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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Why will you have more and more punishment? why keep on in your evil ways? Every head is tired and every heart is feeble.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

At whose request do you come before me, making my house unclean with your feet?

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Be washed, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; let there be an end of sinning;

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

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.

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.

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?

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

If you will give ear to my word and do it, the good things of the land will be yours;

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

But if your hearts are turned against me, I will send destruction on you by the sword; so the Lord has said.

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

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.

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

Your silver is no longer true metal, your wine is mixed 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.

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.

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.

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;

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

And my hand will again be on you, washing away what is unclean as with soap, and taking away all your false metal;

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.

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.

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

Upright acts will be the price of Zion's forgiveness, and by righteousness will men be living there.

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

But a common destruction will overtake sinners and evil-doers together, and those who have gone away from the Lord will be cut off.

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.

For you will be put to shame because of the trees of your desire, and because of the gardens of your pleasure.

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

For you will be like a tree whose leaves have become dry, and like a garden without 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.

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.