Isaiah 1
1 [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.
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.
2 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.
Heavens, listen! Earth, pay attention! For the Lord has spoken! I brought up children, I cared for them, but they have rebelled against me.
3 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].”
An ox knows its owner, and a donkey knows its feeding trough; but my people don't know me, they don't understand me.
4 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.
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.
5 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.
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.
6 [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].
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.
7 [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].
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.
8 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.
The daughter of Zion is left like a shack in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a city under attack.
9 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].
If the Lord Almighty hadn't let a few of us survive, we would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah.
10 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]!
Listen to what the Lord has to say, you rulers of Sodom! Pay attention to the instructions of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
11 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].
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!
12 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.
When you come to appear before me in worship, who asked you to proudly tramp around my courts?
13 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].
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.
14 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.
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!
15 [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].
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.
16 Cleanse your inner beings, and become [spiritually] clean! Stop your evil behavior! Stop doing things that are wrong!
Wash yourselves and clean yourselves up. Get rid of your sins—I don't want to see them! Stop doing evil!
17 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].”
Learn to do good; strive for justice, condemn those who oppress others; support the rights of orphans, take up cases to defend widows.
18 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].
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.
19 If you are willing to obey [me], [I will enable] you to have plenty to eat.
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.
20 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.”
But if you are defiant, and if you are rebellious, you'll be killed by the sword. This is what the Lord has declared!
21 “[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.
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.
22 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.
Your silver has become worthless waste; you wine has been watered down.
23 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.
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.
24 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.
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!
25 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.
I will turn against you. I will refine you in a furnace, removing all impurities.
26 [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.”'”
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.
27 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.
Zion will be rescued by justice, those who repent by doing right.
28 But rebels and sinners will be crushed by Yahweh, and those who forsake him will disappear.
But rebels and sinners will be destroyed together, and those who abandon the Lord will die.
29 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].
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.
30 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.
As a result you will become like an oak whose leaves have withered, a dried-out garden that has no water.
31 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.
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.
