Isaiah 28
Condemnation of
Ephraim |
1 |
Woe to the crown of pride, to the
drunkards of E'phra-im, whose glorious beauty is a fading
flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that
are overcome with wine!
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2 |
Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong
one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying
storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to
the earth with the hand.
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3 |
The crown of pride, the drunkards of
E'phra-im, shall be trodden under feet:
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4 |
and the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that
looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it
up.
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5 |
In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a
diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
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6 |
and for a spirit of judgment to him that
sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle
to the gate.
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7 |
But they also have erred through wine,
and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the
prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of
wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in
vision, they stumble in judgment.
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8 |
For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
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9 |
Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom
shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned
from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
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10 |
For precept must be upon precept,
precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.
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11 |
For with stammering lips and another
tongue will he speak to this people.
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12 |
To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. 1 Cor. 14.21
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13 |
But 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; that they might go, and fall backward, and be
broken, and snared, and taken.
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The Warning to
Jerusalem |
14 |
Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
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15 |
Because ye have said, We have made a
covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the
overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us:
for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid
ourselves:
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16 |
therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a
tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he
that believeth shall not make haste. Rom. 9.33 ; 10.11 · 1 Pet. 2.6
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17 |
Judgment also will I lay to the line, and
righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the
refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding
place.
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18 |
And your covenant with death shall be
disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the
overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden
down by it.
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19 |
From the time that it goeth forth it
shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day
and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand
the report.
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20 |
For the bed is shorter than that a
man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower
than that he can wrap himself in it.
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21 |
For the LORD shall
rise up as in mount Per'azim, 2 Sam. 5.20 · 1 Chr. 14.11 he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, Josh.
10.10-12 that he may do his work, his strange work; and
bring to pass his act, his strange act.
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22 |
Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest
your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the
whole earth.
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23 |
Give ye ear, and hear my voice;
hearken, and hear my speech.
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24 |
Doth the plowman plow all day to sow?
doth he open and break the clods of his ground?
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25 |
When he hath made plain the face thereof,
doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and
cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rye in
their place?
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26 |
For his God doth instruct him to
discretion, and doth teach him.
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27 |
For the fitches are not threshed with 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.
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28 |
Bread corn is bruised; because he
will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of
his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
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29 |
This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.
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