Isaiah 1–5

1The vision^a concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah^b son of Amoz saw during the reigns^A of Kings Uzziah,^c Jotham,^d Ahaz,^e and Hezekiah^f of Judah.^g

JUDAH ON TRIAL

²Listen, heavens, and pay attention, earth,^h

for the Lord has spoken:

“I have raised children and brought them up,

but they have rebelled against me.ⁱ

³The ox knows its owner,

and the donkey its master’s feeding trough,

but Israel does not know;

my people do not understand.”^j

⁴Oh sinful nation,

people weighed down with iniquity,^k

brood of evildoers,^l

depraved children!

They have abandoned^m the Lord;

they have despisedⁿ the Holy One of Israel;^o

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,^p

no spot is uninjured^q—

wounds, welts, and festering sores

not cleansed, bandaged,

or soothed with oil.

⁷Your land is desolate,

your cities burned down;^r

foreigners devour your fields

right in front of you—

a desolation, like a place demolished by foreigners.

⁸Daughter Zion^s is abandoned

like a shelter in a vineyard,

like a shack in a cucumber field,

like a besieged city.

⁹If the Lord of Armies^t

had not left us a few survivors,^u

we would be like Sodom,

we would resemble Gomorrah.^v

¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord,^w

you rulers of Sodom!

Listen to the instruction of our God,

you people of Gomorrah!^x

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.^y

¹²When you come to appear before me,

who requires this from you—

this trampling of my courts?

¹³Stop bringing useless offerings.^z

Your incense is detestable to me.

New Moons and Sabbaths,^aa

and the calling of solemn assemblies^ab—

I cannot stand iniquity^ac 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,^ad

I will refuse to look at you;

even if you offer countless prayers,

I will not listen.^ae

Your hands are covered with blood.^af

PURIFICATION OF JERUSALEM

¹⁶“Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves.^ag

Remove your evil deeds from my sight.

Stop doing evil.^ah

¹⁷Learn to do what is good.

Pursue justice.^ai

Correct the oppressor.^A

Defend the rights of the fatherless.

Plead the widow’s cause.

¹⁸“Come, let’s settle this,”^a

says the Lord.

“Though your sins are scarlet,

they will be as white as snow;^b

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.^c

²⁰But if you refuse and rebel,

you will be devoured by the sword.”^d

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.^e

²¹The faithful town—

what an adulteress^B 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^C is diluted with water.

²³Your rulers are rebels,

friends of thieves.^f

They all love graft

and chase after bribes.^g

They do not defend the rights of the fatherless,

and the widow’s case never comes before them.^h

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.ⁱ

²⁵I will turn my hand against you^j

and will burn away your dross completely;^D

I will remove all your impurities.^k

²⁶I will restore your judges^l to what they were at first,

and your advisers to what they were at the start.

Afterward you will be called the Righteous City,^m

a Faithful Town.”

²⁷Zion will be redeemed by justice,

those who repent, by righteousness.ⁿ

²⁸At the same time both rebels and sinners will be broken,

and those who abandon the Lord will perish.

²⁹Indeed, they^A will be ashamed of the sacred trees

you desired,^o

and you will be embarrassed because of the garden shrines

you have chosen.^p

³⁰For you will become like an oak

whose leaves are withered,

and like a garden without water.^q

³¹The strong one will become tinder,

and his work a spark;

both will burn together,^r

with no one to extinguish the flames.^s

THE CITY OF PEACE

2The vision that Isaiah^t son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

²In^u the last days^v

the mountain of the Lord’s house^w will be established

at the top of the mountains

and will be raised above the hills.

All nations will stream to it,^x

³and many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob.^y

He will teach us about his ways

so that we may walk in his paths.”

For instruction will go out of Zion

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

⁴He will settle disputes among the nations

and provide arbitration for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plows

and their spears into pruning knives.^z

Nation will not take up the sword against nation,

and they will never again train for war.^aa

THE DAY OF THE LORD

⁵House of Jacob,

come and let’s walk in the Lord’s light.^ab

⁶For you have abandoned^ac your people,

the house of Jacob,

because they are full of divination from the East

and of fortune-tellers^a like the Philistines.^b

They are in league^B with foreigners.

⁷Their^CD land is full of silver and gold,

and there is no limit to their treasures;

their land is full of horses,

and there is no limit to their chariots.^c

⁸Their land is full of worthless idols;^d

they worship the work of their hands,

what their fingers have made.^e

⁹So humanity is brought low,

and each person is humbled.

Do not forgive them!^f

¹⁰Go into the rocks^g

and hide in the dust

from the terror of the Lord^h

and from his majestic splendor.ⁱ

¹¹The pride of mankind^A will be humbled,^j

and human loftiness will be brought low;

the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.

¹²For a day belonging to the Lord of Armies is coming

against all that is proud and lofty,^k

against all that is lifted up—it will be humbled—

¹³against all the cedars of Lebanon,^l

lofty and lifted up,

against all the oaks of Bashan,^m

¹⁴against all the high mountains,ⁿ

against all the lofty hills,

¹⁵against every high tower,^o

against every fortified wall,

¹⁶against every ship of Tarshish,^p

and against every splendid sea vessel.

¹⁷The pride of mankind will be brought low,

and human loftiness will be humbled;

the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.^q

¹⁸The worthless idols will vanish completely.

¹⁹People will go into caves in the rocks^r

and holes in the ground,

away from the terror of the Lord

and from his majestic splendor,

when he rises to terrify the earth.^s

²⁰On that day people will throw

their worthless idols of silver and gold,^t

which they made to worship,

to the moles and the bats.

²¹They will go into the caves of the rocks

and the crevices in the cliffs,

away from the terror of the Lord

and from his majestic splendor,^u

when he rises to terrify the earth.

²²Put no more trust in a mere human,

who has only the breath in his nostrils.^v

What is he really worth?

JUDAH’S LEADERS JUDGED

3Note this: The Lord God of Armies

is about to remove from Jerusalem and from Judah

every kind of security:

the entire supply of bread and water,

²heroes and warriors,^w

judges and prophets,

fortune-tellers and elders,

³commanders of fifty and dignitaries,

counselors, cunning magicians,^A and necromancers.^B

⁴“I will make youths their leaders,^x

and unstable rulers^C will govern them.”

⁵The people will oppress one another,^y

man against man, neighbor against neighbor;

the young will act arrogantly toward the old,

and the worthless toward the honorable.

⁶A man will even seize his brother

in his father’s house, saying,

“You have a cloak—you be our leader!

This heap of rubble will be under your control.”

⁷On that day he will cry out, saying,

“I’m not a healer.

I don’t even have food or clothing in my house.

Don’t make me the leader of the people!”

⁸For Jerusalem has stumbled

and Judah has fallen

because they have spoken and acted against the Lord,^z

defying his glorious presence.^a

⁹The look on their faces testifies against them,

and like Sodom,^b they flaunt their sin;

they do not conceal it.

Woe to them,

for they have brought disaster on themselves.^c

¹⁰Tell the righteous that it will go well for them,

for they will eat the fruit of their labor.

¹¹Woe to the wicked—it will go badly for them,

for what they have done will be done to them.

¹²Youths oppress my people,^d

and women rule over them.

My people, your leaders mislead you;

they confuse the direction of your paths.^e

¹³The Lord rises to argue the case

and stands to judge the people.^f

¹⁴The Lord brings this charge

against the elders and leaders of his people:^g

“You have devastated the vineyard.

The plunder from the poor is in your houses.^h

¹⁵Why do you crush my people

and grind the faces of the poor?”

This is the declaration

of the Lord God of Armies.

JERUSALEM’S WOMEN JUDGED

¹⁶The Lord also says:

Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,ⁱ

walking with heads held high

and seductive eyes,

prancing along,

jingling their ankle bracelets,

¹⁷the Lord will put scabs on the heads

of the daughters of Zion,

and the Lord will shave their foreheads bare.

¹⁸On that day^j the Lord will strip their finery: ankle bracelets, headbands, crescents,^{k 19}pendants, bracelets, veils, ²⁰headdresses, ankle jewelry, sashes, perfume bottles, amulets,^{l 21}signet rings, nose rings,^{m 22}festive robes, capes, cloaks, purses, ²³garments, linen clothes, turbans, and shawls.

²⁴Instead of perfume there will be a stench;

instead of a belt, a rope;

instead of beautifully styled hair,ⁿ baldness;^o

instead of fine clothes, sackcloth;^p

instead of beauty, branding.^A

²⁵Your men will fall by the sword,

your warriors in battle.

²⁶Then her gates^q will lament and mourn;

deserted, she will sit on the ground.^r

4On that day seven women

will seize one man,^s saying,

“We will eat our own bread

and provide our own clothing.

Just let us bear your name.

Take away our disgrace.”^t

ZION’S FUTURE GLORY

^2…