Isaiah 28:13 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And 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.

NIV: So 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.

NASB: So the word of the Lord to them will be, 'Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,' That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.

CSB: The word of the Lord will come to them: "Law after law, law after law, line after line, line after line, a little here, a little there," so they go stumbling backward, to be broken, trapped, and captured.

NLT: So the Lord will spell out his message for them again, one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there, so that they will stumble and fall. They will be injured, trapped, and captured.

KJV: 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; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

NKJV: But the word of the Lord was to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little,” That they might go and fall backward, and be broken And snared and caught.

Isaiah repeats the words of his mockers (Isaiah 28:10). They made a parody of Isaiah's attempts to proclaim the Lord's message, speaking as if Isaiah were teaching simple ideas to children: "Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule, here a little, there a little." In Hebrew, these words also rhyme and the sentence sounds like the simple noises made by an infant. The implication is that Isaiah was stuck teaching a literal obedience to God's ways. But this was something his critics had given up—"grown out of"—just as many people today have excused rejection of God's word.

Here, Isaiah returns their words in a threatening tone. The Lord will use the pagan Assyrians to teach Israel these: "Do and do, rule on rule…" Isaiah even extends the sing-song pattern: in Hebrew, the consequences are yēleku' w koslu' 'āhor', w nisbāru, w noqesu', w nilkādu. This creates a dramatic transition into the next passage, where the verb for "hear" is simu'.

Israel will learn the hard way. When the invaders come, the Israelites will fall back and be injured, caught, and captured. Most who survive the onslaught will be exiled to foreign lands. They would wish they had listened to Isaiah's message and changed course when they could.

Isaiah 28:1–13 poetically describes Israel's capital Samaria as a crown or wreath on the head of a beautiful valley. Its leaders, though, are drunkards, and the wilted wreath will be trampled by the hailstorm of the Lord's judgment. This comes in the form of Assyrian invaders. Then God will be the glorious crown of Israel once more. Israel's prophets and priests live in a drunken stupor, staggering, vomiting, and mocking Isaiah's warning message from the Lord. Isaiah assures them they will hear the message firsthand from foreign lips when the Lord's judgment falls on them.

Samaria, the capital of Israel, also called Ephraim, is the beautiful crown on the head of the rich valley below. Her leaders are proud and drunk. The Lord will send the Assyrians to trample the crown and send the people into exile. Israel's religious leaders mock Isaiah, but they will hear the Lord's message from the Assyrians. Isaiah warns Jerusalem's leaders not to mock his warning to them from the Lord about the same fate. Their covenant with death will fail. The hailstorm of the Assyrians will beat them down. The Lord's counsel is wonderful.

Isaiah 28 begins a new section following the previous four chapters about Israel's glorious future with the Lord as her king. Now, though, the Lord is sending the Assyrians to judge His own people, first in Ephraim, which is Israel, and then in Judah. The beautiful capital city of Samaria will be trampled like a wilted wreath. Israel's religious leaders mock Isaiah but will hear the Lord's message from the Assyrians themselves. Isaiah warns Jerusalem's leaders not to scoff at his message. Despite Judah's agreements with other nations, the Lord will send the overwhelming scourge to wash away their refuge of lies. The next three chapters of Isaiah (29—31) predict siege and distress for Jerusalem but also promise that God will destroy Judah's enemies and bless them if they return to Him.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).