Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty, Which is at the head of the fat valley of those who are overcome by wine.

Indeed the Lord has someone strong and mighty; As a hailstorm and a tempest of destruction, As a storm of mighty overflowing waters, He will cast down to the earth with His hand.

The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim Will be trodden under foot;

And the fading flower of its glorious beauty, Which is at the head of the fat valley, Will be like the first-ripe fig before the summer, Which when someone looks upon it he sees it, And in an instant it is in his hand, and he swallows it up.

In that day Jehovah of hosts Will become a crown of beauty and a diadem of glory to the remnant of His people,

And a spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment And strength to those who turn away the battle at the gate.

But these also reel with wine And stagger from liquor: The priest and the prophet stagger from liquor; They are swallowed up with wine; They stagger from liquor, They reel in their visions, They totter in their judgments.

For all the tables are full of vomit and filth; There is no place clean.

Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he instruct with the report? Those weaned from milk? Those drawn from the breasts?

For his words are: Rule upon rule, rule upon rule; Line upon line, line upon line; Here a little, there a little.

For with stammering lips And with a foreign tongue He will speak to this people,

He who said to them, This is rest; give rest to the weary; And, This is repose. But they would not hear.

Therefore Jehovah's word to them will be: Rule upon rule, rule upon rule; Line upon line, line upon line; Here a little, there a little; That they may go and stumble backward, And be broken, snared, and taken.

Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, You scoffing men, Who rule this people Who are in Jerusalem:

Because you have said, We have made A covenant with death, And with Sheol We have made an agreement: When the overflowing scourge passes through, It will not come upon us; For we have made falsehood our refuge And have hidden ourselves in deception.

Therefore thus says The Lord Jehovah: Indeed I lay a stone in Zion as a foundation, A tested stone, A precious cornerstone as a foundation firmly established; He who believes will not hasten away.

And I will make justice the line And righteousness the plummet; And the hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, And the waters will overflow the secret place.

And your covenant with death will be annulled, And your agreement with Sheol will not stand; When the overflowing scourge passes through, You will be a trampling ground to it.

As often as it passes through, It will take hold of you. For morning by morning it will pass through, By day and by night; And it will be nothing but terror To understand the report of it.

For the bed is too short for a man to stretch on, And the sheet is too narrow for him to wrap himself in.

For Jehovah will rise as on Mount Perazim, He will be agitated as in the valley of Gibeon, To do His deed, His strange deed, And to do His work, His most different work.

Now therefore do not be mockers, Lest your fetters become stronger; For I have heard from the Lord Jehovah of hosts Of complete and decisive destruction upon the whole earth.

Hearken and hear my voice; Attend and hear my speech.

Does the plowman plow all day long to sow his seed? Does he open and harrow his ground continually?

Does he not, once he levels the surface, Scatter dill and broadcast cummin, And put the wheat in rows and the barley in its appointed place And the rye where it belongs?

For his God instructs him toward such discretion And teaches him so.

For dill is not threshed with a sharp tool, Nor is the cart wheel turned upon the cummin; But dill is beaten out with a rod, And cummin with a stick.

Bread grains are ground, Yet one does not thresh and thresh forever. And once the wheel of his cart and his horses drive over it, One does not grind it.

This also comes forth from Jehovah of hosts, He who makes His counsel extraordinary and His sound wisdom great.