Isaiah 1

1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of 'Uzziyahu, Jotham, Achaz, and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah.

2 Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord hath spoken: Children have I nourished and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.

3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

4 Woe! sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, seed of evil-doers, children that are corrupt: they have forsaken the Lord, they have incensed the Holy One of Israel, they are departed backward.

5 Why will ye be stricken yet more? [that] ye increase the revolt? every head is sick, and every heart is faint.

6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, nor bound up, nor mollified with oil.

7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire; your soil—in your presence, strangers devour it, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

8 And left is the daughter of Zion as a hut in a vineyard, as a lodge in a cucumber field, as a besieged city.

9 Unless the Lord of hosts had left unto us a remnant ever so small, like Sodom should we have been, unto Gomorrah should we have been compared.

10 Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom: give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

11 For what serveth me the multitude of your sacrifices? saith the Lord: I am sated with the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fatted beasts; and the blood of bullocks, and of sheep, and of he-goats, I do not desire.

12 When ye come to appear in my presence—who hath required this at your hand, to tread down my courts?

13 Continue no more to bring an oblation of deceit; incense of abomination is it unto me: new moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies—I cannot bear misdeed with festive gathering.

14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth; they are become a burden unto me; I am weary to bear them,

15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will withdraw my eyes from you; yea, when ye make ever so many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil;

17 Learn to do well; seek for justice, relieve the oppressed, do justice to the fatherless, plead for the widow.

18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins should be as scarlet, they shall become white as the snow; though they should be red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

19 If ye be willing and obey, the best of the land shall ye eat;

20 But if ye refuse and rebel, by the sword shall ye be devoured; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

21 How is she become a harlot, the faithful town! she, that was full of justice; righteousness lodged therein; but now murderers.

22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine is drugged with water;

23 Thy princes are rebels, and companions of thieves; every one loveth brides, and runneth after rewards; to the fatherless they will not do justice, and the cause of the widow doth not come unto them.

24 Therefore saith the Lord, the Eternal of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will take satisfaction on my adversaries, and be avenged on my enemies.

25 And I will turn my hand against thee, and purge away as with lye thy dross, and remove all thy tin:

26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning; after that shalt thou be called, The city of righteousness, the town that is faithful.

27 Zion shall be redeemed through justice, and her converts through righteousness.

28 But destruction shall come over transgressors and sinners together, and those that forsake the Lord shall perish.

29 For people shall be ashamed because of the terebinths which ye had desired, and ye shall be put to the blush because of the gardens that ye had chosen.

30 For ye shall be as a terebinth the leaves of which wither, and as a garden that hath no water.

31 And the mighty oppressor shall become as tow, and his workman as a spark; and they shall both burn together, with none to quench.