Isaiah 28:18-20

28:18 Your treaty with death will be dissolved; ¹ 

your agreement ²  with Sheol will not last. ³ 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by, ⁴ 

you will be overrun by it. ⁵ 

28:19 Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you;

indeed, ⁶  every morning it will sweep by,

it will come through during the day and the night.” ⁷ 

When this announcement is understood,

it will cause nothing but terror.

28:20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,

and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself. ⁸ 

[28:18]  ¹ tn On the meaning of כָּפַר (kafar) in this context, see HALOT 494 s.v. I כפר and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:515, n. 9.

[28:18]  ² tn Normally the noun חָזוּת (khazut) means “vision.” See the note at v. 15.

[28:18]  ³ tn Or “will not stand” (NIV, NRSV).

[28:18]  ⁴ tn See the note at v. 15.

[28:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “you will become a trampling place for it.”

[28:19]  ⁶ tn Or “for” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[28:19]  ⁷ tn The words “it will come through” are supplied in the translation. The verb “will sweep by” does double duty in the parallel structure.

[28:20]  ⁸ sn The bed and blanket probably symbolize their false sense of security. A bed that is too short and a blanket that is too narrow may promise rest and protection from the cold, but in the end they are useless and disappointing. In the same way, their supposed treaty with death will prove useless and disappointing.