28
Ephraim’s Captivity Predicted
1 Woe to the proud crown of the
Adrunkards of
BEphraim,
And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the
1fertile valley
Of those who are
2overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has a strong and
Amighty
agent; As a storm of
Bhail, a tempest of destruction,
Like a storm of
Cmighty overflowing waters,
He has cast it down to the earth with His hand.
3 The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is
Atrodden under foot.
4 And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the
1fertile valley,
Will be like the
Afirst-ripe fig prior to summer,
And 3as soon as it is in his
4hand,
He swallows it.
5 In that day the
ALoʀᴅ of hosts will become a beautiful
Bcrown
And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;
6 A
Aspirit of justice for him who sits in judgment,
A
Bstrength to those who repel the
1onslaught at the gate.
7 And these also
Areel with wine and stagger from strong drink:
BThe priest and
Cthe prophet reel with strong drink,
They are confused by wine, they stagger from
Dstrong drink;
They reel while
1having
Evisions,
They totter when rendering judgment.
8 For all the tables are full of filthy
Avomit, without a
single clean place.
9 “To
Awhom would He teach knowledge,
And to whom would He interpret the message?
Those
just Bweaned from milk?
Those just taken from the breast?
10 “For He says,
‘
1AOrder on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there.’ ”
11 Indeed, He will speak to this people
Through
Astammering lips and a foreign tongue,
12 He who said to them, “Here is
Arest, give rest to the weary,”
And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen.
13 So the word of the Loʀᴅ to them will be,
“
1Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there,”
That they may go and
Astumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.
Judah Is Warned
14 Therefore,
Ahear the word of the Loʀᴅ, O
Bscoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a
Acovenant with death,
And with
1Sheol we have made a
2pact.
BThe overwhelming
3scourge will not reach us when it passes by,
For we have made
Cfalsehood our refuge and we have
Dconcealed ourselves with deception.”
16 Therefore thus says the Lord
1Goᴅ,
“
ABehold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested
Bstone,
A costly cornerstone
for the foundation,
2firmly placed.
He who believes
in it will not be
3disturbed.
17 “I will make
Ajustice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then
Bhail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18 “Your
Acovenant with death will be
1Bcanceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the
Aoverwhelming scourge passes through,
Then you become its
Ctrampling
place. 19 “As
Aoften as it passes through, it will
1seize you;
For
Bmorning after morning it will pass through,
anytime during the day or night,
And it will be
2sheer
Cterror to understand
3what it means.”
20 The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the
Ablanket is too
1small to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Loʀᴅ will rise up as
at Mount
APerazim,
He will be stirred up as in the valley of
BGibeon,
To do His
Ctask, His
1Dunusual task,
And to work His work, His
2extraordinary work.
22 And now do not carry on as
Ascoffers,
Or your fetters will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord
1Goᴅ of hosts
Of decisive
Bdestruction on all the earth.
23 Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my words.
24 Does the
1farmer plow
2continually to plant seed?
Does he
continually 3turn and harrow the ground?
25 Does he not level its surface
And sow dill and scatter
Acummin
And
1plant
Bwheat in rows,
Barley in its place and rye within its
2area?
26 For his God instructs and teaches him properly.
27 For dill is not threshed with a
Athreshing sledge,
Nor is the cartwheel
1driven over cummin;
But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a club.
28 Grain for bread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of
his cart and his horses
eventually 1damage
it, He does not thresh it longer.
29 This also comes from the Loʀᴅ of hosts,
Who has made
His counsel
Awonderful and
His wisdom
Bgreat.