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.
[I am] Isaiah, the son of Amoz. [Yahweh showed me] visions about Jerusalem and [all the other places in] Judah. He showed me these visions during the years that Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were 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.
This is what Yahweh says: “All you [angels in] [APO] heaven and [all you people on] [APO] earth, listen to me! The people that I caused to exist and took care of [DOU] 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.
Oxen know their owners, and donkeys know who provides food for them, but my Israeli people do not know [me]; they do not realize [that I am the one who takes care of them].”
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.
Terrible things will happen to that sinful nation, to those people who are guilty of sinning greatly. They are a group of very evil people, who act very unjustly. They have abandoned Yahweh, the holy one of Israel; they have (abandoned/turned away 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 do you [RHQ] continue to [do things for which] you should be punished? Why do you continue to rebel against Yahweh? [You are like] [MET] someone whose head is badly injured and whose mind is sick/corrupt.
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.
[It is as though] [MET] from the soles/bottoms of your feet to the [tops of your] heads nothing is healthy; there are only open wounds and cuts and sores that have not been cleaned or bandaged, and no [olive] oil has been put on them [to heal them].
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.
[It is as though] your country is ruined/desolate; your towns have been burned. Foreigners plunder/steal the crops in your fields while you watch; they destroy everything [that they see].
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.
The city of Jerusalem has [already] been abandoned, it is like [SIM] a shelter in a vineyard that has been abandoned by the watchmen; it is like [SIM] a watchman’s hut in a field of melons that has been deserted. It is a city surrounded by its enemies who are waiting to attack it.
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 Commander of the armies of angels had not allowed a few of us [his people] to (survive/remain alive), we would have [all] been [destroyed], like [the cities of] Sodom and Gomorrah [were destroyed].
10 Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom: give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
You [leaders of Judah are as wicked as] the rulers of Sodom were, and you [other people in Jerusalem areas are as wicked as] the people in Gomorrah [were]. Listen to this message from Yahweh, [all of you]!
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.
He says, “You continue to bring many sacrifices to me, but I do not [RHQ] want them [because you do not worship me sincerely]! You bring me many offerings to be completely burned [on the altar], [but] I (am tired/do not want any more) of your burning all those offerings, the burning rams and the fat from fat cattle. I am not pleased with the blood of bulls and lambs and goats that [the priest] pours [against the altar].
12 When ye come to appear in my presence—who hath required this at your hand, to tread down my courts?
When you come to my temple to worship me, no one [RHQ] told you to trample on my courtyard while you perform all those rituals.
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.
Stop bringing to me those offerings, because they are useless [to me]; I am disgusted with the incense that [the priests burn]. And [your feasts to celebrate] the new moon [each month] and your (Sabbath [days]/days of rest) and your [other] festivals— I detest them because of the wicked things [that you do].
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth; they are become a burden unto me; I am weary to bear them,
I [SYN] hate [all] your celebrations of each new moon and the [other] festivals that you celebrate each year. They are [like] [MET] a heavy burden that I am tired of carrying.
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.
[So], when you lift up your hands when you pray [to me], I will not [even] look at you. Even if you pray [to me very] frequently, I will not listen [to you], [because it is as though] your hands are covered with the blood [of people whom you have killed].
16 Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil;
Cleanse your inner beings, and become [spiritually] clean! Stop your evil behavior! Stop doing things that are wrong!
17 Learn to do well; seek for justice, relieve the oppressed, do justice to the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Learn to do [things that are] good! [Try to] cause people to do what is just. Help people who are (oppressed/treated cruelly). Defend orphans and widows [when people take them to court].”
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.
Yahweh says, “You need to think about the results of what you do. Even though [the guilt of] your sins be [as evident and as difficult to get rid of] as [SIM] red [stains on a white garment] [DOU], [I will get rid of them completely] [like someone who can make that stained garment] become as white as snow or wool [DOU].
19 If ye be willing and obey, the best of the land shall ye eat;
If you are willing to obey [me], [I will enable] you to have plenty to eat.
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 you turn away [from me and] rebel against me, you will be killed [by your enemies’] swords. [That will surely happen, because I, ] Yahweh, have said it.”
21 How is she become a harlot, the faithful town! she, that was full of justice; righteousness lodged therein; but now murderers.
“[You people of Jerusalem previously] faithfully [worshiped only] me, but now you have become like [MET] prostitutes [who are not faithful to any husband]. Previously, people there always acted justly/fairly and righteously, but now your city [is full of] murderers.
22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine is drugged with water;
Previously, you were [like] [MET] pure silver, but now you have become [like] [MET] the scum that is left [when silver is purified]. Previously you were [like pure] wine, but you have become [like] [MET] wine that has [a lot of] water mixed with it.
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 leaders are rebels; they spend time with thieves. They all want to get bribes and force others to give them gifts [in order that they do good things for them]. They do not defend orphans [in court], and they do not do all they can to enable widows to get what they should receive.
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.
Therefore [I, ] the Commander of the armies of angels, the mighty God of Israel, say to my enemies, ‘will get revenge on you; you will not cause me any more trouble. And I will pay you back for the evil things that you did.
25 And I will turn my hand against thee, and purge away as with lye thy dross, and remove all thy tin:
I will raise my fist to strike you. I will [punish you severely] [MET], as though [MET] you were silver [and I needed to heat you very greatly to] melt you and get rid of the impurities.
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.
[After that happens, ] I will give you good judges like you had previously; you will have [wise] counselors like you had long ago. Then people will call your city “a city where people [act] righteously, a city where people are loyal to me.”'”
27 Zion shall be redeemed through justice, and her converts through righteousness.
Because the people of Jerusalem will do what is fair/just, their city will be restored; those who repent [will be saved] because of [their acting] righteously.
28 But destruction shall come over transgressors and sinners together, and those that forsake the Lord shall perish.
But rebels and sinners will be crushed by Yahweh, and those who forsake him will disappear.
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.
You will be ashamed because [you worshiped] idols under the oak trees [that you considered to be] sacred; you will be disgraced because [you worshiped idols] in the gardens where you chose [to worship them].
30 For ye shall be as a terebinth the leaves of which wither, and as a garden that hath no water.
You will be like [SIM] a very large tree which has withered leaves, like [SIM] a garden that [is dried up because] it has 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.
Those among you who are [very] strong will become [like] [MET] dry wood, and the work they do will be [like] [MET] a spark; both they and the evil things that they do will burn up completely, and no one will be able to put out the fire.
