Isaiah 28:13
New International Version
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— so that as they go they will fall backward; they will be injured and snared and captured.

New Living Translation
So the LORD will spell out his message for them again, one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there, so that they will stumble and fall. They will be injured, trapped, and captured.

English Standard Version
And the word of the LORD will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Berean Standard Bible
Then the word of the LORD to them will become: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there,” so that they will go stumbling backward and will be injured, ensnared, and captured.

King James Bible
But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

New King James Version
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.

New American Standard Bible
So the word of the LORD to them will be, “Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,” That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.

NASB 1995
So the word of the LORD to them will be, “Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,” That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.

NASB 1977
So the word of the LORD to them will be, “Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,” That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.

Legacy Standard Bible
So the word of Yahweh to them will be, “Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,” That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.

Amplified Bible
Therefore the word of the LORD to them will be [merely monotonous repetitions]: “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Rule upon rule, rule upon rule, Here a little, there a little.” That they may go and stumble backward, and be broken, ensnared, and taken captive.

Christian Standard Bible
The word of the LORD will come to them: “Law after law, law after law, line after line, line after line, a little here, a little there,” so they go stumbling backward, to be broken, trapped, and captured.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then the word of the LORD came to them:” Law after law, law after law, line after line, line after line, a little here, a little there,” so they go stumbling backward, to be broken, trapped, and captured.

American Standard Version
Therefore shall the word of Jehovah be unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And the Word of LORD JEHOVAH to them was: “Reply on reply, reply on reply and answer on answer, and answer on answer. A little here and a little there, that they shall turn and they shall be overthrown and they shall be broken, and they shall be captured and they shall be seized”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Therefore the oracle of God shall be to them affliction on affliction, hope on hope, yet a little, and yet a little, that they may go and fall backward; and they shall be crushed and shall be in danger, and shall be taken.

Contemporary English Version
Now his message to you will be senseless sound after senseless sound. Then you will fall backwards, injured and trapped.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the word of the Lord shall be to them: Command, command again; command, command again: expect, expect again; expect, expect again: a little there, a little there: that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

English Revised Version
Therefore shall the word of the LORD be unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The LORD speaks utter nonsense to them. That is why they will fall backwards. That is why they will be hurt, trapped, and captured.

Good News Translation
That is why the LORD is going to teach you letter by letter, line by line, lesson by lesson. Then you will stumble with every step you take. You will be wounded, trapped, and taken prisoner.

International Standard Version
So, then, the message from the LORD to them will become: "Do this and do that, do this and do that, line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there," so that they will go, but fall backward, and be injured, snared, and captured.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And 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.

Literal Standard Version
And to whom a word of YHWH has been, | Rule on rule, rule on rule, | Line on line, line on line, | A little here, a little there, | So that they go and have stumbled backward, | And been broken, and snared, and captured.

Majority Standard Bible
Then the word of the LORD to them will become: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there,” so that they will go stumbling backward and will be injured, ensnared, and captured.

New American Bible
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.

NET Bible
So the LORD's word to them will sound like meaningless gibberish, senseless babbling, a syllable here, a syllable there. As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, and be injured, ensnared, and captured.

New Revised Standard Version
Therefore the word of the LORD will be to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little;” in order that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

New Heart English Bible
Therefore the word of the LORD will be to them precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, fall backward, be broken, be snared, and be taken.

Webster's Bible Translation
But the word of the LORD was to them, precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

World English Bible
Therefore Yahweh’s word will be to them precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, fall backward, be broken, be snared, and be taken.

Young's Literal Translation
And to whom a word of Jehovah hath been, Rule on rule, rule on rule, line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there, So that they go and have stumbled backward, And been broken, and snared, and captured.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Judgment on Ephraim
12to whom He has said: “This is the place of rest, let the weary rest; this is the place of repose.” But they would not listen. 13Then the word of the LORD to them will become: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there,” so that they will go stumbling backward and will be injured, ensnared, and captured.

Cross References
Matthew 21:44
He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."

Isaiah 8:15
Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be ensnared and captured."

Isaiah 59:10
Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, groping like those without eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the vigorous we are like the dead.


Treasury of Scripture

But the word of the LORD was to them precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

precept upon precept

Isaiah 28:10
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

Jeremiah 23:36-38
And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God…

Hosea 6:5,8
Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth…

that

Isaiah 6:9,10
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not…

Isaiah 8:14,15
And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem…

Psalm 69:22
Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.

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Isaiah 28
1. The prophet threatens Ephraim for their pride and drunkenness
5. The residue shall be advanced in the kingdom of Christ
7. He rebukes their error
9. Their unwillingness to learn
14. And their security
16. Christ the sure foundation is promised
17. Their security shall be tried
23. They are incited to the consideration of God's providence














(13) That they might go, and fall backward . . .--The words are an echo of those in Isaiah 8:14-15. The preaching which might have led to "rest and refreshing" would become to those who scorned it a "stumbling stone" on which they would fall, a "net" in which they, who boasted of their freedom, would be entangled.

Verse 13. - The word of the Lord was to them; rather, shall be to them. God will now speak to them, not by his prophet, but by the Assyrian conqueror, who will do what they said Isaiah had done, i.e. lay upon them command after command, rule alter rule, a constant series of minute injunctions, under which they will chafe and fret and at last rebel, but only to be "snared and taken." It is uncertain whether the reference is to the immediate future and to the Assyrians proper only, or whether the Babylonians are not taken into account also, and their oppression of Judaea pointed to. The yoke of Babylon was probably quite as difficult to endure as that of Assyria; and we find that, in the space of eighteen years, it produced at least three rebellions.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then the word
דְּבַר־ (də·ḇar-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause

of the LORD
יְהוָ֗ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

will come
וְהָיָ֨ה (wə·hā·yāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

to them:
לָהֶ֜ם (lā·hem)
Preposition-l | Pronoun - third person masculine plural
Strong's 1992: They

“Order
צַ֣ו (ṣaw)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6673: Perhaps command

on order,
לָצָ֞ו (lā·ṣāw)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6673: Perhaps command

order
צַ֤ו (ṣaw)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6673: Perhaps command

on order,
לָצָו֙ (lā·ṣāw)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6673: Perhaps command

line
קַ֤ו (qaw)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6957: A cord, for, measuring, a rule, a rim, a musical string, accord

on line,
לָקָו֙ (lā·qāw)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6957: A cord, for, measuring, a rule, a rim, a musical string, accord

line
קַ֣ו (qaw)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6957: A cord, for, measuring, a rule, a rim, a musical string, accord

on line,
לָקָ֔ו (lā·qāw)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6957: A cord, for, measuring, a rule, a rim, a musical string, accord

a little
זְעֵ֥יר (zə·‘êr)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2191: A little

here,
שָׁ֖ם (šām)
Adverb
Strong's 8033: There, then, thither

a little
זְעֵ֣יר (zə·‘êr)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2191: A little

there,”
שָׁ֑ם (šām)
Adverb
Strong's 8033: There, then, thither

so that
לְמַ֨עַן (lə·ma·‘an)
Conjunction
Strong's 4616: Purpose -- intent

they will go
יֵלְכ֜וּ (yê·lə·ḵū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

stumbling
וְכָשְׁל֤וּ (wə·ḵā·šə·lū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 3782: To totter, waver, to falter, stumble, faint, fall

backward
אָחוֹר֙ (’ā·ḥō·wr)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 268: The hinder part, behind, backward, the West

and be injured,
וְנִשְׁבָּ֔רוּ (wə·niš·bā·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 7665: To break, break in pieces

snared,
וְנוֹקְשׁ֖וּ (wə·nō·wq·šū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 3369: To lay a bait or lure

and captured.
וְנִלְכָּֽדוּ׃ (wə·nil·kā·ḏū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 3920: To catch, to capture, occupy, to choose, to cohere


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 28:13 Therefore the word of Yahweh will be (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 28:12
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