1Woe to the crown of pride , to the drunkards of Ephraim , whose glorious beauty is a fading flower , which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine ! 2Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one , which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm , as a flood of mighty waters overflowing , shall cast down to the earth with the hand . 3The crown of pride , the drunkards of Ephraim , shall be trodden under feet : 4And the glorious beauty , which is on the head of the fat valley , shall be a fading flower , and as the hasty fruit before the summer ; which when he that looketh upon it seeth , while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up .
The Cornerstone and the Covenant
5In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory , and for a diadem of beauty , unto the residue of his people , 6And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment , and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate . 7But 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 stumble in judgment . 8For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness , so that there is no place clean .
The Scoffers and Their Fate
9Whom shall he teach knowledge ? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine ? them that are weaned from the milk , and drawn from the breasts . 10For precept must be upon precept , precept upon precept ; line upon line , line upon line ; here a little , and there a little : 11For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people . 12To whom he said , This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest ; and this is the refreshing : yet they would not hear . 13But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept , precept upon precept ; line upon line , line upon line ; here a little , and there a little ; that they might go , and fall backward , and be broken , and snared , and taken .
The Call to Repentance and Understanding
14Wherefore hear the word of the LORD , ye scornful men , that rule this people which is in Jerusalem . 15Because 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: 16Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD , Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone , a tried stone , a precious corner stone , a sure foundation : he that believeth shall not make haste . 17Judgment 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 . 18And 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. 19From 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 only to understand the report . 20For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it . 21For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim , he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon , that he may do his work , his strange work ; and bring to pass his act , his strange act . 22Now therefore be ye not mockers , lest your bands be made strong : for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption , even determined upon the whole earth . 23Give ye ear , and hear my voice ; hearken , and hear my speech . 24Doth the plowman plow all day to sow ? doth he open and break the clods of his ground ? 25When 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 ? 26For his God doth instruct him to discretion , and doth teach him. 27For 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 . 28Bread corn is bruised ; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart , nor bruise it with his horsemen . 29This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts , which is wonderful in counsel , and excellent in working .