Isaiah 1–5

1ST CHAPTER

¹This is the vision which Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw about Judah and Jerusalem at the time of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. 

The Lord Accuses Israel of Sin

²Listen, heaven, and pay attention, earth! 

The Lord has spoken, 

“I raised ⸤my⸥ children and helped them grow, 

but they have rebelled against me. 

³Oxen know their owners, 

and donkeys know where their masters feed them. 

But Israel doesn’t know ⸤its owner⸥. 

My people don’t understand ⸤who feeds them⸥. 

⁴“How horrible it will be for a nation that sins. 

⸤Its⸥ people are loaded down with guilt. 

They are descendants of evildoers 

and destructive children. 

They have abandoned the Lord. 

They have despised the Holy One of Israel. 

They have turned their backs on him. 

⁵“Why do you still want to be beaten? 

Why do you continue to rebel? 

Your whole head is infected. 

Your whole heart is failing. 

⁶From the bottom of your feet to the top of your head 

there is no healthy spot left on your ⸤body⸥— 

only bruises, sores, and fresh wounds. 

They haven’t been cleansed, bandaged, 

or soothed with oil. 

⁷“Your country is devastated. 

Your cities are burned down. 

Your fields are destroyed right before your eyes by foreigners. 

Your fields are devastated and taken over by foreigners. 

⁸My people Zion are left like a hut in a vineyard, 

like a shack in a cucumber field, 

like a city under attack.” 

⁹If the Lord of Armies hadn’t left us a few survivors, 

we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah. 

Israel’s Corrupt Religion

¹⁰Listen to the Lord’s word, you rulers of Sodom! 

Pay attention to the teachings from our God, you people of Gomorrah! 

¹¹The Lord asks, “What do your many animal sacrifices mean to me? 

I’ve had enough of your burnt offerings of rams 

and enough fat from your fattened calves. 

I’m not pleased with the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats. 

¹²When you appear in my presence, 

who asked you to trample on my courtyards? 

¹³Don’t bring any more worthless grain offerings. 

Your incense is disgusting to me, 

so are your New Moon Festivals, your days of rest—a holy days, 

and the assemblies you call. 

I can’t stand your evil assemblies. 

¹⁴I hate your New Moon Festivals and your appointed festivals. 

They’ve become a burden to me, 

and I’m tired of putting up with them. 

¹⁵So when you stretch out your hands ⸤in prayer⸥, 

I will turn my eyes away from you. 

Even though you offer many prayers, 

I will not listen because your hands are covered with blood. 

The Lord Invites Israel to Turn Away from Sin

¹⁶“Wash yourselves! Become clean! 

Get your evil deeds out of my sight. 

Stop doing evil. 

¹⁷Learn to do good. 

Seek justice. 

Arrest oppressors. 

Defend orphans. 

Plead the case of widows.” 

¹⁸“Come on now, let’s discuss this!” says the Lord. 

“Though your sins are bright red, 

they will become as white as snow. 

Though they are dark red, 

they will become as white as wool. 

¹⁹If you are willing and obedient, 

you will eat the best from the land. 

²⁰But if you refuse and rebel, 

you will be destroyed by swords.” 

The Lord has spoken. 

Jerusalem’s Future

²¹How the faithful town has become a prostitute! 

She was full of justice, 

and righteousness lived in her. 

But now murderers live there! 

²²Your silver is not pure. 

Your wine is watered down. 

²³Your rulers are rebels, friends with thieves. 

They all love bribes and run after gifts. 

They never defend orphans. 

They don’t notice the widows’ pleas. 

²⁴That’s why the Lord, the Lord of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says, 

“How horrible it will be when I take revenge on my opponents! 

I will avenge myself against my enemies. 

²⁵I will turn my power against you. 

I will remove your impurities with bleach. 

I will get rid of all your impurities. 

²⁶I will give you judges like you had long ago, 

advisers like you had in the beginning. 

After that you will be called the Righteous City, 

the Faithful Town.” 

²⁷Zion will be pardoned by ⸤the Lord’s⸥ justice, 

and those who return will be pardoned 

by ⸤the Lord’s⸥ righteousness. 

²⁸Rebels and sinners will be crushed at the same time, 

and those who abandon the Lord will come to an end. 

²⁹You will be ashamed of the oaks that you wanted to worship 

and embarrassed by the garden that you have chosen for your gods. 

³⁰You will be like an oak whose leaves wither 

and like a garden without water. 

³¹Strong people will become tinder for a fire, 

and their work will be the spark. 

Both of them will burn together, 

and there will be no one to put out the fire. 

2ND CHAPTER

The Lord Will Teach the Nations—Micah 4:1–3

¹This is the message which Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw about Judah and Jerusalem. 

²In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house 

will be established as the highest of the mountains 

and raised above the hills. 

All the nations will stream to it. 

³Then many people will come and say, 

“Let’s go to the mountain of the Lord, 

to the house of the God of Jacob. 

He will teach us his ways so that we may live by them.” 

The teachings will go out from Zion. 

The Lord’s word will go out from Jerusalem. 

⁴Then he will judge disputes between nations 

and settle arguments between many people. 

They will hammer their swords into plowblades 

and their spears into pruning shears. 

Nations will never fight against each other, 

and they will never train for war again. 

⁵Come, descendants of Jacob, 

let’s live in the light of the Lord. 

Israel’s Sins

⁶Lord, you have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob, 

because they are filled with Eastern influences. 

They are fortunetellers like the Philistines, 

and they make deals with foreigners. 

⁷Their land is filled with silver and gold, 

and there is no end to their treasures. 

Their land is filled with horses, 

and there is no end to their chariots. 

⁸Their land is filled with idols, 

and they worship what their hands have shaped 

and what their fingers have molded. 

⁹People will be brought down. Everyone will be humbled. 

Do not forgive them. 

¹⁰Go in among the rocks and hide underground 

because of the Lord’s terrifying presence 

and the honor of his majesty. 

¹¹The eyes of arrogant people will be humbled. 

High and mighty people will be brought down. 

On that day the Lord alone will be honored. 

The Day of the Lord’s Judgment

¹²The Lord of Armies will have his day 

against all who are arrogant and conceited 

and all who are proud of themselves (they will be humbled), 

¹³against all the towering and mighty cedars of Lebanon 

and all the oaks of Bashan, 

¹⁴against all the high mountains 

and all the lofty hills, 

¹⁵against every high tower 

and every fortified wall, 

¹⁶against all the large ships of Tarshish 

and all the beautiful boats. 

¹⁷Then arrogant people will be brought down, 

and high and mighty people will be humbled. 

On that day the Lord alone will be honored. 

¹⁸Then idols will disappear completely. 

¹⁹People will go into caves in the rocks 

and into holes in the ground 

because of the Lord’s terrifying presence 

and the honor of his majesty 

when he rises to terrify the earth. 

²⁰On that day people will throw to the moles and the bats 

the silver and gold idols that they made 

for themselves to worship. 

²¹They will go into caves in the rocks 

and into cracks in the cliffs 

because of the Lord’s terrifying presence 

and the honor of his majesty 

when he rises to terrify the earth. 

²²Stop trusting people. 

Their life is in their nostrils. 

How can they be worth anything? 

3RD CHAPTER

The Lord’s Judgment on Sinners in Zion

¹See now, the Lord, the Lord of Armies, 

is going to take from Jerusalem and Judah 

every kind of support 

and their entire supply of food and water. 

²⸤He will take their⸥ heroes and soldiers, 

judges and prophets, 

fortunetellers and statesmen, 

³military leaders and civilian leaders, 

counselors, skilled workers, and experts in magic. 

⁴“I will make boys their leaders. 

Children will govern them.” 

⁵People will oppress each other, 

and everyone will oppress his neighbor. 

The young will make fun of the old, 

and common people will make fun of their superiors. 

⁶A person will grab one of his relatives 

from his father’s family and say, 

“You have a coat. 

You’ll be our leader. 

This pile of ruins will be under your control.” 

⁷When that day comes the relative will cry out, 

“I’m not a doctor! 

I don’t have any food or a coat in my home. 

Don’t make me a leader of our family.” 

⁸Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, 

because what they say and what they do is against the Lord. 

They are defiant in his honored presence. 

⁹The look on their faces will be held against them. 

They boast about their sins, 

which are like ⸤those of the people of⸥ Sodom. 

They don’t even bother to hide them. 

How horrible it will be for these people, 

because they have brought disaster on themselves. 

¹⁰Tell the righteous that blessings will come to them. 

They will taste the fruit of their labor. 

¹¹How horrible it will be for the wicked! Disaster will strike them. 

What they have done will be done to them. 

¹²“Children will oppress my people. 

Women will rule them. 

My people, your guides mislead you, 

and you don’t know which way to go.” 

¹³The Lord takes his place in the courtroom. 

He stands to judge his people. 

¹⁴The Lord presents his case to the respected leaders 

and the officials of his people: 

“You have burned down the vineyard! 

Your houses are filled with goods stolen from the poor.” 

¹⁵The Almighty Lord of Armies asks, 

“How can you crush my people 

and grind the faces of the poor ⸤into the ground⸥?” 

¹⁶The Lord adds, 

“The women of Zion are arrogant. 

They walk with their noses in the air, 

making seductive glances, 

taking short little steps, 

jingling the ankle bracelets on their feet.” 

¹⁷The Lord will cause sores ⸤to appear⸥ 

on the heads of the women of Zion, 

and the Lord will make their foreheads bare. 

¹⁸On that day the Lord will take away their fine things: jingling anklets, headbands, crescent-shaped necklaces, ¹⁹pendants, bracelets, scarfs, ²⁰hats, ankle bracelets, blouses, perfume boxes, charms, ²¹signet rings, nose rings, ²²fine robes, coats, shawls, purses, ²³mirrors, underwear, headdresses, and veils. 

²⁴Instead of…