Isaiah 28 – NIRV & BPH

New International Reader’s Version

Isaiah 28:1-29

The Lord Will Judge the Leaders of Ephraim and Judah

1How terrible it will be for the city of Samaria!

It sits on a hill like a wreath of flowers.

The leaders of Ephraim are drunk.

They take pride in their city.

It sits above a valley that has rich soil.

How terrible it will be for the glorious beauty of that fading flower!

2The Lord will bring the strong and powerful king of Assyria against Samaria.

The Lord will throw that city down to the ground with great force.

It will be like a hailstorm.

It will be like a wind that destroys everything.

It will be like a driving rain and a flooding storm.

3That city is like a wreath.

The leaders of Ephraim are drunk.

They take pride in their city.

But its enemies will walk all over it.

4It sits on a hill above a rich valley.

The city is like a wreath of flowers whose glorious beauty is fading away.

But it will become like figs that are ripe before harvest.

As soon as people see them,

they pick them and swallow them.

5At that time the Lord who rules over all

will be like a glorious crown.

He will be like a beautiful wreath

for those of his people who will be left alive.

6He will help those

who are fair when they judge.

He will give strength to those

who turn back their enemies at the city gate.

7Israel’s leaders are drunk from wine.

They can’t walk straight.

They are drunk from beer.

They are unsteady on their feet.

Priests and prophets drink beer.

They can’t walk straight.

They are mixed up from drinking too much wine.

They drink too much beer.

They are unsteady on their feet.

The prophets see visions but don’t really understand them.

The priests aren’t able to make good decisions.

8They throw up. All the tables are covered

with the mess they’ve made.

There isn’t one spot on the tables

that isn’t smelly and dirty.

9The Lord’s people are making fun of him. They say,

“Who does he think he’s trying to teach?

Who does he think he’s explaining his message to?

Is it to children who do not need their mother’s milk anymore?

Is it to those who have just been taken from her breast?

10Here is how he teaches.

Do this and do that.

There is a rule for this and a rule for that.

Learn a little here and learn a little there.”

11All right then, these people won’t listen to me.

So God will speak to them.

He will speak by using people who speak unfamiliar languages.

He will speak by using the mouths of strangers.

12He said to his people,

“I am offering you a resting place.

Let those who are tired rest.”

He continued, “I am offering you a place of peace and quiet.”

But they wouldn’t listen.

13So then, here is what the Lord’s message will become to them.

Do this and do that.

There is a rule for this and a rule for that.

Learn a little here and learn a little there.

So when they try to go forward,

they’ll fall back and be wounded.

They’ll be trapped and captured.

14Listen to the Lord’s message,

you who make fun of the truth.

Listen, you who rule over these people in Jerusalem.

15You brag, “We have entered into a covenant with the place of the dead.

We have made an agreement with the grave.

When a terrible plague comes to punish us,

it can’t touch us.

That’s because we depend on lies to keep us safe.

We hide behind what isn’t true.”

16So the Lord and King speaks. He says,

“Look! I am laying a stone in Zion.

It is a stone that has been tested.

It is the most important stone for a firm foundation.

The one who depends on that stone will never be shaken.

17I will use a measuring line to prove that you have not been fair.

I will use a plumb line to prove that you have not done what is right.

Hail will sweep away the lies you depend on to keep you safe.

Water will flood your hiding place.

18Your covenant with death will be called off.

The agreement you made with the place of the dead will not stand.

When the terrible plague comes to punish you,

you will be struck down by it.

19As often as it comes, it will carry you away.

Morning after morning, day and night,

it will come to punish you.”

If you understand this message,

it will bring you absolute terror.

20You will be like someone whose bed is too short to lie down on.

You will be like those whose blankets are too small to wrap themselves in.

21The Lord will rise up to judge, just as he did at Mount Perazim.

He will get up to act, just as he did in the Valley of Gibeon.

He’ll do his work, but it will be strange work.

He’ll carry out his task, but it will be an unexpected one.

22Now stop making fun of me.

If you don’t, your chains will become heavier.

The Lord who rules over all has spoken to me.

The Lord has told me he has ordered that the whole land be destroyed.

23Listen and hear my voice.

Pay attention to what I’m saying.

24When a farmer plows in order to plant, does he plow without stopping?

Does he keep on breaking up the soil and making the field level?

25When he’s made the surface even, doesn’t he plant caraway seeds?

Doesn’t he scatter cumin seeds?

Doesn’t he plant wheat in its proper place?

Doesn’t he plant barley where it belongs?

Doesn’t he plant spelt along the edge of the field?

26His God directs him.

He teaches him the right way to do his work.

27Caraway seeds are beaten out with a rod.

They aren’t separated out under a threshing sled.

Cumin seeds are beaten out with a stick.

The wheel of a cart isn’t rolled over them.

28Grain must be ground up to make bread.

A farmer separates it out.

But he doesn’t go on doing it forever.

He drives the wheels of a threshing cart over it.

But he doesn’t use horses to grind the grain.

29All these insights come from the Lord who rules over all.

His advice is wonderful. His wisdom is glorious.

Bibelen på hverdagsdansk

Esajasʼ Bog 28:1-29

En domsprofeti over Samaria og Jerusalem

1Ve dig, Samaria, du stolte by, der sidder som en krone på toppen af højen i den frugtbare dal, hvor Nordrigets ledere ligger slået omkuld af vin. Den smukke krone bliver til en krans af visne blomster. 2Herren sender en stærk og mægtig hær imod dig. Som et haglvejr og en frygtelig storm, som skybrud og styrtregn vil de komme over dig og slå dig til jorden. 3Du stolte by, hjemsted for Nordrigets fordrukne ledere, du bliver kastet til jorden og trampet ned under fjendernes fødder. 4Den smukke krone på højen i den frugtbare dal skal forsvinde som en tidligt modnet figen, man grådigt plukker og spiser.

5Engang skal Herren, den Almægtige, blive en herlig krone, en smuk krans på hovedet af den rest, der er tilbage af hans folk. 6Han vil inspirere dommerne til at dømme retfærdigt og give styrke til dem, som slår fjenderne tilbage ved byens porte.

7Men endnu ledes landet af fulde folk. Præster og profeter raver sanseløse omkring uden dømmekraft og visioner for folket. De er berusede, når de ser deres syner, og omtågede, når de afsiger deres domme. 8Deres borde er fulde af bræk, der er svineri overalt.

9Hvem kan Herren give kundskab? Hvem kan han betro et budskab? Børn, som lige er vænnet fra? Spædbørn, som netop er taget fra brystet? 10Det vil blot blive opfattet som usammenhængende vrøvl og tåbeligheder.28,10 Teksten i 9, 10 og 13 er uklar. 11Herren vil tale til sit folk gennem fremmede sprog og andre tungemål. 12Han fortalte dem, hvor de kunne finde hvile og fred, men de ville ikke høre efter. 13Derfor lyder Herrens ord for dem som usammenhængende vrøvl og tåbeligheder. Resultatet bliver, at de snubler og falder, slår sig til blods og føres bort som fanger.

14Hør nu Herrens ord, I gudløse ledere i Jerusalem: 15I siger, at I har en aftale med døden om, at den ikke vil ramme jer. I tror, at flodbølgen ikke vil opsluge jer, når den kommer. I tror, at I kan gemme jer bag jeres løgne og skjule jer bag falskheden.

16Men hør, hvad Gud Herren siger: Se, jeg lægger på Zions bjerg en udvalgt og dyrebar hjørnesten. Den bruges i et nyt og solidt fundament, og de, der tror på ham, vil ikke blive skuffede. 17Retfærdighed er min målesnor og sandhed min lodline. I har søgt ly bag en løgn, men det hele vil blive skyllet væk af en haglbyge. 18Jeres aftale med døden er ugyldig, og når fjenden som en flodbølge vælter ind over jer, bliver I trampet ned. 19Igen og igen vil flodbølgen komme, morgen efter morgen, ved dag og ved nat, indtil I alle er skyllet bort. Hvis I forstår, hvad jeg siger, vil I gribes af frygt. 20I kan ikke gemme jer nogen steder. Sengen er for kort til, at I kan gemme jer i den, og tæppet er for smalt til at skjule jer.

21Herrens vrede kommer pludselig over jer, som den kom over filistrene ved Peratzims bjerg og over amoritterne i Gibeons dal.28,21 Se 2.Sam. 5,20 og Josva 10,10. Herren gør noget uventet og hidtil uset: Han kæmper imod sit eget folk. 22Så stop jeres hånlige ord, så ikke straffen skal blive endnu større, for Herren, den Almægtige, har fortalt mig, at han har besluttet at rydde hele landet.

23Hør godt efter, hvad jeg siger, og tænk over, hvad det betyder. 24Bliver en landmand ved med at pløje og harve jorden? Planter han aldrig noget? 25Jo, når han har klargjort sin jord, sår han dild og kommen, hvede og byg, og langs kanten sår han spelt. 26Gud har givet ham kundskab om, hvad han skal gøre. 27Man knuser ikke dild med tærskeslæde, lader ikke tærskehjulet køre over kommen. Dild tærskes med en stok og kommen med en kæp. 28Man tærsker ikke kornet for evigt, for kernerne skal bruges til brød. Nej, man lader tærskeslæde, hjul og heste gå hen over det, men man knuser det ikke. 29Det er Herren, den Almægtige, der taler. Hans visdom er stor, og hans råd er værd at følge.