Isaiah 28:9-16 (KJV) (2024)

⁹“Who is it he is trying to teach?^(A)
To whom is he explaining his message?^(B)
To children weaned^(C) from their milk,^(D)
to those just taken from the breast?
¹⁰For it is:
Do this, do that,
a rule for this, a rule for that^[a];
a little here, a little there.^(E)”

¹¹Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues^(F)
God will speak to this people,^(G)
12to whom he said,
“This is the resting place, let the weary rest”;^(H)
and, “This is the place of repose”—
but they would not listen.
¹³So 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^(I)—
so that as they go they will fall backward;
they will be injured^(J) and snared and captured.^(K)

¹⁴Therefore hear the word of the Lord,^(L) you scoffers^(M)
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
¹⁵You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death,^(N)
with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement.
When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by,^(O)
it cannot touch us,
for we have made a lie^(P) our refuge
and falsehood^[b] our hiding place.^(Q)”

¹⁶So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,^(R) a tested stone,^(S)
a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;^(T)
the one who relies on it
will never be stricken with panic.^(U)

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 28:10 Hebrew / sav lasav sav lasav / kav lakav kav lakav (probably meaningless sounds mimicking the prophet’s words); also in verse 13
2. Isaiah 28:15 Or false gods

Cross references

1. Isaiah 28:9 : ver 26; Ps 32:8; Isa 2:3; 30:20; 48:17; 50:4; 54:13; Jer 31:34; 32:33
2. Isaiah 28:9 : Isa 52:7; 53:1
3. Isaiah 28:9 : Ps 131:2
4. Isaiah 28:9 : Heb 5:12-13; 1Pe 2:2
5. Isaiah 28:10 : ver 13
6. Isaiah 28:11 : S Ge 11:7; Isa 33:19; Jer 5:15
7. Isaiah 28:11 : Eze 3:5; 1Co 14:21*
8. Isaiah 28:12 : S Ex 14:14; S Jos 1:13; S Job 11:18; S Isa 11:10; Mt 11:28-29
9. Isaiah 28:13 : ver 10
10. Isaiah 28:13 : Mt 21:44
11. Isaiah 28:13 : S Isa 8:15
12. Isaiah 28:14 : Isa 1:10
13. Isaiah 28:14 : 2Ch 36:16
14. Isaiah 28:15 : S Job 5:23; Isa 8:19
15. Isaiah 28:15 : ver 2, 18; Isa 8:7-8; 10:26; 29:6; 30:28; Da 11:22
16. Isaiah 28:15 : S Isa 9:15
17. Isaiah 28:15 : S Jdg 9:35; Isa 29:15; Jer 23:24
18. Isaiah 28:16 : S Isa 14:32
19. Isaiah 28:16 : Ps 118:22; Isa 8:14-15; Da 2:34-35, 45; Zec 12:3; S Ac 4:11
20. Isaiah 28:16 : Jer 51:26; 1Co 3:11; 2Ti 2:19
21. Isaiah 28:16 : Isa 29:22; 45:17; 50:7; 54:4; Ro 9:33*; 10:11*; 1Pe 2:6*