Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageRule after rule, rule after rule — line after line, line after line — a little here, a little there!'
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GCommand on command, command on command — line on line, line on line — a scrap here, a scrap there!'
KJV
King James VersionFor precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
BSB
Berean Standard BibleFor they hear: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there.”
Footnotes
The famously enigmatic צַו לָצָו קַו לָקַו (*tzav latzav kav lakav*) sequence has generated extensive debate. Three main readings: (a) mocking baby-talk, mimicking Isaiah's repetitive style as if he speaks to infants; (b) a stylised rendering of drunk speech — slurred, circular, going nowhere; (c) a genuine description of patient, incremental prophetic pedagogy. The onomatopoeic quality and near-meaninglessness of the syllables in Hebrew supports the mockery or drunken-speech reading. FOG renders *tzav* as 'command' and *kav* as 'line' (both are lexically defensible — *tzav* = commandment/instruction; *kav* = measuring line); FOG Message uses 'rule' to capture the regulatory nuance of *tzav*. The repetition itself — not the content — is the biting point.
