Isaiah 1:2–20

The Wickedness of Judah

^2gHear, O heavens, and give ear, O ^hearth;

for the Lord has spoken:

“Children^{1 i}have I reared and brought up,

but they have rebelled against me.

³The ox ^jknows its owner,

and the donkey its master’s crib,

but Israel does ^jnot know,

my people do not understand.”

⁴Ah, sinful nation,

a people laden with iniquity,

^koffspring of evildoers,

children who deal corruptly!

They have forsaken the Lord,

they have ^ldespised ^mthe Holy One of Israel,

they are utterly ⁿestranged.

⁵Why will you still be ^ostruck down?

Why will you ^pcontinue to rebel?

The whole head is sick,

and the whole heart faint.

^6qFrom the sole of the foot even to the head,

there is no soundness in it,

but bruises and sores

and raw wounds;

they are ^rnot pressed out or bound up

or softened with oil.

^7sYour country lies desolate;

your cities are burned with fire;

in your very presence

foreigners devour your land;

it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.

⁸And ^tthe daughter of Zion is left

like a ^ubooth in a vineyard,

like a lodge in a cucumber field,

like a besieged city.

^9vIf the Lord of hosts

had not left us ^wa few survivors,

we should have been like ^xSodom,

and become like ^xGomorrah.

¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord,

you rulers of ^yzSodom!

Give ear to the teaching² of our God,

you people of ^zGomorrah!

^11a“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?

says the Lord;

I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams

and the fat of well-fed beasts;

I do not delight in the blood of bulls,

or of lambs, or of goats.

¹²“When you come to ^bappear before me,

who has required of you

this trampling of my courts?

¹³Bring no more vain offerings;

incense is an abomination to me.

^cNew moon and Sabbath and the ^dcalling of convocations—

I cannot endure ^einiquity and ^fsolemn assembly.

¹⁴Your ^cnew moons and your appointed feasts

my soul hates;

they have become a burden to me;

I am weary of bearing them.

¹⁵When you ^gspread out your hands,

I will hide my eyes from you;

^heven though you make many prayers,

I will not listen;

ⁱyour hands are full of blood.

^16jWash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;

^kcease to do evil,

¹⁷learn to do good;

^lseek justice,

correct oppression;

^mbring justice to the fatherless,

plead the widow’s cause.

¹⁸“Come now, ⁿlet us reason³ together, says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as ^owhite as snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.

^19pIf you are willing and obedient,

you shall eat the good of the land;

²⁰but if you refuse and rebel,

you shall be eaten by the sword;

^qfor the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”