Read the Bible

¹ Woe to the haughty crown of Efrayim's drunks,
to the fading flower of its proud splendor,
located at the head of the rich valley
belonging to people overcome by wine!
² Adonai has someone strong and powerful.
He comes like a hailstorm, a destructive tempest,
like a flood of water, rushing, overwhelming;
with his hand he hurls them to the ground.
³ The haughty crown of Efrayim's drunks
is trampled underfoot;
⁴ and the fading flower of its proud splendor,
located at the head of the rich valley,
is like the first ripe fig of summer —
whoever sees it picks and eats it.
⁵ On that day, Adonai-Tzva'ot
will be a glorious crown,
a brilliant diadem
for the remnant of his people.
⁶ He will also be a spirit of justice
for whoever sits as a judge,
and a source of strength for those
repelling enemy attacks at the gate.

⁷ But there are others reeling from wine,
staggering about because of strong liquor;
cohen and prophet reel from strong liquor,
they are confused by wine.
Led astray by strong liquor,
they err in their visions and stumble when judging.
⁸ All tables are covered with vomit and feces,
not a single place is clean.
⁹ Can no one be taught anything?
Can no one understand the message?
Must one teach barely weaned toddlers,
babies just taken from the breast,
¹⁰ so that [one has to use nursery rhymes]? —
Tzav la-tzav, tzav la-tzav,
kav la-kav, kav la-kav
z‘eir sham, z‘eir sham
[Precept by precept, precept by precept,
line by line, line by line,
a little here, a little there].
¹¹ So with stammering lips, in a foreign accent,
[Adonai] will speak to this people.
¹² He once told this people, "It's time to rest,
the exhausted can rest, now you can relax" —
but they wouldn't listen.
¹³ So now the word of Adonai for them comes
"precept by precept, precept by precept,
line by line, line by line,
a little here, a little there,"
so that when they walk, they stumble backward,
and are broken, trapped and captured!
¹⁴ So listen to the word of Adonai, you scoffers,
composing taunts for this people in Yerushalayim:

¹⁵ Because you said, "We made a covenant with death,
we made a contract with Sh'ol.
When the raging flood passes through,
it will not touch us.
For we have made lies our refuge
and hid ourselves in falsehoods" —

¹⁶ therefore here is what Adonai Elohim says:

"Look, I am laying in Tziyon
a tested stone, a costly cornerstone,
a firm foundation-stone;
he who trusts will not rush here and there.
¹⁷ I will make justice the plumbline
and righteousness the plumb-bob;
hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
water will overflow the hiding place,
¹⁸ your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your contract with Sh'ol will not stand.
When the raging flood passes through,
you will be trampled down by it.
¹⁹ As often as it passes through, it will take you,
for it will pass through every morning,
day after day, night after night;
understanding the message will be sheer terror."

²⁰ For, [as the saying goes,]
"The bed is too short for a person to stretch,
and the blanket too narrow [to protect him from cold]
even if he crams himself in."
²¹ For Adonai will arise, as at Mount P'ratzim,
and storm with rage, as in the Giv‘on Valley;
so he can do his deed, his strange deed,
and perform his task, his alien task.
²² Therefore, now, stop your scoffing,
or your bonds will be further tightened;
for I have heard from Adonai Elohim-Tzva'ot
that destruction is decreed for the whole land.

²³ Listen and hear my voice;
pay attention, and hear what I say:
²⁴ Does a farmer sowing keep plowing forever?
Does he never stop breaking up and harrowing his land?
²⁵ No — when he finishes levelling it,
he scatters his dill-seed, sows his cumin,
puts wheat in rows, barley where it belongs,
and plants buckwheat around the edges;
²⁶ because his God has taught him this,
has given him instruction.
²⁷ Dill must not be threshed with a sledge
or cartwheels driven over cumin;
rather, dill one beats with a stick
and cumin with a flail.
²⁸ When crushing grain for bread,
one doesn't thresh it forever;
one drives the horse and cart wheels over it
but doesn't crush it to powder.
²⁹ This too comes from Adonai-Tzva'ot —
his counsel is wonderful, his wisdom great.