HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 996
IS A IA H 2 8
6
He will give a longing for justice
to their judges.
He will give great courage
to their warriors who stand at the gates.
7
Now, however, Israel is led by drunks
who reel with wine and stagger with
alcohol.
The priests and prophets stagger with
alcohol
and lose themselves in wine.
They reel when they see visions
and stagger as they render decisions.
Their tables are covered with vomit;
filth is everywhere.
“Who does the Lord think we are?” they ask.
“Why does he speak to us like this?
Are we little children,
just recently weaned?
He tells us everything over and over—
one line at a time,
one line at a time,
a little here,
and a little there!”
8
9
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15
16
So now God will have to speak to his people
through foreign oppressors who speak a
strange language!
God has told his people,
“Here is a place of rest;
let the weary rest here.
This is a place of quiet rest.”
But they would not listen.
So the Lord will spell out his message
for them again,
one line at a time,
one line at a time,
a little here,
and a little there,
so that they will stumble and fall.
They will be injured, trapped, and
captured.
Therefore, listen to this message from
the Lord,
you scoffing rulers in Jerusalem.
You boast, “We have struck a bargain to
cheat death
and have made a deal to dodge the grave.*
The coming destruction can never touch us,
for we have built a strong refuge made of
lies and deception.”
Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord
says:
“Look! I am placing a foundation stone in
Jerusalem,*
a firm and tested stone.
It is a precious cornerstone that is safe
to build on.
Whoever believes need never be
shaken.*
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I will test you with the measuring line
of justice
and the plumb line of righteousness.
Since your refuge is made of lies,
a hailstorm will knock it down.
Since it is made of deception,
a flood will sweep it away.
I will cancel the bargain you made to cheat
death,
and I will overturn your deal to dodge
the grave.
When the terrible enemy sweeps through,
you will be trampled into the ground.
Again and again that flood will come,
morning after morning,
day and night,
until you are carried away.”
This message will bring terror to your people.
The bed you have made is too short to lie on.
The blankets are too narrow to
cover you.
The Lord will come as he did against the
Philistines at Mount Perazim
and against the Amorites at Gibeon.
He will come to do a strange thing;
he will come to do an unusual deed:
For the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
has plainly said that he is determined to
crush the whole land.
So scoff no more,
or your punishment will be even greater.
Listen to me;
listen, and pay close attention.
Does a farmer always plow and never sow?
Is he forever cultivating the soil and
never planting?
Does he not finally plant his seeds—
black cumin, cumin, wheat, barley, and
emmer wheat—
each in its proper way,
and each in its proper place?
The farmer knows just what to do,
for God has given him understanding.
A heavy sledge is never used to thresh
black cumin;
rather, it is beaten with a light stick.
A threshing wheel is never rolled on cumin;
instead, it is beaten lightly with a flail.
Grain for bread is easily crushed,
so he doesn’t keep on pounding it.
He threshes it under the wheels of a cart,
but he doesn’t pulverize it.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful
teacher,
and he gives the farmer great wisdom.
28:15 Hebrew Sheol; also in 28:18. 28:16a Hebrew in
Zion. 28:16b Greek version reads Look! I am placing a stone
in the foundation of Jerusalem [literally Zion], / a precious
cornerstone for its foundation, chosen for great honor. / Anyone
who trusts in him will never be disgraced. Compare Rom 9:33;
1 Pet 2:6.