Isaiah 28:10
8 For all their tables are covered with vomit; there is not a place without filth.
9 Whom is He trying to teach? To whom is He explaining His message? To infants just weaned from milk? To babies removed from the breast?
For they hear: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there.”
11 Indeed, with mocking lips and foreign tongues, He will speak to this people
12 to 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.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- For they hear: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there.”
- KJV
- For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
- WEB
- For it is precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little.
- ASV
- For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little.
- DARBY
- For [it is] precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little.
- BLB
- For, “Order on order, order on order; line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there.”
- ÅB
- For bud på bud[^6], bud på bud, regel på regel, regel på regel, litt her, litt der.
- OTB
- For det er: Bud på bud, bud på bud, linje på linje, linje på linje, litt her, litt der."
- B1930
- For bud på bud, bud på bud, regel på regel, regel på regel, litt her, litt der. / < nemlig: kommer han med.>
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Isaiah 28:13
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.
Read in context2 Timothy 3:7
who are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Read in contextJeremiah 11:7
For from the time I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt until today, I strongly warned them again and again, saying, ‘Obey My voice.’
Read in contextJeremiah 25:3–7
“From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.
Read in contextNehemiah 9:29–30
You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They stubbornly shrugged their shoulders; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.
Read in contextHebrews 5:12
Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!
Read in contextDeuteronomy 6:1–6
These are the commandments and statutes and ordinances that the LORD your God has instructed me to teach you to follow in the land that you are about to enter and possess,
Read in context2 Chronicles 36:15–16
Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place.
Read in context