Sermon Central
Isaiah 28-33
Woe to the Leaders of Ephraim and Judah 1Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley— to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine!
2See, the Lord has one who is powerful and strong. Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind, like a driving rain and a flooding downpour, he will throw it forcefully to the ground.
3That wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, will be trampled underfoot.
4That fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley, will be like figs ripe before harvest— as soon as people see them and take them in hand, they swallow them.
5In that day the LORD Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people.
6He will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment, a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions.
8All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth.
9“Who is it he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast?
10For it is: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that
11Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people,
12to whom he said, “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”; and, “This is the place of repose”— but they would not listen.
13So then, the word of the LORD to them will become: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there— so that as they go they will fall backward; they will be injured and snared and captured.
14Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood
16So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.
17I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.
18Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it.
19As often as it comes it will carry you away; morning after morning, by day and by night, it will sweep through.” The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror.
20The bed is too short to stretch out on, the blanket too narrow to wrap around you.
21The LORD will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim, he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon— to do his work, his strange work, and perform his task, his alien task.
22Now stop your mocking, or your chains will become heavier; the Lord, the LORD Almighty, has told me of the destruction decreed against the whole land.
23Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say.
24When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?
25When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place,
26His God instructs him and teaches him the right way.
27Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick.
28Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. The wheels of a threshing cart may be rolled over it, but one does not use horses to grind grain. 29All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent.
Woe to David’s City 1Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David settled! Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on.
2Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an altar hearth.
3I will encamp against you on all sides; I will encircle you with towers and set up my siege works against you.
4Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper.
5But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in an instant,
6the LORD Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.
7Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel, that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night—
8as when a hungry person dreams of eating, but awakens hungry still; as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking, but awakens faint and thirsty still. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.
9Be stunned and amazed, blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not from wine, stagger, but not from beer.
10The LORD has brought over you a deep sleep: He has sealed your eyes (the prophets); he has covered your heads (the seers). 11For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”
12Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”
13The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
14Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
15Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?”
16You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “You did not make me”? Can the pot say to the potter, “You know nothing”?
17In a very short time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field and the fertile field seem like a forest?
18In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
19Once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD ; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20The ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down—
21those who with a word make someone out to be guilty, who ensnare the defender in court and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice.
22Therefore this is what the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob: “No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will their faces grow pale.
23When they see among them their children, the work of my hands, they will keep my name holy; they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. 24Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding; those who complain will accept instruction.”
Woe to the Obstinate Nation 1“Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin;
2who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
3But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame, Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
4Though they have officials in Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them, who bring neither help nor advantage, but only shame and disgrace.”
6A prophecy concerning the animals of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lions and lionesses, of adders and darting snakes, the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs, their treasures on the humps of camels, to that unprofitable nation,
7to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless. Therefore I call her Rahab the Do-Nothing.
8Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness.
9For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the LORD ’s instruction.
10They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.
11Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!”
12Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit,
13this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant.
14It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern.”
15This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.
16You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.”
18Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! 19People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
22Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!” 23He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. 24The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. 25In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill.
26The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.
27See, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke; his lips are full of wrath, and his tongue is a consuming fire.
28His breath is like a rushing torrent, rising up to the neck. He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction; he places in the jaws of the peoples a bit that leads them astray.
29And you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival; your hearts will rejoice as when people playing pipes go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.
30The LORD will cause people to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire, with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.
31The voice of the LORD will shatter Assyria; with his rod he will strike them down.
32Every stroke the LORD lays on them with his punishing club will be to the music of timbrels and harps, as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm. 33Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its fire pit has been made deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.
Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt 1Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD .
2Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster; he does not take back his words. He will rise up against that wicked nation, against those who help evildoers.
3But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the LORD stretches out his hand, those who help will stumble, those who are helped will fall; all will perish together.
4This is what the LORD says to me: “As a lion growls, a great lion over its prey— and though a whole band of shepherds is called together against it, it is not frightened by their shouts or disturbed by their clamor— so the LORD Almighty will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.
5Like birds hovering overhead, the LORD Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will shield it and deliver it, he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.” 6Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against.
7For in that day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made.
8“Assyria will fall by no human sword; a sword, not of mortals, will devour them. They will flee before the sword and their young men will be put to forced labor. 9Their stronghold will fall because of terror; at the sight of the battle standard their commanders will panic,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
The Kingdom of Righteousness 1See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice.
2Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.
3Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.
5No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
6For fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil: They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the LORD ; the hungry they leave empty and from the thirsty they withhold water.
7Scoundrels use wicked methods, they make up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.
8But the noble make noble plans, and by noble deeds they stand.
The Women of Jerusalem 9You women who are so complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who feel secure, hear what I have to say!
10In little more than a year you who feel secure will tremble; the grape harvest will fail, and the harvest of fruit will not come.
11Tremble, you complacent women; shudder, you daughters who feel secure! Strip off your fine clothes and wrap yourselves in rags.
12Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines
13and for the land of my people, a land overgrown with thorns and briers— yes, mourn for all houses of merriment and for this city of revelry.
14The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
15till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.
16The LORD ’s justice will dwell in the desert, his righteousness live in the fertile field.
17The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.
18My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.
19Though hail flattens the forest and the city is leveled completely, 20how blessed you will be, sowing your seed by every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.
Distress and Help 1Woe to you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, betrayer, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed.
2LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.
3At the uproar of your army, the peoples flee; when you rise up, the nations scatter.
4Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts; like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.
5The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness.
6He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.
7Look, their brave men cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8The highways are deserted, no travelers are on the roads. The treaty is broken, its witnesses
9The land dries up and wastes away, Lebanon is ashamed and withers; Sharon is like the Arabah, and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.
10“Now will I arise,” says the LORD . “Now will I be exalted; now will I be lifted up.
11You conceive chaff, you give birth to straw; your breath is a fire that consumes you.
12The peoples will be burned to ashes; like cut thornbushes they will be set ablaze.”
13You who are far away, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge my power!
14The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: “Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”
15Those who walk righteously and speak what is right, who reject gain from extortion and keep their hands from accepting bribes, who stop their ears against plots of murder and shut their eyes against contemplating evil—
16they are the ones who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. Their bread will be supplied, and water will not fail them.
17Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar.
18In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror: “Where is that chief officer? Where is the one who took the revenue? Where is the officer in charge of the towers?”
19You will see those arrogant people no more, people whose speech is obscure, whose language is strange and incomprehensible.
20Look on Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.
21There the LORD will be our Mighty One. It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams. No galley with oars will ride them, no mighty ship will sail them.
22For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.
23Your rigging hangs loose: The mast is not held secure, the sail is not spread. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder. 24No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.