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
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Isaiah 1
1
I
1THE VISION OF ISAIAH THE SON OF AMOZ, WHICH HE SAW CONCERNING JUDAH AND JERUSALEM; IN THE DAYS OF UZZIAH, JOTHAM, AHAZ, HEZEEIAH, KINGS OF JUDAH.
2 Hear, O ye heavens; and give ear, O earth:
For Jehovah speaketh.
I have nourished and brought up children;
And they have rebelled against me.
3The ox knoweth his owner,
And the ass his master's crib:
But Israel doth not know;
My people doth not consider.
4Wo to the sinful nation, people laden with iniquity,
Seed of evil-doers, children that are corrupters:
They have forsaken Jehovah,
They have despised the Holy One of Israel;
They are gone away backward.
5Upon what part will ye be smitten any more, should you still revolt?
The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint:
6From the sole of the foot even unto the crown of the head, there is no soundness;
But wounds, and lashes, and fresh stripes:
They have not been pressed out, neither bound up,
Nor mollified with oil.
7Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire;
Your land, strangers devour it before your eyes;
It is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8And the daughter of Zion is left alone, as a shed in a vineyard;
As a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a city that is saved.
9Except Jehovah of hosts had left unto us the smallest remnant,
We had been as Sodom, we had become like unto Gomorrah.
10Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O ye princes of Sodom!
Give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah!
11Why to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah:
I am cloyed with the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts;
And in the blood of bullocks, and of lambs, and of he-goats, I have no delight.
12When ye come to appear before me,
Who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
13Bring no more insincere oblation,
Incense! it is an abomination unto me;
The new moon, the sabbath, and the proclaiming of an assembly,
I cannot endure: it is iniquity, even the solemn assembly.
14Your new moons, and your appointed festivals, my soul hateth:
They are a burden unto me; I am weary of bearing them.
15And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you;
Even when ye multiply prayer, I will not hear:
Your hands are full of blood.
16Wash ye, make ye clean;
Remove ye far away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes;
Cease to do evil:
17Learn to do good; seek after justice; correct the evil-doer;
Do justice to the orphan; plead for the widow.
18Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah:
Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow;
Though they be red as crimson, they shall be as wool.
19If ye be willing and obedient,
Ye shall eat the good of the land;
20But if ye refuse and rebel,
Ye shall be devoured with the sword:
For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.
21How is the faithful city become an harlot!
She that was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in her;
But now murderers!
22Thy silver is become dross;
Thy wine mixed with water.
23Thy princes are rebellious, and associates of robbers;
Every one of them loveth a bribe, and hunteth after rewards:
For the orphan they procure no justice;
And the cause of the widow cometh not before them.
24Wherefore saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the mighty One of Israel:
Ah! I will ease me of mine adversaries,
And avenge me of mine enemies.
25And I will direct mine hand against thee,
And entirely melt out thy dross,
And remove all thy tin:
26And I will restore thy judges, as at the first;
And thy counsellors, as at the beginning: Afterward thou shalt be called,
The town of righteousness, the faithful city.
27Zion shall be redeemed with judgment,
And those that return unto her, with righteousness.
28But the destruction of revolters and of sinners shall be together;
And they that forsake Jehovah shall perish.
29Then shall men be ashamed of the grove of teberinths, which are your delight;
And ye shall blush for the gardens, which ye have loved:
30For ye shall be as the teberinth, whose leaves are withered;
And as a garden, wherein there is no water.
31The powerful shall become as tow,
And his work as a spark of fire;
And they shall burn both of them together; and none shall quench them.
Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.