Now therefore don’t be scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, on the whole earth.
Parallel translations
- KJV 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.
- BSB So now, do not mock, or your shackles will become heavier. Indeed, I have heard from the Lord GOD of Hosts a decree of destruction against the whole land.
- NKJV Now therefore, do not be mockers, Lest your bonds be made strong; For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts, A destruction determined even upon the whole earth.
- NASB And now do not carry on as scoffers, Or your shackles will be made stronger; For I have heard from the Lord God of armies Of decisive destruction on all the earth.
- NLT 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.
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
Isaiah warns them to stop scoffing, lest their bonds tighten under God's decreed destruction.
Overview
The prophet urges the mockers to cease their scorn before judgment becomes inescapable. A decree of destruction has already gone out from the Lord of Armies. The warning is also a call to repentance while there is still time, echoing the gospel's urgency to turn before judgment falls.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Isa 10:22–23For though your people, Israel, are like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.
- Isa 24:1–23Behold, Yahweh makes the earth empty, makes it waste, turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants.
- Jer 15:17I didn’t sit in the assembly of those who make merry, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of your hand; for you have filled me with indignation.
- Acts 13:40–41Beware therefore, lest that come on you which is spoken in the prophets:
- Matt 27:39Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads,
- Jer 25:11This whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
- Luke 21:24They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
- Rev 22:18–19I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, may God add to him the plagues which are written in this book.
- Acts 17:32Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, “We want to hear you again concerning this.”
- Jer 20:7Yahweh, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded; you are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I have become a laughing-stock all day. Every one mocks me.
- Jer 39:7Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
- 2 Chr 36:16but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until Yahweh’s wrath arose against his people, until there was no remedy.
- Dan 9:26–27After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One shall be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
- Isa 28:14–15Therefore hear Yahweh’s word, you scoffers, that rule this people in Jerusalem:
- Ps 107:16For he has broken the gates of brass, and cut through bars of iron.
- 2 Chr 30:10So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even to Zebulun, but people ridiculed them and mocked them.
- Lam 1:14“The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand; They are knit together. They have come up on my neck. He has made my strength to fail. The Lord has delivered me into their hands, against whom I am not able to stand.
- Isa 32:12–14Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
- Matt 27:44The robbers also who were crucified with him cast on him the same reproach.
- 2 Chr 33:11Therefore Yahweh brought on them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
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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 28:22 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
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