Isaiah 1
1 The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw about Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
This is the vision that Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw about Judah and Jerusalem in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 Give ear, O heavens, and you, O earth, to the word which the Lord has said: I have taken care of my children till they became men, but their hearts have been turned away from me.
Heavens, listen! Earth, pay attention! For the Lord has spoken! I brought up children, I cared for them, but they have rebelled against me.
3 Even the ox has knowledge of its owner, and the ass of the place where its master puts its food: but Israel has no knowledge, my people give no thought to me.
An ox knows its owner, and a donkey knows its feeding trough; but my people don't know me, they don't understand me.
4 O nation full of sin, a people weighted down with crime, a generation of evil-doers, false-hearted children: they have gone away from the Lord, they have no respect for the Holy One of Israel, their hearts are turned back from him.
What a sinful nation—a people carrying such a load of guilt, an evil generation, corrupt children! They have abandoned the Lord. They have despised Israel's Holy One. They have become strangers. They have gone backwards.
5 Why will you have more and more punishment? why keep on in your evil ways? Every head is tired and every heart is feeble.
Are you wanting to be punished? Are you going to continue to rebel? The whole of your head is damaged, and your heart is totally giving out.
6 The body, from head to foot, is all diseased; it is a mass of open wounds, marks of blows, and broken flesh: the flow of blood has not been stopped, and no oil has been put on the wounds.
You're injured from head to toe, bruised and sore, with open wounds that haven't been cleaned or bandaged or treated with olive oil.
7 Your country has become waste; your towns are burned with fire; as for your land, it is overturned before your eyes, made waste and overcome by men from strange lands.
Your country has been devastated, your towns burned down, your fields stripped bare by foreigners right in front of you, as they turn it all into a wasteland.
8 And the daughter of Zion has become like a tent in a vine-garden, like a watchman's house in a field of fruit, like a town shut in by armies.
The daughter of Zion is left like a shack in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a city under attack.
9 If the Lord of armies had not kept some at least of us safe, we would have been like Sodom, and the fate of Gomorrah would have been ours.
If the Lord Almighty hadn't let a few of us survive, we would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah.
10 Give ear to the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; let your hearts be turned to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.
Listen to what the Lord has to say, you rulers of Sodom! Pay attention to the instructions of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
11 What use to me is the number of the offerings which you give me? says the Lord; your burned offerings of sheep, and the best parts of fat cattle, are a weariness to me; I take no pleasure in the blood of oxen, or of lambs, or of he-goats.
What use are all your many sacrifices to me? asks the Lord. I am sick and tired of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of sacrificial animals. I don't delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats!
12 At whose request do you come before me, making my house unclean with your feet?
When you come to appear before me in worship, who asked you to proudly tramp around my courts?
13 Give me no more false offerings; the smoke of burning flesh is disgusting to me, so are your new moons and Sabbaths and your holy meetings.
Don't bring me any more meaningless offerings; your incense is offensive to me. Your new moon festivals and Sabbath observations and your calling of special religious meetings—I can't stand them because they're evil, as are your solemn assemblies.
14 Your new moons and your regular feasts are a grief to my soul: they are a weight in my spirit; I am crushed under them.
I detest your new moon and yearly festivals with my whole being! They've become just a burden to me—I can't bear them anymore!
15 And when your hands are stretched out to me, my eyes will be turned away from you: even though you go on making prayers, I will not give ear: your hands are full of blood.
When you hold up your hands to me in prayer, I'll look away. Even though you pray many prayers, I won't pay attention to them, because your hands are full of blood.
16 Be washed, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; let there be an end of sinning;
Wash yourselves and clean yourselves up. Get rid of your sins—I don't want to see them! Stop doing evil!
17 Take pleasure in well-doing; let your ways be upright, keep down the cruel, give a right decision for the child who has no father, see to the cause of the widow.
Learn to do good; strive for justice, condemn those who oppress others; support the rights of orphans, take up cases to defend widows.
18 Come now, and let us have an argument together, says the Lord: how may your sins which are red like blood be white as snow? how may their dark purple seem like wool?
Come on, let's argue this out, says the Lord. Even though your sins are like scarlet, they will become white like snow. Even though they are red like crimson, they will become like wool.
19 If you will give ear to my word and do it, the good things of the land will be yours;
If you really want this, and if you do as you're told, then you yourselves will eat the best things that the land produces.
20 But if your hearts are turned against me, I will send destruction on you by the sword; so the Lord has said.
But if you are defiant, and if you are rebellious, you'll be killed by the sword. This is what the Lord has declared!
21 The upright town has become untrue; there was a time when her judges gave right decisions, when righteousness had a resting-place in her, but now she is full of those who take men's lives.
The city that used to be faithful has turned into a prostitute! Once she operated on principles of justice and followed what was right, but now only murderers live there.
22 Your silver is no longer true metal, your wine is mixed with water.
Your silver has become worthless waste; you wine has been watered down.
23 Your chiefs have gone against the Lord, they have become friends of thieves; every one of them is looking for profit and going after rewards; they do not give right decisions for the child who has no father, and they do not let the cause of the widow come before them.
Your leaders are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and want to get kickbacks. They don't defend the rights of orphans, and refuse to take cases to help widows.
24 For this reason the Lord, the Lord of armies, the Strong One of Israel, has said, I will put an end to my haters, and send punishment on those who are against me;
So this is what the Lord says, the Lord Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel: Ha! I will take satisfaction in punishing my enemies, by paying back those who hate me!
25 And my hand will again be on you, washing away what is unclean as with soap, and taking away all your false metal;
I will turn against you. I will refine you in a furnace, removing all impurities.
26 And I will give you judges again as at the first, and wise guides as in the past; then you will be named, The Town of Righteousness, the true town.
I will give you good leaders as you used to have before, wise counselors as you had in the beginning. After that you will once again be called the City of Integrity, the Faithful City.
27 Upright acts will be the price of Zion's forgiveness, and by righteousness will men be living there.
Zion will be rescued by justice, those who repent by doing right.
28 But a common destruction will overtake sinners and evil-doers together, and those who have gone away from the Lord will be cut off.
But rebels and sinners will be destroyed together, and those who abandon the Lord will die.
29 For you will be put to shame because of the trees of your desire, and because of the gardens of your pleasure.
You will be ashamed about how you enjoyed your pagan worship among the oak trees; you will be embarrassed because you chose the pleasure gardens of idols.
30 For you will be like a tree whose leaves have become dry, and like a garden without water.
As a result you will become like an oak whose leaves have withered, a dried-out garden that has no water.
31 And the strong will be as food for the fire, and his work as a flame; and they will be burned together, with no one to put out the fire.
Your strong people will become like tinder, and their work will become like a spark. They will burn together, and nobody will be able to put out the flames.
