Isaiah · Bible in Basic English
Isaiah 28 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Ho! crown of pride of those who are given up to wine in Ephraim, and the dead flower of his glory which is on the head of those who are overcome by strong drink!
1 Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome with wine!
2 See, the Lord has a strong and cruel one; like a rain of ice, a storm of destruction, like the overflowing of a strong river, he will violently overcome them.
2 Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong. Like a storm of hail, a destroying storm, and like a storm of mighty waters overflowing, he will cast them down to the earth with his hand.
3 The crown of pride of those who are given up to wine in Ephraim will be crushed under foot;
3 The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trodden under foot.
4 And the dead flower of his glory, which is on the head of the fertile valley, will be like the first early fruit before the summer; which a man takes and puts in his mouth the minute he sees it.
4 The fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley, shall be like the first-ripe fig before the summer, which someone picks and eats as soon as he sees it.
5 In that day will the Lord of armies be a crown of glory, and a fair ornament, to the rest of his people;
5 In that day, Yahweh of Armies will become a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the residue of his people,
6 And a spirit of wisdom to the judge, and strength to those who keep back the attackers at the door of the town.
6 and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 And further, these are uncertain through wine, and have gone out of the right way through strong drink: the priest and the prophet are uncertain through strong drink, they are overcome by wine, they have gone out of the way through strong drink; their vision is false, they go wrong in their decisions.
7 They also reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink. The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink. They are swallowed up by wine. They stagger with strong drink. They err in vision. They stumble in judgment.
8 For all the tables are covered with coughed-up food, so that there is not a clean place.
8 For all tables are completely full of filthy vomit and filthiness.
9 To whom will he give knowledge? and to whom will he make clear the word? Will it be to those who have newly given up milk, and who have only now been taken from the breast?
9 Whom will he teach knowledge? To whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts?
10 For it is one rule after another; one line after another; here a little, there a little.
10 For it is precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little.
11 No, but with broken talk, and with a strange tongue, he will give his word to this people:
11 But he will speak to this nation with stammering lips and in another language,
12 To whom he said, This is the rest, give rest to him who is tired; and by this you may get new strength; but they would not give ear.
12 to whom he said, “This is the resting place. Give rest to the weary,” and “This is the refreshing;” yet they would not hear.
13 For this cause the word of the Lord will be to them rule after rule, line after line, here a little, there a little; so that they may go on their way, and falling back may be broken, and taken in the net.
13 Therefore Yahweh’s word will be to them precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, fall backward, be broken, be snared, and be taken.
14 Give ear then to the word of the Lord, you men of pride, the rulers of this people in Jerusalem:
14 Therefore hear Yahweh’s word, you scoffers, that rule this people in Jerusalem:
15 Because you have said, We have made death our friend, and with the underworld we have made an agreement; when the overflowing waters come through they will not come near us; for we are looking to false words for help, taking cover in what is untrue:
15 “Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and we are in agreement with Sheol. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it won’t come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood.’”
16 For this cause says the Lord God, See, I am placing in Zion as a base, a stone, a tested stone, an angle-stone which is certain and of great value: and he who has faith will not give way.
16 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. He who believes shall not act hastily.
17 And I will make right decision the measuring-line, and righteousness the weight: and the ice-storm will take away the safe place of false words, and the secret place will be covered by the flowing waters.
17 I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place.
18 And the help you were looking for from death will come to nothing, and your agreement with the underworld will be broken; when the overflowing waters come through, then you will be overcome by them.
18 Your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it.
19 Whenever they come through they will overtake you; for they will come through morning after morning, by day and by night: and the news will be nothing but fear.
19 As often as it passes through, it will seize you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be nothing but terror to understand the message.”
20 For the bed is not long enough for a man to be stretched out on: and the cover is not wide enough for him to be covered with.
20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket is too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lord will come up as on Mount Perazim, he will be moved to wrath as in the valley of Gibeon; so that he may do his work — strange is his work; and give effect to his act — unnatural is his act.
21 For Yahweh will rise up as on Mount Perazim. He will be angry as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his unusual work, and bring to pass his act, his extraordinary act.
22 And now, take care that you do not make sport of him, or your bands will be made strong; for I have had word from the Lord, the Lord of armies, of an end, of a complete end, which is to come on all the land.
22 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.
23 Let your ears be open to my voice; give attention to what I say.
23 Give ear, and hear my voice! Listen, and hear my speech!
24 Is the ploughman for ever ploughing? does he not get the earth ready and broken up for the seed?
24 Does he who plows to sow plow continually? Does he keep turning the soil and breaking the clods?
25 When the face of the earth has been levelled, does he not put in the different sorts of seed, and the grain in lines, and the barley in its place, and the spelt at the edge?
25 When he has leveled its surface, doesn’t he plant the dill, and scatter the cumin seed, and put in the wheat in rows, the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in its place?
26 For his God is his teacher, giving him the knowledge of these things.
26 For his God instructs him in right judgment and teaches him.
27 For the fitches are not crushed with a sharp instrument, and a cart-wheel is not rolled over the cummin; but the grain of the fitches is hammered out with a stick, and of the cummin with a rod.
27 For the dill isn’t threshed with a sharp instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned over the cumin; but the dill is beaten out with a stick, and the cumin with a rod.
28 Is the grain for bread crushed? He does not go on crushing it for ever, but he lets his cart-wheels and his horses go over it without crushing it.
28 Bread flour must be ground; so he will not always be threshing it. Although he drives the wheel of his threshing cart over it, his horses don’t grind it.
29 This comes from the Lord of armies, purposing wonders, and wise in all his acts.
29 This also comes out from Yahweh of Armies, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.
Cross references (29)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Hosea 7:5; Isaiah 28:7; Isaiah 28:3–4; 2 Kings 14:25–27; Isaiah 5:22
- 2 Isaiah 30:30; Ezekiel 13:11; Nahum 1:8; Isaiah 27:1; Isaiah 29:6
- 3 Isaiah 26:6; Hebrews 10:29; Isaiah 28:1; Daniel 8:13; Revelation 11:2
- 4 Nahum 3:12; Micah 7:1; Hosea 6:4; Isaiah 28:1; Psalm 73:19–20
- 5 1 Peter 5:4; Isaiah 62:3; Isaiah 60:19; Romans 11:5–6; Psalm 90:16–17
- 6 Psalm 18:32–34; John 5:30; Numbers 11:16–17; Joshua 1:9; Isaiah 11:2–4
- 7 Isaiah 56:10–12; Luke 21:34; Micah 2:11; Isaiah 19:14; Ecclesiastes 10:17
- 8 Jeremiah 48:26; Proverbs 26:11; Habakkuk 2:15–16
- 9 Psalm 131:2; Jeremiah 6:10; John 12:38; Matthew 11:25; Matthew 21:15–16
- 10 Isaiah 28:13; 2 Timothy 3:7; Jeremiah 11:7; Jeremiah 25:3–7; Nehemiah 9:29–30
- 11 1 Corinthians 14:21; Deuteronomy 28:49; Jeremiah 5:15; Isaiah 33:19
- 12 Matthew 11:28–29; Isaiah 30:15; Jeremiah 6:16; Isaiah 11:10; Jeremiah 44:16
- 13 Matthew 13:14; Isaiah 6:9–10; 2 Peter 3:16; Isaiah 28:10; Isaiah 8:14–15
- 14 Isaiah 28:22; Isaiah 1:10; Isaiah 29:20; Acts 13:41; Hosea 7:5
- 15 Isaiah 8:7–8; Hosea 2:18; Daniel 11:22; Ecclesiastes 8:8; Jeremiah 5:31
- 16 Psalm 118:22; Acts 4:11–12; 1 Peter 2:6–8; Luke 20:17–18; Romans 9:33
- 17 2 Kings 21:13; Revelation 16:21; Amos 7:7–9; Romans 2:5; Romans 2:2
- 18 Isaiah 7:7; Isaiah 8:10; Isaiah 28:15; Malachi 4:1–3; Isaiah 28:3
- 19 Habakkuk 3:16; Jeremiah 19:3; Isaiah 33:7; Daniel 8:27; 2 Kings 24:2
- 20 1 Corinthians 1:18–31; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 9:30–32; Jeremiah 7:8–10; Isaiah 59:5–6
- 21 1 Chronicles 14:11; Joshua 10:12; 2 Samuel 5:20; Joshua 10:10; 2 Samuel 5:25
- 22 Isaiah 10:22–23; Isaiah 24:1–23; Luke 21:24; Lamentations 1:14; Jeremiah 15:17
- 23 Isaiah 1:2; Jeremiah 22:29; Deuteronomy 32:1; Revelation 2:14; Revelation 2:11
- 24 Hosea 10:11–12; Jeremiah 4:3
- 25 Ezekiel 4:9; Matthew 23:23; Exodus 9:31–32
- 26 Exodus 36:2; Exodus 31:3–6; James 1:17; Job 35:11; Psalm 144:1
- 27 Isaiah 41:15; Isaiah 27:7–8; Jeremiah 10:24; Jeremiah 46:28; 2 Kings 13:7
- 28 Amos 9:9; Isaiah 21:10; Matthew 13:37–43; Matthew 3:12; 1 Corinthians 3:9
- 29 Romans 11:33; Job 5:9; Jeremiah 32:19; Isaiah 9:6; Psalm 92:5
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Wherefore also Isaiah says: "Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I deposit in the foundations of Zion a stone, precious, elect, the chief, the corner-one, to be had in honour." So, then, we understand that His advent in human nature was not by the will of a man, but by the will of God.
… slavery, and through that astonishment was going on to a desire of trying it, and from it to the trial itself, and thence, perchance, to fall into that bondage whereat he was so astonished, seeing he was ready to enter into "a covenant with death;" and he that loves danger shall fall into it.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
He is called a Stone, not a lifeless stone, cut out by men's hands, but a chief corner-stone, on whom whosoever believeth shall not be put to shame.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
Since then these things are so, and we have broken up for ourselves the fallows of Divinity, so as not to sow upon thorns, and have made plain the face of the ground, being moulded and moulding others by Holy Scripture...let us now enter upon Theological questions, setting at the head thereof the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
"Behold, I lay in Zion a stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded." Why anointed?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)