[:en]WOE TO EPHRAIM
The prophet addressed Ephraim and rebuked them for drunkenness (vs. 1-8) with an unteachable spirit (vs. 9-13). The religious leaders were haughty. They did not want to hear what Isaiah told them. So God talked to them through the Assyria in a language that Israel could not understand. Prophet Isaiah described the forthcoming judgment would be like a hailstorm and a destructive wind, like a driving rain and a flooding downpour thrown forcefully to the ground. The pride of Ephraim’s drunkards will be trampled underfoot. It’s glorious beauty will fade like a fig ripe before harvest and be swallowed up. (vs. 1-4)
Isaiah denounced Judah for trusting false gods, whose bed is too short to stretch at and the blanket too narrow to wrap them around (v. 20).
God knows how to handle the soil and the seeds. He is plowing and planting to reap a wonderful harvest. (vs. 23-28)
“All this comes from the Lord Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom” (v. 29)[:]