Isaiah 1
1 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.
The visions of Isaiah son of Amoz, that he has seen concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 Heavens, listen! Earth, pay attention! For the Lord has spoken! I brought up children, I cared for them, but they have rebelled against me.
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, For YHWH has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up sons, And they transgressed against Me.
3 An ox knows its owner, and a donkey knows its feeding trough; but my people don't know me, they don't understand me.
An ox has known its owner, And a donkey the crib of its master, Israel has not known, My people have not understood.”
4 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.
Oh, sinning nation, a people heavy [with] iniquity, A seed of evildoers, sons—corrupters! They have forsaken YHWH, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have gone away backward.
5 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.
Why are you struck anymore? You add apostasy! Every head has become diseased, and every heart [is] sick.
6 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.
From the sole of the foot—to the head, There is no soundness in it, Wound, and bruise, and fresh striking! They have not been closed nor bound, Nor have they softened with ointment.
7 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.
Your land [is] a desolation, your cities burned with fire, Your ground—strangers are consuming it before you, And a desolation as overthrown by strangers!
8 The daughter of Zion is left like a shack in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a city under attack.
And the daughter of Zion has been left, As a shelter in a vineyard, As a lodge in a place of cucumbers—as a city besieged.
9 If the Lord Almighty hadn't let a few of us survive, we would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Unless YHWH of Hosts had left a remnant to us, Shortly—we had been as Sodom, We had been like to Gomorrah!
10 Listen to what the Lord has to say, you rulers of Sodom! Pay attention to the instructions of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
Hear the word of YHWH, you rulers of Sodom, Give ear to the Law of our God, you people of Gomorrah,
11 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!
“Why the abundance of your sacrifices to Me?” says YHWH, “I have been satiated [with] burnt-offerings of rams, And fat of fatlings; And blood of bullocks, and lambs, And I have not desired male goats.
12 When you come to appear before me in worship, who asked you to proudly tramp around my courts?
When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this of your hand, To trample My courts?
13 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.
Do not add to bring in a vain present, Incense—it [is] an abomination to Me, New moon, and Sabbath, calling of convocation! Do not render iniquity—and a restraint!
14 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!
My soul has hated your new moons and your set seasons, They have been on Me for a burden, I have been weary of bearing.
15 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.
And in your spreading forth your hands, I hide My eyes from you, Also when you increase prayer, I do not hear, Your hands have been full of blood.
16 Wash yourselves and clean yourselves up. Get rid of your sins—I don't want to see them! Stop doing evil!
Wash yourselves, make yourselves pure, Turn aside the evil of your doings, from before My eyes, Cease to do evil, learn to do good.
17 Learn to do good; strive for justice, condemn those who oppress others; support the rights of orphans, take up cases to defend widows.
Seek judgment, make the oppressed blessed, Judge the fatherless, strive [for] the widow.
18 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.
Now come, and we settle this,” says YHWH, “If your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow, If they are red as crimson, they will be as wool!
19 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.
If you are willing, and have listened, The good of the land you consume,
20 But if you are defiant, and if you are rebellious, you'll be killed by the sword. This is what the Lord has declared!
And if you refuse, and have rebelled, You are consumed [by] the sword,” For the mouth of YHWH has spoken.
21 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.
How has a faithful city become a harlot? I have filled it [with] judgment, Righteousness lodges in it—now murderers.
22 Your silver has become worthless waste; you wine has been watered down.
Your silver has become dross, Your drink defiled with water.
23 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.
Your princes [are] apostates, and companions of thieves, Everyone loving a bribe, and pursuing rewards, They do not judge the fatherless, And the plea of the widow does not come to them.
24 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!
Therefore—a declaration of the Lord—YHWH of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: “Oh, I relieve Myself from My adversaries, And avenge Myself against My enemies,
25 I will turn against you. I will refine you in a furnace, removing all impurities.
And I turn back My hand on you, And I refine your dross as purity, And I turn aside all your tin,
26 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.
And I give back your judges as at the first, And your counselors as in the beginning, After this you are called, A city of righteousness—a faithful city.”
27 Zion will be rescued by justice, those who repent by doing right.
Zion is redeemed in judgment, And her captivity in righteousness.
28 But rebels and sinners will be destroyed together, and those who abandon the Lord will die.
And the destruction of transgressors and sinners [is] together, And those forsaking YHWH are consumed.
29 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.
For [men] are ashamed because of the oaks That you have desired, And you are confounded because of the gardens That you have chosen.
30 As a result you will become like an oak whose leaves have withered, a dried-out garden that has no water.
For you are as an oak whose leaf is fading, And as a garden that has no water.
31 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.
And the strong has been for tow, And his work for a spark, And both of them have burned together, And there is none quenching!
