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⁴And the fading flower of his glorious beauty,

Which is on the head of the fat valley,

Shall be as the first-ripe fig before the summer,

Which when one looketh upon it,

While it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

 

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 back the battle at the gate.

 

⁷But these also reel through wine,

And stagger through strong drink;

The priest and the prophet reel through strong drink,

They are confused because of wine,

They stagger because of strong drink;

They reel in vision, they totter in judgment.

⁸For all tables are full of filthy vomit,

And no place is clean.

 

⁹Whom shall one teach knowledge?

And whom shall one make to understand the message?

Them that are weaned from the milk,

Them that are drawn from the breasts?

¹⁰For it is precept by precept, precept by precept,

Line by line, line by line;

Here a little, there a little.

¹¹For with stammering lips and with a strange tongue

Shall it be spoken to this people;

¹²To whom it was said: 'This is the rest,

Give ye rest to the weary;

And this is the refreshing';

Yet they would not hear.

¹³And so the word of the Lord is unto them

Precept by precept, precept by precept,

Line by line, line by line;

Here a little, there a little;

That they may go, and fall backward, and be broken,

And snared, and taken.

 

¹⁴Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scoffers,

The ballad-mongers of this people which is in Jerusalem:

¹⁵Because ye have said: 'We have made a covenant with death,

And with the nether-world are we at agreement;

When the scouring scourge shall pass through,

It shall not come unto us;

For we have made lies our refuge,

And in 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 costly corner-stone of sure foundation;

He that believeth shall not make haste.

¹⁷And I will make justice the 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 disannulled,

And your agreement with the nether-world shall not stand;

When the scouring scourge shall pass through,

Then ye shall be trodden down by it.

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