1 Woe to Ephraim Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,Which is at the head of the 28:1Lit valley of fatness fertile valleyOf those who are 28:1Lit smitten overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has a strong and courageousagent;As a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction,Like a storm of mighty overflowing waters,He has setitdown to the earth withHishand.
3 The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trodden under foot.
4 And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,Which is at the head of the 28:4 Lit valley of fatness fertile valley,Will be like the first-ripe fig prior to summer,Which 28:4 Lit the one seeing sees one sees,And 28:4 Lit while it is yet as soon as it is in his 28:4 Lit palm hand,He swallows it.
5 In that day Yahweh of hosts will become a beautiful crownAnd a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;
6 A spirit ofjustjudgment for him who sits in judgment,A might to those who turn back the 28:6Lit battle onslaught at the gate.
7 And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink:The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink;They are swallowed up by wine, they stagger from strong drink;They reel while 28:7Lit seeing having visions;They totterwhen renderinga verdict.
8 For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, without asingle cleanplace.
9 ¶“Whom would He instruct in knowledge,And whom would He provide understanding about the report?Thosejustweaned from milk?Thosejusttaken from the breast?
10 “ForHe says,‘ 28:10Heb Sav lasav, sav lasav, Kav lakav, kav lakav, Ze’ er sham, ze’ er sham; These Hebrew monosyllables, imitating the babbling of a child, mock the prophet’s preaching Order on order, order on order,Line on line, line on line,A little here, a little there.’ ”
11 Indeed, He will speak to this peopleThrough stammering lips and a foreign tongue,
12 He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,”And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen.
13 So the word of Yahweh to them will be,“ 28:13See v 10 note1,Yahweh responds to their scoffing by imitating their mockery, to represent the unintelligible language of a conqueror Order on order, order on order,Line on line, line on line,A little here, a little there,”That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.A Cornerstone in Zion
14 Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh, O scoffers,Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have cut a covenant with death,And with Sheol we have made a 28:15As in some ancient versions; Heb seer pact.The overflowing 28:15Or flood scourge will not reach us when it passes by,For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have hidden ourselves with lying.”
16 Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh,“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,A costly cornerstoneforthe foundation, 28:16Lit well-laid firmly placed.He who believesin itwill not be 28:16Lit in a hurry disturbed.
17 “I will make justice the measuring lineAnd righteousness the level;Then hail will sweep away the refuge of falsehood,And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18 “Your covenant with death will be 28:18Lit covered over canceled,And your pact with Sheol will not stand;When the overflowing scourge passes through,Then you will become its tramplingplace.
19 “As often as it passes through, it will take you;For morning after morning it will pass through,anytimeduring the day or night,And it will be 28:19Lit only sheer terror to understand the report.”
20 The bed is too short on which to stretch out,And the blanket is too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21 For Yahweh will rise up asatMount Perazim;He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon,To work His work, His 28:21Lit task is strange unusual work,And to labor in His labor, His 28:21Lit work is foreign exceptional labor.
22 So now do not carry on as scoffers,Lest your fetters be made stronger;For I have heard from Lord Yahweh of hostsOf complete destruction, one that is decreed, on all the earth.
23 ¶Give ear and hear my voice,Pay attention and hear my words.
24 Does the 28:24Lit plowman farmer plow 28:24Lit all day continually to plant seed?Does hecontinually 28:24Lit open turn and harrow his ground?
25 Does he not level its surfaceAnd sow dill and scatter cuminAnd 28:25Lit put plant wheat in rows,Barley in its place and rye within its 28:25Lit region area?
26 For his God disciplines and teaches himproperjudgment.
27 For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,Nor is the wheel of a cart 28:27Lit rolled driven over cumin;But dill is beaten out with a staff, and cumin with a rod.
28 Grain forbread is crushed,But he does not continue to thresh it forever.Because the wheel ofhiscart and his horseseventually 28:28Lit confuse disturbit,He does not crush it longer.
29 This also comes from Yahweh of hosts,Whohas madeHiscounsel wonderful andHiswisdom great.