Yesaya 28:16-22

28:16 Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says:

“Look, I am laying ¹  a stone in Zion,

an approved ²  stone,

set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ³ 

The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ⁴ 

28:17 I will make justice the measuring line,

fairness the plumb line;

hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge, ⁵ 

the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.

28:18 Your treaty with death will be dissolved; ⁶ 

your agreement ⁷  with Sheol will not last. ⁸ 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by, ⁹ 

you will be overrun by it. ¹⁰ 

28:19 Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you;

indeed, ¹¹  every morning it will sweep by,

it will come through during the day and the night.” ¹² 

When this announcement is understood,

it will cause nothing but terror.

28:20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,

and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself. ¹³ 

28:21 For the Lord will rise up, as he did at Mount Perazim, ¹⁴ 

he will rouse himself, as he did in the Valley of Gibeon, ¹⁵ 

to accomplish his work,

his peculiar work,

to perform his task,

his strange task. ¹⁶ 

28:22 So now, do not mock,

or your chains will become heavier!

For I have heard a message about decreed destruction,

from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. ¹⁷ 

[28:16]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text has a third person verb form, which does not agree with the first person suffix that precedes. The form should be emended to יֹסֵד (yosed), a Qal active participle used in a present progressive or imminent future sense.

[28:16]  ² tn Traditionally “tested,” but the implication is that it has passed the test and stands approved.

[28:16]  ³ sn The reality behind the metaphor is not entirely clear from the context. The stone appears to represent someone or something that gives Zion stability. Perhaps the ideal Davidic ruler is in view (see 32:1). Another option is that the image of beginning a building project by laying a precious cornerstone suggests that God is about to transform Zion through judgment and begin a new covenant community that will experience his protection (see 4:3-6; 31:5; 33:20-24; 35:10).

[28:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “will not hurry,” i.e., act in panic.

[28:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “[the] refuge, [the] lie.” See v. 15.

[28:18]  ⁶ tn On the meaning of כָּפַר (kafar) in this context, see HALOT 494 s.v. I כפר and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:515, n. 9.

[28:18]  ⁷ tn Normally the noun חָזוּת (khazut) means “vision.” See the note at v. 15.

[28:18]  ⁸ tn Or “will not stand” (NIV, NRSV).

[28:18]  ⁹ tn See the note at v. 15.

[28:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you will become a trampling place for it.”

[28:19]  ¹¹ tn Or “for” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[28:19]  ¹² tn The words “it will come through” are supplied in the translation. The verb “will sweep by” does double duty in the parallel structure.

[28:20]  ¹³ sn The bed and blanket probably symbolize their false sense of security. A bed that is too short and a blanket that is too narrow may promise rest and protection from the cold, but in the end they are useless and disappointing. In the same way, their supposed treaty with death will prove useless and disappointing.

[28:21]  ¹⁴ sn This probably alludes to David’s victory over the Philistines at Baal Perazim. See 2 Sam 5:20.

[28:21]  ¹⁵ sn This probably alludes to the Lord’s victory over the Canaanites at Gibeon, during the days of Joshua. See Josh 10:10-11.

[28:21]  ¹⁶ sn God’s judgment of his own people is called “his peculiar work” and “his strange task,” because he must deal with them the way he treated their enemies in the past.

[28:22]  ¹⁷ tn Or “the whole earth” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NCV).