Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beautyisa fading flower, whichareon the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one,whichas a tempest of hailanda destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:
And the glorious beauty, whichison the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower,andas the hasty fruit before the summer; whichwhenhe that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.
In that day shall theLORDof hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumbleinjudgment.
For all tables are full of vomitandfilthiness,so that there isno placeclean.
Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?them that areweaned from the milk,anddrawn from the breasts.
For preceptmust beupon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little,andthere a little:
For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
To whom he said, Thisisthe restwherewithye may cause the weary to rest; and thisisthe refreshing: yet they would not hear.
But the word of theLORDwas unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little,andthere a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
Wherefore hear the word of theLORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people whichisin Jerusalem.
Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
Therefore thus saith the LordGOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation onlytounderstand the report.
For the bed is shorter than thata mancan stretch himselfon it:and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himselfin it.
For theLORDshall rise up asinmount Perazim, he shall be wroth asinthe valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the LordGODof hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.
Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.
Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?
When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?
For his God doth instruct him to discretion,anddoth teach him.
For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
Breadcornis bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor breakit withthe wheel of his cart, nor bruise itwithhis horsemen.
This also cometh forth from theLORDof hosts,whichis wonderful in counsel,andexcellent in working.