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ISAIAH
28.18
- 4And the fading flower of his glorious beauty,
- Which is on the head of the fat valley,
- Shall be as the first-ripe fig before the summer,
- Which when one looketh upon it,
- While it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.
- 5In that day shall the Lord of hosts be
- For a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty,
- Unto the residue of His people;
- 6And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment,
- And for strength to them that turn back the battle at the gate.
- 7But these also reel through wine,
- And stagger through strong drink;
- The priest and the prophet reel through strong drink,
- They are confused because of wine,
- They stagger because of strong drink;
- They reel in vision, they totter in judgment.
- 8For all tables are full of filthy vomit,
- And no place is clean.
- 9Whom shall one teach knowledge?
- And whom shall one make to understand the message?
- Them that are weaned from the milk,
- Them that are drawn from the breasts?
- 10For it is precept by precept, precept by precept,
- Line by line, line by line;
- Here a little, there a little.
- 11For with stammering lips and with a strange tongue
- Shall it be spoken to this people;
- 12To whom it was said: 'This is the rest,
- Give ye rest to the weary;
- And this is the refreshing';
- Yet they would not hear.
- 13And so the word of the Lord is unto them
- Precept by precept, precept by precept,
- Line by line, line by line;
- Here a little, there a little;
- That they may go, and fall backward, and be broken,
- And snared, and taken.
- 14Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scoffers,
- The ballad-mongers of this people which is in Jerusalem:
- 15Because ye have said: 'We have made a covenant with death,
- And with the nether-world are we at agreement;
- When the scouring scourge shall pass through,
- It shall not come unto us;
- For we have made lies our refuge,
- And in falsehood have we hid ourselves';
- 16Therefore thus saith the Lord God:
- Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone,
- A tried stone, a costly corner-stone of sure foundation;
- He that believeth shall not make haste.
- 17And I will make justice the line,
- And righteousness the plummet;
- And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies,
- And the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.
- 18And your covenant with death shall be disannulled,
- And your agreement with the nether-world shall not stand;
- When the scouring scourge shall pass through,
- Then ye shall be trodden down by it.
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