1Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower which is at the head of the lush valleys of those who are overcome with wine! 2Behold, the Lord is a mighty and strong one, like a hailstorm, a destroying storm; like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, He casts down to the earth with the hand. 3The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trampled under foot; 4and the glorious beauty at the head of the lush valley shall be a fading flower, and as the first-ripe fruit before the summer; which, the one looking at it swallows up while it is yet in his hand. 5In that day Jehovah of Hosts shall be for a crown of glory and for a diadem of beauty to the rest of His people, 6and for a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. 7But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink have gone astray. The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink; they are swallowed up by wine; they have gone astray through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. 8For all tables are full of vomit and excrement; no place is clean. 9To whom shall He teach knowledge? And whom shall He make to understand the message? Those weaned from the milk and removed from the breasts. 10For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; 11for with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people. 12To whom He said, This is the rest; cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing. Yet they were not willing to hear. 13But the Word of Jehovah was to them, Precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they might go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and caught. 14Therefore hear the Word of Jehovah, you scornful men who rule this people in Jerusalem. 15Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and we have made an agreement with Sheol; when the overflowing scourge shall have gone and passed through, it shall not come upon us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood. 16Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I have founded in Zion a Stone, a tried Stone, a precious Cornerstone, a sure Foundation; he who trusts in It shall not be anxious. 17Also I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness 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 covered over, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; when the overwhelming scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trampled down by it. 19From the time that it goes out it shall take you; for morning by morning it shall pass over, by day and by night; and it shall be a terror just to understand the report. 20For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the cover is too narrow to wrap oneself in it. 21For Jehovah shall rise up as at Mount Perazim; He will be angry as in the valley of Gibeon, so that He may do His deeds, His strange deeds; and bring to pass His works, His unusual works. 22So then do not be mockers, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard from the Lord Jehovah of Hosts that an annihilation is decreed upon the whole earth. 23Give ear and hear my voice; listen, and hear my speech. 24Does the plowman plow all day to sow? Does he loosen and harrow his ground? 25When he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter the black cumin and sprinkle the cumin, and plant the wheat in rows and mark off the barley and spelt in their boundaries? 26For God instructs him to do right; and teaches him. 27For the black cumin is not threshed with a threshing instrument, nor is a cart wheel turned on cumin; but the black cumin is beaten out with a stick and the cumin with a rod. 28Bread flour is ground. But one does not continue treading and threshing it; nor does he destroy it with his cart wheel; nor pulverize it with his horse. 29This also comes forth from Jehovah of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excels in sound wisdom.