The prophet announces that the alliance between Judah and Egypt will come to an end. Most of the vocabulary here comes from verse 15, indicating the close relationship between these verses.

Then your covenant with death will be annulled: Then renders the common Hebrew conjunction (literally “And”). Here it is not a sequential connector, but it simply conjoins this line with the previous verse, so it may be translated “And.” Most versions omit it. The Hebrew verb rendered annulled can mean “to atone” or “to purge.” Clearly the latter sense is in view here. Good News Translation expresses it well with “abolished.” Another possibility is “dissolved.”

And your agreement with Sheol will not stand: This line is parallel with the previous one. The treaty with Egypt will not stand, that is, will no longer be valid.

When the overwhelming scourge passes through you will be beaten down by it: When the treaty between the people of Judah and the Egyptians is abolished, they will have to face the Assyrian threat without Egyptian support. Therefore the Assyrians will invade Judah and conquer it. For when the overwhelming scourge passes through, see verse 15. You will be beaten down by it is literally “you will be a trampling place for it.” This line uses the imagery of being trampled on (see 10.6). New Jerusalem Bible says “you will be trodden down by it.” For languages that require an active expression here, it may be rendered “it will trample you down.” If scourge is rendered “flood,” a model that fits with that metaphor is “it will wash you completely away.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has simply “You shall be its victims.” Good News Translation says “you will be overcome,” since it renders scourge as “disaster,” as in verse 15|prj:GNTD.Isa 28.15.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Your covenant with death will be cancelled,
your alliance with Sheol will no longer be valid.
When the overwhelming flood sweeps through,
it will wash you completely away.

• The covenant with death you signed will end,
your treaty with Sheol will no longer be valid;
the terrible flood will sweep through,
and you will be drowned by it.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .