c]
    barley in its plot,^[d]
    and spelt in its field?
²⁶ His God instructs him
    and teaches him the right way.

²⁷ Caraway is not threshed with a sledge,
    nor is the cartwheel rolled over cummin;
caraway is beaten out with a rod,
    and cummin with a stick.
²⁸ Grain must be ground to make bread;
    so one does not go on threshing it for ever.
The wheels of a threshing-cart may be rolled over it,
    but one does not use horses to grind grain.
²⁹ All this also comes from the Lord Almighty,
    whose plan is wonderful,
    whose wisdom is magnificent.