📖 Isaiah — Chapter 28 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Isaiah 28:1 Woe to Rthe crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are Tovercome with wine!
Isaiah 28:2 Behold, Rthe Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
Isaiah 28:3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, Rshall be trodden Tunder feet:
Isaiah 28:4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, Rshall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he Teateth it up.
Isaiah 28:5 In that day Rshall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
Isaiah 28:6 And Rfor a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
Isaiah 28:7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they Rare swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
Isaiah 28:8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
Isaiah 28:9 Whom Rshall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand Tdoctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Isaiah 28:10 RFor precept Tmust be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
Isaiah 28:11 For Rwith Tstammering lips and another tongue Twill he speak to this people.
Isaiah 28:12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: Ryet they would not hear.
Isaiah 28:13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; Rthat they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
Isaiah 28:14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
Isaiah 28:15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; Rwhen the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, RBehold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
Isaiah 28:17 RJudgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
Isaiah 28:18 And Ryour covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be Ttrodden down by it.
Isaiah 28:19 From Rthe time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only Tto understand the report.
Isaiah 28:20 For Rthe bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
Isaiah 28:21 For the LORD shall rise up as Rin mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
Isaiah 28:22 Now therefore Rbe ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.
Isaiah 28:23 RGive ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.
Isaiah 28:24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and Rbreak the clods of his ground?
Isaiah 28:25 When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast Rin Tthe principal wheat and the appointed barley and the Trie in their Tplace?
Isaiah 28:26 RTFor his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.
Isaiah 28:27 For the fitches are not Rthreshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
Isaiah 28:28 RBread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
Isaiah 28:29 This also Rcometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Isaiah 28:1–10 — Pride, intoxication, and resisted instruction
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Ephraim’s fading crown is contrasted with the Lord as glory for a remnant. Priests and prophets stumble, and their response to instruction exposes confusion and resistance.
Key Truth: Do not let pride disable teachability.
Check What You Remember
1. Complete the KJV wording: “The crown of ____ , the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:” (Isaiah 28:3)
Find it in Isaiah 28:3 (KJV).
2. Complete the KJV wording: “And for a ____ of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for …” (Isaiah 28:6)
Find it in Isaiah 28:6 (KJV).
3. Complete the KJV wording: “For ____ must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, …” (Isaiah 28:10)
Find it in Isaiah 28:10 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Isaiah 28:11–20 — A false refuge and the sure foundation
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The claimed agreement with death conceals trust in lies. Against this false security, the Lord sets a tested foundation in Zion and measures with judgment and righteousness.
Key Truth: Build trust on God’s foundation.
Check What You Remember
1. Complete the KJV wording: “For with stammering lips and another ____ will he speak to this people.” (Isaiah 28:11)
Find it in Isaiah 28:11 (KJV).
2. Complete the KJV wording: “Therefore ____ saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for …” (Isaiah 28:16)
Find it in Isaiah 28:16 (KJV).
3. Complete the KJV wording: “For the bed is ____ than that a man can stretch himself on it: and …” (Isaiah 28:20)
Find it in Isaiah 28:20 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Isaiah 28:21–29 — Judgment and the farmer’s discernment
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Warnings against mockery are followed by plowing, sowing, and threshing images. Different crops require fitting treatment; the Lord’s wonderful counsel directs wise work.
Key Truth: Receive correction from God’s discerning counsel.
Check What You Remember
1. Complete the KJV wording: “This also cometh forth from the ____ of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in …” (Isaiah 28:29)
Find it in Isaiah 28:29 (KJV).
2. Complete the KJV wording: “Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be ____ strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of …” (Isaiah 28:22)
Find it in Isaiah 28:22 (KJV).
3. Complete the KJV wording: “… forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in ____ , and excellent in working.” (Isaiah 28:29)
Find it in Isaiah 28:29 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
1 Peter 2:6 — Peter quotes the chosen cornerstone in Zion.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
What false refuge should yield to firmer trust?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. What makes Ephraim’s glorious beauty precarious?
2. What contrasts with unreliable refuges?
3. What measures replace deceitful shelter?
4. What does the plowman’s question begin to show?
5. Whom does the lesson credit with wonderful counsel?
Notes
Write what you want to remember, questions to explore, or Scriptures to look up later. Your saved notes are private to your account.
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