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, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and 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 Jehovah speaketh: “I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled 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.
The ox knoweth his owner, And the ass his master's crib; But Israel doth not know; My people do not consider.”
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.
Ah, sinful nation! a people laden with iniquity! A race of evil-doers! degenerate children! They have forsaken Jehovah; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; They have gone 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.
Where can ye be smitten again, Since ye renew your rebellion? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint;
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 even to the head, there is no soundness in it; It is all bruises, and stripes, and flesh wounds, Neither pressed, nor bound up, nor 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 country is desolate; Your cities are burnt with fire; Your ground, strangers devour it before your eyes; It is become desolate, destroyed by an enemy.
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 is left as a shed in a vineyard, As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city.
9 If the Lord Almighty hadn't let a few of us survive, we would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Had not Jehovah of hosts left us a small remnant, We had soon become 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 ye the word of Jehovah, ye princes of Sodom! Give ear to the instruction of our God, ye 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!
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah; I am satiated with burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; In the blood of bullocks and of lambs and of goats I have no delight.
12 When you come to appear before me in worship, who asked you to proudly tramp around my courts?
When ye come to appear before me, Who hath required this of you, to tread 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.
Bring no more false oblations! Incense is an abomination to me, The new moon also, and the sabbath, and the calling of the assembly; Iniquity and festivals I cannot endure.
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!
Your new moons and your feasts my soul hateth; They are a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
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.
When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; Yea, when ye multiply prayers, I will not hear: Your hands are 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 you; make you clean; Put away your evil doings from before mine eyes;
17 Learn to do good; strive for justice, condemn those who oppress others; support the rights of orphans, take up cases to defend widows.
Cease to do evil; Learn to do well; Seek justice; relieve the oppressed; Defend the fatherless; plead 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.
Come, now, and let us argue together, saith Jehovah. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they be red as crimson, they shall be like 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 ye be willing and obedient, Ye shall consume the good of the land.
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!
But if ye refuse, and be rebellious, The sword shall consume you; For the mouth of Jehovah hath said it.
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 is the faithful city become a harlot, She that was full of equity! Once justice dwelt in her, but now murderers!
22 Your silver has become worthless waste; you wine has been watered down.
Thy silver is become dross; Thy wine is adulterated 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.
Thy princes are faithless, companions of thieves; Every one of them loveth gifts, and seeketh rewards; They render not justice to the fatherless, And the cause of the widow cometh not before 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!
Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ha! I will ease me of mine adversaries, And avenge me of mine enemies.
25 I will turn against you. I will refine you in a furnace, removing all impurities.
And I will again turn my hand toward thee, And wholly purge away thy dross, And take away all thy alloy.
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 will restore thee judges, as at the first, And counsellors, as at the beginning. Then shalt thou be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.
27 Zion will be rescued by justice, those who repent by doing right.
Through justice shall Zion be delivered, And her reformed sons through righteousness.
28 But rebels and sinners will be destroyed together, and those who abandon the Lord will die.
But destruction shall fall at once on the rebels and sinners; Yea, they that forsake Jehovah shall be 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 ye shall be ashamed of the terebinths in which ye delighted; Ye shall blush for the gardens which ye loved;
30 As a result you will become like an oak whose leaves have withered, a dried-out garden that has no water.
And ye shall be as a terebinth-tree whose leaves are withered, And as a garden in which is 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.
The strong shall become tow, And his work a spark of fire; Both shall burn together, And none shall quench them.
