Isaiah 28

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¹Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine. ✦ ²Behold, the Lord has one who is strong and mighty. Like a hailstorm or destructive tempest, like a driving rain or flooding downpour, he will smash that crown to the ground. ✦ ³The majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards will be trampled underfoot. ✦ ⁴The fading flower of his beautiful splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest: Whoever sees it will take it in his hand and swallow it. ✦ ⁵On that day the LORD of Hosts will be a crown of glory, a diadem of splendor to the remnant of His people, ✦ ⁶a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and a strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate. ✦ ⁷These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments. ✦ ⁸For all their tables are covered with vomit; there is not a place without filth. ✦ ⁹Whom is He trying to teach? To whom is He explaining His message? To infants just weaned from milk? To babies removed from the breast? ✦ ¹⁰For they hear: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there.” ✦ ¹¹Indeed, with mocking lips and foreign tongues, He will speak to this people ✦ ¹²to whom He has said: “This is the place of rest, let the weary rest; this is the place of repose.” But they would not listen. ✦ ¹³Then the word of the LORD to them will become: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there,” so that they will go stumbling backward and will be injured, ensnared, and captured. ✦ ¹⁴Therefore hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. ✦ ¹⁵For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.” ✦ ¹⁶So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken. ✦ ¹⁷I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place. ✦ ¹⁸Your covenant with death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled by it. ✦ ¹⁹As often as it passes through, it will carry you away; it will sweep through morning after morning, by day and by night.” The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror. ✦ ²⁰Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket too small to wrap around you. ✦ ²¹For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing task. ✦ ²²So 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. ✦ ²³Listen and hear my voice. Pay attention and hear what I say. ✦ ²⁴Does the plowman plow for planting every day? Does he continuously loosen and harrow the soil? ✦ ²⁵When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots, and rye within its border. ✦ ²⁶For his God instructs and teaches him properly. ✦ ²⁷Surely caraway is not threshed with a sledge, and the wheel of a cart is not rolled over the cumin. But caraway is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod. ✦ ²⁸Grain for bread must be ground, but it is not endlessly threshed. Though the wheels of the cart roll over it, the horses do not crush it. ✦ ²⁹This also comes from the LORD of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

Isa 28 ·18 Isa 30 ·8 Isa 5 ·8 Isa 8 ·7 Isa 29 ·5 Isa 9 ·5 Ezek 13 ·5 Isa 10 ·5

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Seminary

★ Start hereCommentaryThe Book of Isaiah (NICOT)John N. Oswalt · Paid · evangelical
The standard evangelical commentary on Isaiah — thorough and devotionally warm.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 28YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Isaiah 28David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Isaiah 28Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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