But he will speak to this nation with stammering lips and in another language;
Parallel translations
- KJV For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
- BSB Indeed, with mocking lips and foreign tongues, He will speak to this people
- NKJV For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people,
- NASB Indeed, He will speak to this people Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue,
- NLT So now God will have to speak to his people through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Since they reject plain teaching, God will speak through foreign, stammering lips—judgment by invaders.
Overview
Because they mock God's clear word, He will address them through the strange tongue of foreign conquerors. The unintelligible speech becomes a sign of judgment on those who would not listen. Paul cites this in 1 Corinthians 14 regarding tongues as a sign to unbelievers, showing its enduring instructive force.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- 1 Cor 14:21In the law it is written, “By men of strange languages and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people. Not even thus will they hear me, says the Lord.”
- Deut 28:49Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you will not understand;
- Jer 5:15Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far, house of Israel,” says Yahweh. “It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you don’t know, neither understand what they say.
- Isa 33:19You will no longer see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that you can’t comprehend, with a strange language that you can’t understand.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 28:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.