rsv Isaiah:28-30 SEEK
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Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of E '
phraim ,
and to the fading flower of its glorious beauty ,
which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine !
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Behold ,
the Lord has one who is mighty and strong ;
like a storm of hail ,
a destroying tempest ,
like a storm of mighty ,
overflowing waters ,
he will cast down to the earth with violence .
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The proud crown of the drunkards of E '
phraim will be trodden under foot ;
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and the fading flower of its glorious beauty ,
which is on the head of the rich valley ,
will be like a first-ripe fig before the summer :
when a man sees it ,
he eats it up as soon as it is in his hand .
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In that day the LORD of hosts will be a crown of glory ,
and a diadem of beauty ,
to the remnant of his people ;
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and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment ,
and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate .
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These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink ;
the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink ,
they are confused with wine ,
they stagger with strong drink ;
they err in vision ,
they stumble in giving judgment .
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For all tables are full of vomit ,
no place is without filthiness .
* "
Whom will he teach knowledge ,
and to whom will he explain the message ?
Those who are weaned from the milk ,
those taken from the breast ?
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For it is precept upon precept ,
precept upon precept ,
line upon line ,
line upon line ,
here a little ,
there a little ."
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Nay ,
but by men of strange lips and with an alien tongue the LORD will speak to this people ,
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to whom he has said , "
This is rest ;
give rest to the weary ;
and this is repose ";
yet they would not hear .
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Therefore the word of the LORD will be to them precept upon precept ,
precept upon precept ,
line upon line ,
line upon line ,
here a little ,
there a little ;
that they may go ,
and fall backward ,
and be broken ,
and snared ,
and taken .
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Therefore hear the word of the LORD ,
you scoffers ,
who rule this people in Jerusalem !
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Because you have said , "
We have made a covenant with death ,
and with Sheol we have an agreement ;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not come to us ;
for we have made lies our refuge ,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter ";
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therefore thus says the Lord GOD , "
Behold ,
I am laying in Zion for a foundation a stone ,
a tested stone ,
a precious cornerstone ,
of a sure foundation : `
He who believes will not be in haste .'
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And I will make justice the line ,
and righteousness the plummet ;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies ,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter ."
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Then your covenant with death will be annulled ,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand ;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through you will be beaten down by it .
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As often as it passes through it will take you ;
for morning by morning it will pass through ,
by day and by night ;
and it will be sheer terror to understand the message .
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For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it ,
and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in it .
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For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Pera '
zim ,
he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon ;
to do his deed --
strange is his deed !
and to work his work --
alien is his work !
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Now therefore do not scoff ,
lest your bonds be made strong ;
for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord GOD of hosts upon the whole land .
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Give ear ,
and hear my voice ;
hearken ,
and hear my speech .
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Does he who plows for sowing plow continually ?
does he continually open and harrow his ground ?
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When he has leveled its surface ,
does he not scatter dill ,
sow cummin ,
and put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place ,
and spelt as the border ?
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For he is instructed aright ;
his God teaches him .
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Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge ,
nor is a cart wheel rolled over cummin ;
but dill is beaten out with a stick ,
and cummin with a rod .
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Does one crush bread grain ?
No ,
he does not thresh it for ever ;
when he drives his cart wheel over it with his horses ,
he does not crush it .
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This also comes from the LORD of hosts ;
he is wonderful in counsel ,
and excellent in wisdom .
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Ho Ariel ,
Ariel ,
the city where David encamped !
Add year to year ;
let the feasts run their round .
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Yet I will distress Ariel ,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation ,
and she shall be to me like an Ariel .
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And I will encamp against you round about ,
and will besiege you with towers and I will raise siegeworks against you .
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Then deep from the earth you shall speak ,
from low in the dust your words shall come ;
your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost ,
and your speech shall whisper out of the dust .
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But the multitude of your foes shall be like small dust ,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff .
And in an instant ,
suddenly ,
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you will be visited by the LORD of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise ,
with whirlwind and tempest ,
and the flame of a devouring fire .
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And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel ,
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her ,
shall be like a dream ,
a vision of the night .
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As when a hungry man dreams he is eating and awakes with his hunger not satisfied ,
or as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking and awakes faint ,
with his thirst not quenched ,
so shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion .
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Stupefy yourselves and be in a stupor ,
blind yourselves and be blind !
Be drunk ,
but not with wine ;
stagger ,
but not with strong drink !
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For the LORD has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep ,
and has closed your eyes ,
the prophets ,
and covered your heads ,
the seers .
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And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed .
When men give it to one who can read ,
saying , "
Read this ,"
he says , "
I cannot ,
for it is sealed ."
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And when they give the book to one who cannot read ,
saying , "
Read this ,"
he says , "
I cannot read ."
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And the Lord said : "
Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips ,
while their hearts are far from me ,
and their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote ;
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therefore ,
behold ,
I will again do marvelous things with this people ,
wonderful and marvelous ;
and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish ,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hid ."
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Woe to those who hide deep from the LORD their counsel ,
whose deeds are in the dark ,
and who say , "
Who sees us ?
Who knows us ?"
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You turn things upside down !
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay ;
that the thing made should say of its maker , "
He did not make me ";
or the thing formed say of him who formed it , "
He has no understanding "?
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Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field ,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest ?
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In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book ,
and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see .
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The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD ,
and the poor among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel .
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For the ruthless shall come to nought and the scoffer cease ,
and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off ,
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who by a word make a man out to be an offender ,
and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate ,
and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right .
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Therefore thus says the LORD ,
who redeemed Abraham ,
concerning the house of Jacob : "
Jacob shall no more be ashamed ,
no more shall his face grow pale .
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For when he sees his children ,
the work of my hands ,
in his midst ,
they will sanctify my name ;
they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob ,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel .
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And those who err in spirit will come to understanding ,
and those who murmur will accept instruction ."
* "
Woe to the rebellious children ,"
says the LORD , "
who carry out a plan ,
but not mine ;
and who make a league ,
but not of my spirit ,
that they may add sin to sin ;
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who set out to go down to Egypt ,
without asking for my counsel ,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh ,
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt !
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Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame ,
and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation .
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For though his officials are at Zo '
an and his envoys reach Ha '
nes ,
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every one comes to shame through a people that cannot profit them ,
that brings neither help nor profit ,
but shame and disgrace ."
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An oracle on the beasts of the Negeb .
Through a land of trouble and anguish ,
from where come the lioness and the lion ,
the viper and the flying serpent ,
they carry their riches on the backs of asses ,
and their treasures on the humps of camels ,
to a people that cannot profit them .
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For Egypt '
s help is worthless and empty ,
therefore I have called her "
Rahab who sits still ."
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And now ,
go ,
write it before them on a tablet ,
and inscribe it in a book ,
that it may be for the time to come as a witness for ever .
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For they are a rebellious people ,
lying sons ,
sons who will not hear the instruction of the LORD ;
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who say to the seers , "
See not ";
and to the prophets , "
Prophesy not to us what is right ;
speak to us smooth things ,
prophesy illusions ,
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leave the way ,
turn aside from the path ,
let us hear no more of the Holy One of Israel ."
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Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel , "
Because you despise this word ,
and trust in oppression and perverseness ,
and rely on them ;
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therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a break in a high wall ,
bulging out ,
and about to collapse ,
whose crash comes suddenly ,
in an instant ;
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and its breaking is like that of a potter '
s vessel which is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a sherd is found with which to take fire from the hearth ,
or to dip up water out of the cistern ."
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For thus said the Lord GOD ,
the Holy One of Israel , "
In returning and rest you shall be saved ;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength ."
And you would not ,
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but you said , "
No !
We will speed upon horses ,"
therefore you shall speed away ;
and , "
We will ride upon swift steeds ,"
therefore your pursuers shall be swift .
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A thousand shall flee at the threat of one ,
at the threat of five you shall flee ,
till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain ,
like a signal on a hill .
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Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you ;
therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you .
For the LORD is a God of justice ;
blessed are all those who wait for him .
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Yea ,
O people in Zion who dwell at Jerusalem ;
you shall weep no more .
He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry ;
when he hears it ,
he will answer you .
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And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction ,
yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more ,
but your eyes shall see your Teacher .
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And your ears shall hear a word behind you ,
saying , "
This is the way ,
walk in it ,"
when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left .
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Then you will defile your silver-covered graven images and your gold-plated molten images .
You will scatter them as unclean things ;
you will say to them , "
Begone !"
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And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground ,
and grain ,
the produce of the ground ,
which will be rich and plenteous .
In that day your cattle will graze in large pastures ;
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and the oxen and the asses that till the ground will eat salted provender ,
which has been winnowed with shovel and fork .
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And upon every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water ,
in the day of the great slaughter ,
when the towers fall .
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Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun ,
and the light of the sun will be sevenfold ,
as the light of seven days ,
in the day when the LORD binds up the hurt of his people ,
and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow .
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Behold ,
the name of the LORD comes from far ,
burning with his anger ,
and in thick rising smoke ;
his lips are full of indignation ,
and his tongue is like a devouring fire ;
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his breath is like an overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck ;
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction ,
and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray .
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You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept ;
and gladness of heart ,
as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the LORD ,
to the Rock of Israel .
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And the LORD will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen ,
in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire ,
with a cloudburst and tempest and hailstones .
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The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the LORD ,
when he smites with his rod .
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And every stroke of the staff of punishment which the LORD lays upon them will be to the sound of timbrels and lyres ;
battling with brandished arm he will fight with them .
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For a burning place has long been prepared ;
yea ,
for the king it is made ready ,
its pyre made deep and wide ,
with fire and wood in abundance ;
the breath of the LORD ,
like a stream of brimstone ,
kindles it .
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Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses ,
who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong ,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the LORD !