THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET
ISAIAH
Isaiah 28 ©
A prophecy of the destruction of the kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians, v. 1, etc. But that the Lord would bring the remnant of His people unto honor, 5. A complaint of the drunkenness of those of Judah, 7, 8. And the inability to teach them, 9, 10. A threatening that they shall be overmastered by strange nations, 11, etc. Because they mocked at the Word of God, and at His threatenings, 14. A most glorious description of the Person of the Messiah, 16. A sore threatening against the people of the Jews, 17, etc. An exhortation to amendment of life, 22. As a skillful husbandman knows his time and ways of acting, so does the Lord, Who instructs the husbandman, knows much more, 24, etc.
WOE1 to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, 2whose glorious beauty is a 3fading flower, 4which 5are on the head of the fat valleys of them 6that are overcome with wine!
Behold, the Lord hath a 7mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and 8a destroying storm, as a flood of 9mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth 10with the hand.
11The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:
And the glorious 12beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the 13hasty fruit 14before the summer; which 15when he that looketh upon it seeth, 16while it is yet in his hand he 17eateth it up.
¶ 18In that day shall the LORD of hosts be 19for a crown of glory, and for a diadema of beauty, unto 20the residue of his people,
And for a spirit of judgment to him 21that sitteth in judgment, and 22for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
¶But 23they alsob have erred 24through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the 25priest and the 26prophet have erred through strong drink, 27they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; 28they err in vision, they 29stumble in judgment.
For all tables are 30full of vomit and 31filthiness, 32so that there is no place clean.
¶Whom shall 33he teach 34knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand 35doctrine? 36them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
37For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
38For with 39stammering lips and 40anotherc tongue will he speak to this people.
To 41whom 42he said, 43This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
44But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; 45thatd they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
¶Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, 46ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
Because ye have said, We have 47made a covenant with death, and 48with hell are we at agreement; when 49the overflowing scourge shall 50pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made 51lies our refuge, and under 52falsehood have we hid ourselves:
¶Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, Ie lay in Zion for 53a foundation a stone, 54a tried stone, a precious corner stone, 55a sure foundation: 56he that believeth 57shall not make haste.
Judgment also will 58I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet:f and 59the hail shall 60sweep away 61the refuge of lies, and the waters shall 62overflow the hiding place.
¶And your covenant with death 63shall be disannulled, and your agreement 64with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, 65then ye shall be trodden down by it.
From the time that 66it goeth forth it shall take 67you: for 68morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the 69report.
70For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can 71wrap himself in it.
For the LORD shall rise up as in mount 72Perazim, 73he shall be wroth as 74in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, 75his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest 76your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even 77determined upon the whole earth.
¶Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.
Doth the 78plowman plow 79all day to sow? doth he 80open and break the clods of his ground?
When he hath made plain 81the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the 82fitches, and 83scatter the cummin,g and cast in the 84principal wheat and the 85appointed barley and the rieh in 86their place?
For his God doth 87instruct him 88to discretion, and doth teach him.
For the fitches are not threshed 89with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
90Bread corn is bruised; because 91he will not 92ever be threshing it, 93nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
94This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, 95which is wonderful in counsel, 96and excellenti in working.