Study

a Bible passage

Click a verse to see commentary

Select a resource above

28. Woe to Ephraim

¹ Woe 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!
² See, 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.
³ That wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards,
   will be trampled underfoot.
⁴ That 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.

    ⁵ In that day the LORD Almighty
   will be a glorious crown,
a beautiful wreath
   for the remnant of his people.
⁶ He 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.

    ⁷ And 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.
⁸ All 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?
¹⁰ For it is:
   Do this, do that,
   a rule for this, a rule for that Hebrew / sav lasav sav lasav / kav lakav kav lakav (probably meaningless sounds mimicking the prophet’s words); also in verse 13;
   a little here, a little there.”

    ¹¹ Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues
   God will speak to this people,
¹² to whom he said,
   “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”;
and, “This is the place of repose”—
   but they would not listen.
¹³ 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.

    ¹⁴ Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers
   who rule this people in Jerusalem.
¹⁵ You 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 Or false gods our hiding place.”

¹⁶ So 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.
¹⁷ I 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.
¹⁸ Your 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.
¹⁹ As 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.
²⁰ The bed is too short to stretch out on,
   the blanket too narrow to wrap around you.
²¹ The 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.
²² Now 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.

    ²³ Listen and hear my voice;
   pay attention and hear what I say.
²⁴ When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually?
   Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?
²⁵ When he has leveled the surface,
   does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin?
Does he not plant wheat in its place, The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
   barley in its plot, The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
   and spelt in its field?
²⁶ His God instructs him
   and teaches him the right way.

    ²⁷ Caraway 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.
²⁸ Grain 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.
²⁹ All this also comes from the LORD Almighty,
   whose plan is wonderful,
   whose wisdom is magnificent.

15. Because ye have said. The Prophet next assigns the reason why he called them “scorners;” it was because they had thrown off all fear of God. He likewise describes the manner in which they acted, by saying that they promised to themselves that they would escape punishment amidst all their crimes and enormities, and became the more daring, and, as if they had obtained greater liberty to pursue wicked courses, rushed forward without dread wherever their unruly passions carried them.

We have struck a league with death, and with hell have we made a compact. This is what he means by the league into which they had entered with death and the grave; for by despising and boldly ridiculing all God’s threatenings and chastisements, they thought that they were out of all danger. חזה (chōzĕh) means what he had formerly expressed by ברית, (bērīth,) for it is a repetition of the same statement. Literally it signifies seeing, ²³⁰²³⁰ {Bogus footnote} and denotes what is conveyed by the French phrase, avoir intelligence, or by the English phrase, “to have a mutual understanding.” There appears to be also an implied contrast between prophetic visions and that deceitful craftiness on which veterans in wicked arts value themselves.

We have made lies our refuge. It is certain that those cunning men never broke out into such boasting as to utter those offensive words, for that would have been childish and absurd. ²³¹²³¹ {Bogus footnote} Besides, though they despised God and set at nought all his admonitions, they undoubtedly wished to be held in some estimation by the people, and would never have confessed that they “made lies their refuge;” but the Prophet looked at their feelings and aims, and not at their pretexts, and took into account their actions and dispositions, and not their words. Whoever, then, flatters himself and his vices, and fearlessly despises God’s threatenings, declares that he has “entered into a league with death,” which he does not at all dread, notwithstanding the Lord’s threatenings.

The Prophet, therefore, reproves in general that carnal presumption by which men are led to forgetfulness of the judgment of God, and willingly deceive themselves, as if they could escape the arm of God: but chiefly he attacks Lucianists ²³²²³² {Bogus footnote} and censorious men, who place their wisdom in nothing else than in irreligious contempt of God; and the more eager they are to conceal their dishonor, the more earnestly does the Prophet expose them, as if he had dragged forth to the light, from a deep concealment, their cunning wiles, and as if he had said, “This is the dexterity, skill, and cunning of the wise men of this world, who are exposed on every hand to troubles and afflictions, and yet imagine that they are concealed and safe. They unquestionably deserve to seek salvation from falsehood, for they disregard God’s salvation, and despise and ridicule him.” Their tricks, and cunning, and imposture, are indeed concealed by them under plausible names, and they do not think that they are falsehoods; but the Prophet calls them by their proper names.

When the overflowing scourge shall pass through. As to “the overflowing scourge,” the Prophet here includes two metaphors; for he compares the calamities and afflictions by which God chastises the transgressions of the world to a “scourge,” and then says, that they are so rapid and violent that they resemble a “flood.” Against those calamities, however severe and distressing, wicked men of this description think that they are fortified by lying and deceit, and hope that they shall be able to escape them, though they overflow far and wide over the whole world. They perceive the judgments of God, and the calamities to which men are exposed; but, because they do not observe the hand and providence of God, and ascribe everything that happens to fortune, they therefore seek to obtain such defences and safeguards as may drive such “scourges” away from them.