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.

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 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.

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 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].”

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 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.

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 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.

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 [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].

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 [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 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 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.

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 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 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 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]!

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 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 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 you come to my temple to worship me, no one [RHQ] told you to trample on my courtyard while you perform all those rituals.

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

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].

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 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.

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 [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].

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 Cleanse your inner beings, and become [spiritually] clean! Stop your evil behavior! Stop doing things that are wrong!

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 [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].”

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 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 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 you are willing to obey [me], [I will enable] you to have plenty to eat.

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

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

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 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 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 is no longer true metal, your wine is mixed with water.

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 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 [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.

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 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.

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

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.”'”

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 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.

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

28 But rebels and sinners will be crushed by Yahweh, and those who forsake him will disappear.

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 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].

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

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.

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

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.