24  Therefore, ^bas the tongue of fire devours the stubble,

and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,

so ^ctheir root will be ^das rottenness,

and their blossom go up like dust;

for they have ^erejected the law of the Lord of hosts,

and have ^fdespised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

9  ^k“To whom will he teach knowledge,

and to whom will he explain the message?

Those who are weaned from the milk,

those taken from the breast?

10  For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,

line upon line, line upon line,

here a little, there a little.”

11  ^lFor by people of strange lips

and with a foreign tongue

the Lord will speak to this people,

12  to whom he has said,

^m“This is rest;

give rest to the weary;

and this is repose”;

yet they would not hear.

13  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,

ⁿthat they may go, and fall backward,

and be broken, and snared, and taken.

14  Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you ^oscoffers,

who rule this people in Jerusalem!

9  ^dFor they are a rebellious people,

lying children,

children unwilling to hear

the instruction of the Lord;

10  ^ewho say to ^fthe seers, “Do not see,”

and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;

speak to us ^gsmooth things,

prophesy illusions,

11  leave the way, turn aside from the path,

let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”

1  ^gWho has believed what he has heard from us?¹

And to whom has ^hthe arm of the Lord been revealed?