Isaiah 28:8
ESV
For all tables are full of filthy vomit, with no space left.
NIV
All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth.
NASB
For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, without a single clean place.
CSB
Indeed, all their tables are covered with vomit; there is no place without a stench.
NLT
Their tables are covered with vomit; filth is everywhere.
KJV
For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
NKJV
For all tables are full of vomit and filth; No place is clean.
What does Isaiah 28:8 mean?
Isaiah is not being diplomatic in these verses. He wants his readers to see why the people of Samaria and Israel are so far away from the Lord. One problem is the open drunkenness of Israel's leaders, including her religious leaders. The priests and prophets have abandoned all responsibility for representing the Lord to the people and the people to the Lord. They do not even try to hide their intoxication.Isaiah paints a vivid picture of a debauched night out: The tables are covered in filthy vomit. There's no place left to set anything down. And these are the assembled religious leaders of Israel!
As in the rest of Scripture, Isaiah does not condemn alcohol in general. He is condemning the religious leaders who had so abandoned their responsibility to God and to the people that they willingly embraced an ongoing lifestyle of public drunkenness. Most likely, this implied other forms of unrestrained pleasure-seeking.
