Isaiæ 1
1 Visio Isaiæ, filii Amos, quam vidit super Judam et Jerusalem, in diebus Oziæ, Joathan, Achaz, et Ezechiæ, regum Juda.
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 Audite, cæli, et auribus percipe, terra, quoniam Dominus locutus est. Filios enutrivi, et exaltavi; ipsi autem spreverunt 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 Cognovit bos possessorem suum, et asinus præsepe domini sui; Israël autem me non cognovit, et populus meus non intellexit.
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 Væ genti peccatrici, populo gravi iniquitate, semini nequam, filiis sceleratis! dereliquerunt Dominum; blasphemaverunt Sanctum Israël; abalienati sunt retrorsum.
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 Super quo percutiam vos ultra, addentes prævaricationem? omne caput languidum, et omne cor mœrens.
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 A planta pedis usque ad verticem, non est in eo sanitas; vulnus, et livor, et plaga tumens, non est circumligata, nec curata medicamine, neque fota oleo.
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 Terra vestra deserta; civitates vestræ succensæ igni: regionem vestram coram vobis alieni devorant, et desolabitur sicut in vastitate hostili.
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 Et derelinquetur filia Sion ut umbraculum in vinea, et sicut tugurium in cucumerario, et sicut civitas quæ vastatur.
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 Nisi Dominus exercituum reliquisset nobis semen, quasi Sodoma fuissemus, et quasi Gomorrha similes essemus.
If the Lord Almighty hadn't let a few of us survive, we would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah.
10 Audite verbum Domini, principes Sodomorum; percipite auribus legem Dei nostri, populus Gomorrhæ.
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 Quo mihi multitudinem victimarum vestrarum? dicit Dominus. Plenus sum: holocausta arietum, et adipem pinguium, et sanguinem vitulorum et agnorum et hircorum, nolui.
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 Cum veniretis ante conspectum meum, quis quæsivit hæc de manibus vestris, ut ambularetis in atriis meis?
When you come to appear before me in worship, who asked you to proudly tramp around my courts?
13 Ne offeratis ultra sacrificium frustra: incensum abominatio est mihi. Neomeniam et sabbatum, et festivitates alias, non feram; iniqui sunt cœtus vestri.
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 Calendas vestras, et solemnitates vestras odivit anima mea: facta sunt mihi molesta; laboravi sustinens.
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 Et cum extenderitis manus vestras, avertam oculos meos a vobis, et cum multiplicaveritis orationem, non exaudiam: manus enim vestræ sanguine plenæ sunt.
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 Lavamini, mundi estote; auferte malum cogitationum vestrarum ab oculis meis: quiescite agere perverse,
Wash yourselves and clean yourselves up. Get rid of your sins—I don't want to see them! Stop doing evil!
17 discite benefacere; quærite judicium, subvenite oppresso, judicate pupillo, defendite viduam.
Learn to do good; strive for justice, condemn those who oppress others; support the rights of orphans, take up cases to defend widows.
18 Et venite, et arguite me, dicit Dominus. Si fuerint peccata vestra ut coccinum, quasi nix dealbabuntur; et si fuerint rubra quasi vermiculus, velut lana alba erunt.
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 Si volueritis, et audieritis me, bona terræ comeditis.
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 Quod si nolueritis, et me ad iracundiam provocaveritis, gladius devorabit vos, quia os Domini locutum est.
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 Quomodo facta est meretrix civitas fidelis, plena judicii? justitia habitavit in ea, nunc autem homicidæ.
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 Argentum tuum versum est in scoriam; vinum tuum mistum est aqua.
Your silver has become worthless waste; you wine has been watered down.
23 Principes tui infideles, socii furum. Omnes diligunt munera, sequuntur retributiones. Pupillo non judicant, et causa viduæ non ingreditur ad illos.
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 Propter hoc ait Dominus, Deus exercituum, Fortis Israël: Heu! consolabor super hostibus meis, et vindicabor de inimicis meis.
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 Et convertam manum meam ad te, et excoquam ad puram scoriam tuam, et auferam omne stannum tuum.
I will turn against you. I will refine you in a furnace, removing all impurities.
26 Et restituam judices tuos ut fuerunt prius, et consiliarios tuos sicut antiquitus; post hæc vocaberis civitas justi, urbs fidelis.
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 Sion in judicio redimetur, et reducent eam in justitia.
Zion will be rescued by justice, those who repent by doing right.
28 Et conteret scelestos, et peccatores simul; et qui dereliquerunt Dominum consumentur.
But rebels and sinners will be destroyed together, and those who abandon the Lord will die.
29 Confundentur enim ab idolis quibus sacrificaverunt, et erubescetis super hortis quos elegeratis,
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 cum fueritis velut quercus defluentibus foliis, et velut hortus absque aqua.
As a result you will become like an oak whose leaves have withered, a dried-out garden that has no water.
31 Et erit fortitudo vestra ut favilla stuppæ, et opus vestrum quasi scintilla, et succendetur utrumque simul, et non erit qui extinguat.
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.
