Isaiah 1
1
1Here is the vision about Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah saw. It came to him when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah were ruling. They were kings of Judah. Isaiah was the son of Amoz.
The Nation Refuses to Obey the Lord
2Listen to me, you heavens! Pay attention to me, earth!
The Lord has said,
“I raised children. I brought them up.
But they have refused to obey me.
3The ox knows its master.
The donkey knows where its owner feeds it.
But Israel does not know me.
My people do not understand me.”
4How terrible it will be for this sinful nation!
They are loaded down with guilt.
They are people who do nothing but evil.
They are children who are always sinning.
They have deserted the Lord.
They have turned against the Holy One of Israel.
They have turned their backs on him.
5Israel, why do you want to be beaten all the time?
Why do you always refuse to obey the Lord?
Your head is covered with wounds.
Your whole heart is weak.
6There isn’t a healthy spot on your body.
You are not healthy from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head.
You have nothing but wounds, cuts
and open sores.
They haven’t been cleaned up or bandaged
or treated with olive oil.
7Your country has been deserted.
Your cities have been burned down.
The food from your fields is being eaten up by outsiders.
They are doing it right in front of you.
Your land has been completely destroyed.
It looks as if strangers have taken it over.
8The city of Zion is left like a shed
where someone stands guard in a vineyard.
It is left like a hut in a cucumber field.
It’s like a city being attacked.
9The Lord who rules over all
has let some people live through that time of trouble.
If he hadn’t, we would have become like Sodom.
We would have been like Gomorrah.
10Rulers of Sodom,
hear the Lord’s message.
People of Gomorrah,
listen to the instruction of our God.
11“Do you think I need any more of your sacrifices?”
asks the Lord.
“I have more than enough of your burnt offerings.
I have more than enough of rams
and the fat of your fattest animals.
I do not find any pleasure
in the blood of your bulls, lambs and goats.
12Who asked you to bring all these animals
when you come to worship me?
Who asked you and your animals
to walk all over my courtyards?
13Stop bringing offerings that do not mean anything to me!
I hate your incense.
I can’t stand your worthless gatherings.
I can’t stand the way you celebrate your New Moon feasts,
Sabbath days and special services.
14Your New Moon feasts and your other appointed feasts
I hate with my whole being.
They have become a heavy load to me.
I am tired of carrying it.
15You might spread out your hands toward me when you pray.
But I do not look at you.
You might even offer many prayers.
But I am not listening to them.
Your hands are covered with the blood of the people you have murdered.
16So wash and make yourselves clean.
Get your evil actions out of my sight!
Stop doing what is wrong!
17Learn to do what is right!
Treat people fairly.
Help those who are treated badly.
Stand up in court for children whose fathers have died.
And do the same thing for widows.
18“Come. Let us settle this matter,”
says the Lord.
“Even though your sins are bright red,
they will be as white as snow.
Even though they are deep red,
they will be white like wool.
19But you have to be willing to change and obey me.
If you are, you will eat the good things that grow on the land.
20But if you are not willing to obey me,
you will be killed by swords.”
The Lord has spoken.
21See how the faithful city of Jerusalem
has become like a prostitute!
Once it was full of people who treated others fairly.
Those who did what was right used to live in it.
But now murderers live there!
22Jerusalem, your silver isn’t pure anymore.
Your best wine has been made weak with water.
23Your rulers refuse to obey the Lord.
They join forces with robbers.
All of them love to accept money from those who want special favors.
They are always looking for gifts from other people.
They don’t stand up in court for children whose fathers have died.
They don’t do it for widows either.
24The Lord is the Mighty One of Israel.
The Lord who rules over all announces,
“Israel, you have become my enemies.
I will act against you in my anger.
I will pay you back for what you have done.
25I will turn my power against you.
I will make you completely ‘clean.’
I will remove everything that is not pure.
26I will give you leaders like the ones you had long ago.
I will give you rulers like those you had at the beginning.
Then you will be called
the City That Does What Is Right.
You will also be called the Faithful City.”
27Zion will be saved when justice is done.
Those who are sorry for their sins will be saved
when what is right is done.
28But sinners and those who refuse to obey the Lord will be destroyed.
And those who desert the Lord will die.
29“Israel, you take delight in worshiping among the sacred oak trees.
You will be full of shame for doing that.
You have chosen to worship in the sacred gardens.
You will be dishonored for doing that.
30You will be like an oak tree whose leaves are dying.
You will be like a garden that doesn’t have any water.
31Your strongest men will become like dry pieces of wood.
Their worship of other gods will be the spark that lights the fire.
Everything will be burned up.
No one will be there to put the fire out.”
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Isaiah 1: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Isaiah 1
1
1The vision#Pr 29:18; Dn 8:1; Ob 1; Nah 1:1; Hab 2:2–3 concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah#Is 2:1; 13:1 son of Amoz saw during the reigns#1:1 ca 792–686 BC of Kings Uzziah,#2Ch 26:3–5 Jotham,#2Kg 15:32–38 Ahaz,#2Kg 16:1–4 and Hezekiah#2Kg 18:1–8 of Judah.#Hs 1:1; Mc 1:1
Judah on Trial
2Listen, heavens, and pay attention, earth,#Dt 4:26; 32:1; Is 30:1; Mc 1:2
for the Lord has spoken:
“I have raised children#1:2 Or sons, also in v. 4 and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.#Is 30:1
3The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s feeding trough,
but Israel does not know;
my people do not understand.”#Jr 8:7
4Oh sinful nation,
people weighed down with iniquity,#Is 13:11
brood of evildoers,#Is 14:20; Mt 3:7
depraved children!
They have abandoned#Dt 4:31 the Lord;
they have despised#Nm 14:11; Dt 31:20; Pr 5:12; Is 5:24 the Holy One of Israel;#Is 5:19,24; 10:20; 12:6; 29:19; 30:11–15
they have turned their backs on him.
5Why do you want more beatings?
Why do you keep on rebelling?
The whole head is hurt,
and the whole heart is sick.
6From the sole of the foot even to the head,#Jb 2:7
no spot is uninjured#Ps 38:3 —
wounds, welts, and festering sores
not cleansed, bandaged,
or soothed with oil.
7Your land is desolate,
your cities burned down;#Lv 26:33; Dt 28:51–52; Is 6:11–12; Jr 44:6
foreigners devour your fields
right in front of you —
a desolation, like a place demolished by foreigners.
8Daughter Zion#Is 10:32; 37:22; Zch 2:10; 9:9 is abandoned
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a shack in a cucumber field,
like a besieged city.
9If the Lord of Armies#1Sm 17:45
had not left us a few survivors,#Is 10:21–22
we would be like Sodom,
we would resemble Gomorrah.#Gn 19:24–25; Is 3:9; 13:19; Rm 9:29
10Hear the word of the Lord,#Is 28:14
you rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the instruction of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!#Is 3:9; Ezk 16:46–49,55; Rv 11:8
11“What are all your sacrifices to me?”
asks the Lord.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams
and the fat of well-fed cattle;
I have no desire for the blood of bulls,
lambs, or male goats.#1Sm 15:22; Jr 6:20; Hs 6:6; Am 5:21–24; Mt 23:23; Mk 12:33
12When you come to appear before me,
who requires this from you —
this trampling of my courts?
13Stop bringing useless offerings.#Mal 1:10
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons and Sabbaths,#Nm 28:11; 1Ch 23:31
and the calling of solemn assemblies#Ex 12:16; Lv 23:36 —
I cannot stand iniquity#Is 13:11 with a festival.
14I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals.
They have become a burden to me;
I am tired of putting up with them.
15When you spread out your hands in prayer,#1Kg 8:22
I will refuse to look at you;
even if you offer countless prayers,
I will not listen.#Is 59:2; Jr 7:16; Ezk 8:18; Am 5:23; Hab 1:2; Zch 7:13
Your hands are covered with blood.#Pr 1:28; Is 59:1–3; Mc 3:4
Purification of Jerusalem
16“Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves.#Ps 26:6; Is 4:4; 52:11
Remove your evil deeds from my sight.
Stop doing evil.#Jr 25:5
17Learn to do what is good.
Pursue justice.#Dt 16:20; 1Kg 3:11; Ps 89:14; Is 10:2; 11:4; Am 5:15; Zch 7:9
Correct the oppressor.#1:17 Or Aid the oppressed
Defend the rights of the fatherless.
Plead the widow’s cause.
18“Come, let’s settle this,”#Is 41:1,21; 43:26; Mc 6:2
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are scarlet,
they will be as white as snow;#Ps 51:7; Is 43:25; 44:22; Rv 7:14
though they are crimson red,
they will be like wool.
19If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good things of the land.#Dt 30:15–20
20But if you refuse and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”#Jr 12:12
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.#Is 24:3; 40:5; 58:14; Mc 4:4
21The faithful town —
what an adulteress#1:21 Or prostitute she has become!
She was once full of justice.
Righteousness once dwelt in her,
but now, murderers!
22Your silver has become dross to be discarded,
your beer#1:22 Or wine is diluted with water.
23Your rulers are rebels,
friends of thieves.#Hs 5:10
They all love graft
and chase after bribes.#Ex 23:8; Mc 7:2–6
They do not defend the rights of the fatherless,
and the widow’s case never comes before them.#Ex 22:22; Dt 24:17; Is 10:2; Jr 5:28; Ezk 22:7; Zch 7:10
24Therefore the Lord God of Armies,
the Mighty One of Israel, declares:
“Ah, I will get even with my foes;
I will take revenge against my enemies.#Is 35:4; 59:18; Jr 46:10
25I will turn my hand against you#Ps 81:14; Is 5:25; Am 1:8
and will burn away your dross completely;#1:25 Lit dross as with lye
I will remove all your impurities.#Ezk 22:20; Mal 3:3
26I will restore your judges#Is 60:17; Mt 19:28 to what they were at first,
and your advisers to what they were at the start.
Afterward you will be called the Righteous City,#Is 33:5; 60:14; 62:1–2; Zch 8:3
a Faithful Town.”
27Zion will be redeemed by justice,
those who repent, by righteousness.#Rm 3:26
28At the same time both rebels and sinners will be broken,
and those who abandon the Lord will perish.
29Indeed, they#1:29 Some Hb mss; other Hb mss, Tg read you will be ashamed of the sacred trees
you desired,#Is 2:8; 57:5; Hs 4:13
and you will be embarrassed because of the garden shrines
you have chosen.#Is 65:3; 66:17
30For you will become like an oak
whose leaves are withered,
and like a garden without water.#Ps 1:3; Is 64:6
31The strong one will become tinder,
and his work a spark;
both will burn together,#Is 5:24; 9:19; 26:11; 33:11–14
with no one to extinguish the flames.#Is 66:24; Mt 3:12; Mk 9:43
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