Isaiah 28:18
ESV
Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be beaten down by it.
NIV
Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it.
NASB
Your covenant with death will be canceled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the gushing flood passes through, Then you will become its trampling ground.
CSB
Your covenant with Death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not last. When the overwhelming catastrophe passes through, you will be trampled.
NLT
I will cancel the bargain you made to cheat death, and I will overturn your deal to dodge the grave. When the terrible enemy sweeps through, you will be trampled into the ground.
KJV
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.
NKJV
Your covenant with death will be annulled, And your agreement with Sheol will not stand; When the overflowing scourge passes through, Then you will be trampled down by it.
What does Isaiah 28:18 mean?
The leaders of Jerusalem and Judah have built on the wrong foundation in anticipation of the coming storm. That storm is the seemingly unstoppable Assyrian war machine, wiping out one nation after another. Struggling to protect themselves, Judah has only made a covenant with death (Isaiah 28:14–15). Most commentators believe Isaiah means that they have made an alliance with Egypt to help save them from the Assyrians (Isaiah 30:1–2). Since that alliance will fail to save them, it is a covenant with "Sheol:" the land of the dead. Judah has built their protection from the storm on the sand of a worthless agreement.Judah could have found protection on the perfect footing which He had already laid for them (Isaiah 28:16–17). Since they rejected that option, they will learn how worthless their covenant with the Egyptians truly is. It will be like a marriage contract annulled on the day of the wedding, leaving the bride with no prospects. Then the Assyrian war machine will come overwhelming the entire land like a flood that beats down all the crops, destroying everything in its path. Worse, this punishment will come repeatedly (Isaiah 28:19).
