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Isaiah
28 = 29 Parallel in Script
from Isaiah 28 = 29 Parallel <PDF downlaod>
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oe to Ariel, the crown of pride, to Ariel, the drunkard city where David of Ephraim has been known to lodge1.2 Though ye add to your glorious beauty year to year, and the feastdays recur in succession, they are but as a fading flower.
3 And those which are at the head of the fat valleys shall be unto me as Ariel, for they too are overcome with wine.
4 Behold, I, the Lord, will distress Ariel, for I have in store a mighty and strong one,
5 Which shall hurl them to the ground with his hand, like a ravaging hailstorm or an inundating deluge of mighty waters sweeping down and overflowing;
6 And there shall be mourning and sorrow when she becomes as Ariel.
7 And I will encamp round about against the crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, and they shall be trodden underfoot.
8 And I will lay siege against the glorious beauty, which is on the heads of the opulent valleys in the tops of the mountains.
9 And I will erect siege installations against these fading wreaths.
10 And thou shalt be brought down as the first-ripe fruit before the summer harvest: he that seeth it devours it the moment he has hold of it.
11 In that day, the Lord of hosts shall be unto the remnant of his people for a crown of glory and for a diadem of beauty;
12 For thy voice shall speak out of the ground like that of a medium; yea, again the second time2 shall thy speech whisper low out of the dust, having a familiar spirit.
13 Moreover the Lord of hosts shall be for a spirit of justice; for your crowds of evildoers, your violent mobs, even the multitude of thy strangers, the terrible ones, shall be like fine dust or chaff that passeth away:
14 Yea, it shall be at an instant, suddenly.
15 Thou shalt be chastened by the Lord of hosts who sits in judgment, with thunderous quakings, resounding booms, tempestuous blasts, and conflagrations of devouring fire.
16 And the Lord of hosts shall be a source of strength to them that repulse the attack at the gate;
17 For the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, all who congregate at her strongholds to distress her, even all the nations that amass to fight against mount Zion, shall be as a dream seen in the night.
18 It shall even be as when an hungry or a thirsty man dreameth, and behold he eateth and drinketh, but he awaketh, and behold he is faint, for his soul is famished and hath yet appetite, craving.
19 Procrastinate, staying yourselves, and ye shall wonder, becoming bewildered;
20 For even they that turn the battle to the gate have also erred through wine; yea, having indulged in strong drink, they are out of the way.
21 Therefore, preoccupy yourselves, crying out, until you cry for help.
22 But beware, for even the priest and the prophet are drunken, having gone astray through strong drink;
23 They are intoxicated, but not with literal wine; they are out of the way, staggering, but not because of literal strong drink;
24 But this wine and this strong drink, cause them to err in vision as seers, and stumble in judgment, blundering in their decisions.
25 For the Lord hath poured out upon all your tables the spirit of deep sleep, for you all are full with vomit; and he hath closed your eyes to your filthiness, for no place is without excrement;
26 Yea, there is no spot clean, including those whom ye hold as your prophets, and your rulers, and seers; but those offices hath he covered.
27 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
28 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.3
29 Whom, then, shall he give instruction and enlighten with revelation? Whom shall he teach and make to understand the vision of all?
30 Behold, the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book, written to them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breast.
31 Nevertheless, because precept must be upon precept, it is sealed: precept upon precept;
32 Which when men deliver, line upon line, to one that is learned, saying, read this, I pray thee: line upon line; he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: here a little, and there a little.2
33 Therefore, the book is delivered through him of stammering lips, that is not learned yet understands a strange tongue.
34 And he will speak, saying to this people, Read this, I pray thee: and they say, I am not learned.
35 Wherefore the Lord saith to them, Forasmuch as this people draw near me and do honour me with their mouth and with their lips--
36 When I said, This is the rest, wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing--yet they would not hear;
37 And they have removed their heart far from me, and their piety toward me is taught by the precept of men.
38 Therefore, behold, I will again astound these people with the word of the Lord, as I proceed to do a marvelous work;
39 Yea, my word will go forth among this people: even precept upon precept, precept upon precept; even line upon line, line upon line; even here a little, and there a little; even a marvelous work and a wonder.
40 For the knowledge and intelligence of their wise men and sages shall be rendered void and insignificant, being hid:
41 That persisting they might laps into stumbling, falling backward; and break themselves, and become ensnared, and be taken captive.
42 For they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction.4
43 Wherefore hear the word of the Lord: for he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.5
44 Wherefore, woe unto you scornful men, that preside over this people which is in Jerusalem, that seek deep, contriving to hide your schemes from the Lord, and your works are in the dark;
45 For ye have presumed to say, Who seeth that we have made a covenant with death? and who knoweth that with Sheol are we at agreement?
46 What a contradiction you are!
47 Ye say, When the overflowing scourge shall pass through the earth, turning of things upside down, it shall not reach us.
48 But this is sure: because you have turned things upside down, ye shall be esteemed as the potter's clay.
49 For shall the lies, that ye have made your refuge, say of you that made them, He made me not?
50 Or shall the falsehoods, that ye have framed and hid yourselves behind, say of their designer, He had no understanding?
51 This shall come to pass in that day when the forests of Lebanon shall have become renowned, Lebanon having become again a fruitful land.
52 Therefore thus saith the Lord my God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation the words of the book, revealing out of darkness the stone, a keystone;
53 And unveiling out of obscurity, the precious corner stone, a sure foundation, which the deaf shall hear, and the eyes of the blind shall see.
54 Yea, the meek and the poorest of men, that believe, shall not do rashly but shall rejoice, and obtain and increase in their joy in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
55 I will make justice and righteousness, the measure and the weight; for the terrible oppressor shall come to nought;
56 For the hail and the waters shall sweep away with a flood your false refuge of lies, overflowing the hiding place.
57 And the scorner's covenantal agreement with death and hell shall prove void, having none effect.
58 For the scorner shall cease when the flooding scourge shall sweep through, seizing you.
59 And all ye that persist in wickedness, morning by morning, by day and by night, from the time that it goeth forth it shall take you; passing over, it shall seize you.
60 And it shall cause terror merely to hear word of it; for this shall be your vexation; understand the report: ye shall be cut off.
61 Then, because at a word ye adjudge a man to be an offender, this proverb shall come to pass: the bed and its covering are too short and narrow to stretch out on or wrap oneself up in.
62 And because ye lay a snare for them, the Lord shall rise up and be wroth, and do as he did on mount Perazim or in the valley of Gibeon.
63 And he will perform his work, his strange work for him that reproveth in the gate; and bring to pass his act, his strange act, even himself serving as the defender at court;
64 For then will the Lord arise and come forth out of his hiding place, and in his fury vex the nations;
65 And in his hot displeasure, and in his fierce anger, in his time, will cut off those wicked, unfaithful, and unjust stewards, and appoint them their portion among hypocrites, and unbelievers;
66 Even in outer darkness, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.
67 And all this that men may discern between the righteous and the wicked.6
68 Now therefore, be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong; and turn not aside the just for a thing of nought, or ye shall be not;
69 For I have heard from the Lord God of Hosts an utter destruction decreed, even determined upon the whole earth.
70 Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, your father7: Give ye ear, even as Abraham gave heed;
71 And hear my voice, O house of Jacob, and I will gather you from the four quarters of the earth.8
72 Jacob shall no longer be ashamed but shall hearken to the Holy One of Israel; neither shall his face wax pale any more, for he shall listen to what I say!
73 For his children will see that the plowman will not be forever plowing to sow seed, disking and harrowing the same ground;
74 But this is the work of mine hands: when he hath smoothed its surface, he doth sprinkle fennel and scatter cumin;
75 And he demarcates wheat from barley, and plants buckwheat in its own plot--all this in the midst of Jacob.
76 For his God doeth instruct him, directing him in the proper procedure;
77 When Jacob's children see this, with devotion shall they sanctify my name, the Holy One of Jacob; and they shall reverence the God of Israel who doth teach them.
78 For they have erred in spirit, supposing that fennel and cumin are the same as another, as if fennel could be threshed with a threshing instrument, or a cart wheel be rolled over cummin.
79 But they shall come to understanding: for fennel is beaten out with a staff, and cumin with a rod.
80 They have murmured, inasmuch as bread corn is bruised; yet he will not go on endlessly threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen,
81 Therefore they shall accept that these things originate with the Lord of hosts, whose counsel is wonderful;
82 And they shall learn doctrine from Him whose inspiration is surpassing.
83 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.9
by William C. Murdock and Sterling D. Allan; July 20, 1995
. . 1. All underlined text is from Avraham Gileadi's Translation of Isaiah (The Literary Message of Isaiah, Hebraeus Press, NY, NY, 1994).
. . 2. Isaiah 11:11; II Nephi 29:1.
. . 3. Isaiah 55:1,2.
. . 4. Alma 12:11
. . 5. Alma 12:10
. . 6. D&C 101:89-91,95.
. . 7. Isaiah 51:2 = II Nephi 8:2.
. . 8. I Nephi 22:25.
. . 9. Isaiah 55:8.1.
