13 But the word of the Lord 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.

14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we are in agreement.
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
It will not come to us,
(A)For we have made lies our refuge,
And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”

Read full chapter

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)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 28:15 Or false gods