Bible Strands
Isaiah 28:18
Your covenant with death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled by it.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Isaiah pronounces this oracle against the leaders of Jerusalem who trusted in political alliances rather than divine protection. The declaration occurs amid impending national crisis when false refuges are being dismantled.
The words — כֻּפַּר (kuppār) means "it will be annulled" and חָזוּת (ḥāzûṯ) translates literally to "vision" or "agreement." These terms describe the nullification of the pact with death and Sheol.
The thread — The dismantling of human schemes runs through Isaiah 7:7 and Isaiah 8:10, while the specific "covenant with death" phrase originates in Isaiah 28:15. The progression shows repeated divine intervention against self-made security.
Why it lands — The text states that the overwhelming scourge will trample those who rely on false refuges, and the message brings sheer terror. It requires the reader to abandon self-devised plans and submit to God's justice as the only measuring standard.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 7:7 But this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘It will not arise; it will not happen.
- Isaiah 8:10 Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us.”
- Isaiah 28:15 For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”
- Isaiah 28:3 The majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards will be trampled underfoot.
- Daniel 11:40 At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him in battle, but the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships, invading many countries and sweeping through them like a flood.
- Malachi 4:1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”
- Isaiah 2:15 against every high tower, against every fortified wall,
- Isaiah 8:8 It will pour into Judah, swirling and sweeping over it, reaching up to the neck; its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel!
- Jeremiah 44:28 Those who escape the sword will return from Egypt to Judah, few in number, and the whole remnant of Judah who went to dwell in the land of Egypt will know whose word will stand, Mine or theirs!
- Jeremiah 47:2 This is what the LORD says: “See how the waters are rising from the north and becoming an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and its fullness, the cities and their inhabitants. The people will cry out, and all who dwell in the land will wail