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13 So for them the word of the Lord shall be:
    “Command on command, command on command,
Rule on rule, rule on rule,
    here a little, there a little!”
So that when they walk, they shall stumble backward,
    broken, ensnared, and captured.(A)
14 Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
    who rule[a] this people in Jerusalem:(B)
15 You have declared, “We have made a covenant with death,
    with Sheol[b] we have made a pact;
When the raging flood passes through,
    it will not reach us;
For we have made lies our refuge,
    and in falsehood we have found a hiding place,”—(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 28:14 Who rule: there is a play on words; the same expression could also mean, “Proverb makers,” that is, scoffers of this people.
  2. 28:15, 18 A covenant with death, with Sheol: an alliance with foreign powers, such as Egypt and Babylon. Have made lies…a hiding place: this confidence in human aid will prove to be false and deceitful, incapable of averting the dreaded disaster. Raging flood: the Assyrian invasion; cf. 8:7–8.

13 So then, the word of the Lord to them will become:
    Do this, do that,
    a rule for this, a rule for that;
    a little here, a little there(A)
so that as they go they will fall backward;
    they will be injured(B) and snared and captured.(C)

14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord,(D) you scoffers(E)
    who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death,(F)
    with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement.
When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by,(G)
    it cannot touch us,
for we have made a lie(H) our refuge
    and falsehood[a] our hiding place.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 28:15 Or false gods