Isaiah 1:1–39:8
1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 Hear, heavens,
and listen, earth,
for Yahweh has spoken:
“I reared children
and I brought them up,
but they rebelled against me.
and a donkey the manger of its master.
Israel does not know;
my people do not understand.
a people heavy with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
children who deal corruptly.
They have forsaken Yahweh;
they have despised the holy one of Israel.
They are estranged and gone backward.
5 Why do you want to be beaten again?
You continue in rebellion.
The whole of the head is sick,
and the whole of the heart is faint.
6 From the sole of the foot and up to the head
there is no health in it;
bruise and sore and bleeding wound have not been cleansed,
and they have not been bound up
and not softened with the oil.
your cities are burned with fire;
As for your land, aliens are devouring it in your presence,
and it is desolate, like devastation by foreigners.
8 And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard,
like a shelter in a cucumber field,
like a city that is besieged.a
9 If Yahweh of hosts had not left us survivors,b
we would have been as few as Sodom,
we would have become like Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of Yahweh, rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the teaching of our God, people of Gomorrah!
11 What is the abundance of your sacrifices to me? says Yahweh.
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fattened animals
and I do not delight in the blood of bulls
and ram-lambs and goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who asked for this from your hand:
you trampling my courts?
13 You must not ⌊continue⌋c to bring offeringsd of futility,
incense—it is an abomination to me;
new moon and Sabbath, the calling of a convocation—
I cannot endure iniquity with solemn assembly.
14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates;
they have become to me like a burden,
I am not able to bear them.
15 And when you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,e
I will not be listening.
Your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash! Make yourselves clean!
Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes!
Cease to do evil! 17 Learn to do good!
Seek justice! Rescue the oppressed!
Defend the orphan! Plead for the widow!
18 “Come now, and let us argue,” says Yahweh.
“Even though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white like snow;
even though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
19 If you are willing and you are obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land.
20 But if you refuse and you rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword.
For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.”
21 How has a faithful city become like a whore?
Full of justice, righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.
22 Your silver has become as dross;
Your wine is diluted with waters.
and companions of thieves.
Every one loves a bribe
and runs after gifts.
They do not defend the orphan
and the legal dispute of the widow does not come before them.
24 Therefore, the declaration of the Lord Yahweh of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel:
“Ah, I will be relieved of my enemies,
and I will avenge myself on my foes.
25 And I will turn my hand against you;
I will purify your dross like lye,
and I will remove all of your tin.
26 And I will restore your judges, as at the first,
and your counselors, as at the beginning.
After this ⌊you will be called⌋f the city of righteousness,
faithful city.
27 Zion will be redeemed by justice,
and those of her who repent, by righteousness.
28 But the destruction of rebels and sinners shall be together,
and those who forsake Yahweh will perish.
29 For youg will be ashamed of the oaks in which you delighted,
and you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen.
30 For you shall be like an oak withering its leaves,
and like a garden where there is no water for her.
31 And the strong man shall become like tinder,
and his work like a spark.
And both of them shall burn together,
and there is not one to quench them.”
2 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2 And it shall happen in the future of the days
the mountain of the housea of Yahweh shall be established;
it will be among the highestb of the mountains,
and it shall be raised from the hills.
All of the nations shall travel to him;
And they shall say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh,
to the housec of the God of Jacob,
and may he teach us part of his ways,
and let us walk in his paths.”
For instruction shall go out from Zion,
and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations
and he shall arbitrate for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into ploughshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
A nation shall not lift up a sword against a nation,
and they shall not learn war again.
5 House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Yahweh.
6 For you have forsaken your people, house of Jacob,
because they are fulld from the east,
and of soothsayers like the Philistines,
and ⌊they make alliances⌋e with the offspring of foreigners.
7 And its land is filled with silver and gold,
and there is no end to its treasures;
and its land is filled with horses,
and there is no end to its chariots.
8 Its land is filled with idols;
they bow down to the work of theirf hands,
to what they made with theirg fingers.
everyone is humbled,
and you must not forgive them.
and hide yourself in the dust
from the presence of the terror of Yahweh
and from the glory of his majesty.
11 The ⌊haughty eyes⌋h of humanity willi be brought low,
and the pride of everyone will be humbled,
and Yahweh alone will be exalted on that day.
12 For there is a day for Yahweh of hosts
against all of the proud and the lofty
and against all that is lifted up and humble,j
13 and against all the lofty and lifted up cedars of Lebanon,
and against all the large trees of Bashan,
14 and against all the high mountains,
and against all the lofty hills,
15 and against every kind of high tower,
and against every kind of fortified wall,
16 and against all the ships of Tarshish,
and against all the ships of desire.
17 And the haughtiness of the people shall be humbled,
and the pride of everyone shall be brought low,
and Yahweh alone will be exalted on that day.
18 And the idols shall pass away entirely,
19 and they will enter into the caves of the rocks
and into the holes of the ground
from the presence of the terror of Yahweh
and from the glory of his majesty
⌊when he rises⌋k to terrify the earth.
20 On that day humanity will throw away its idols of silver
and its idols of gold,
which they made for it to worship,
to the rodentsl and to the bats—
21 to enter into the crevices of the rocks
and into the clefts of the crags
from the presence of the terror of Yahweh
and from the glory of his majesty,
⌊when he rises⌋m to terrify the earth.
who has breath in its nostrils,n
for byo what is it esteemed?
Leaders of Judah and Jerusalem
3 For look, the Lord Yahweh of hosts is removing ⌊every source of support⌋a
from Jerusalem and from Judah:
all of the supplies of bread
and all of the supplies of water,
2 mighty warrior and man of war,
judge and prophet,
and diviner and elder,
3 captain of fifty and the honorable men of rank,
and counselor and skillful magicians and skillful enchanter.
4 And I will make boys their princes,
and children shall rule over them.
5 And the people will be oppressed ⌊by each other⌋b
and a man by his neighbor.
The boy will act arrogantly toward the elder,
and the dishonorable toward the honorable.
6 Indeed, a man will seize his brother
in the house of his father:
“⌊You have a cloak⌋;c
you shall be a leader for us,
and this heap of ruins shall be under your hand!”
7 He will lift up his voice on that day, saying,
“I will not be a healer;
in my house there is no bread
and there is no cloak.
You shall not make me the leader of the people!”
and Judah has fallen
because their speech and their deeds are against Yahweh,
defying the eyes of his glory.
9 The look on their faces testifies against them
and they declare their sin like Sodom;
they do not hide it.
Woe to their soul!
For they have dealt out evil to themselves.
10 Tell the innocentd that it is good
for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
11 Woe to the wicked!e It is bad!
For what is done by his hands will be done to him.
12 My people—children are their oppressors,
and women rule over them.
My people, your leaders are misleading you,
and they confuse the course of your paths.
13 Yahweh takes his stand to conduct a legal case
and takes his stand to judge the peoples.
14 Yahweh enters into judgment with the elders of his people and its princes.
“And you! You have devoured the vineyard;
the spoil of the poor is in your houses!
15 ⌊Why⌋f do you crush my people
and grind the face of the poor?”
⌊declares⌋g the Lord Yahweh of hosts.
The Pride of Jerusalem’s Women
16 And Yahweh said: “Becauseh the daughters of Zion are haughty,
and they walk with outstretched neck,
and they give flirting glances with their eyes,
⌊mincing along as they go⌋,i
and ⌊with their feet they rattle their bangles⌋,j
17 the Lord will make the headsk of the daughters of Zion scabby,
and Yahweh will lay their foreheads bare.”
18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets
and the headbands and the crescent necklaces,
19 the pendants and the bracelets and the veils,
20 the headdresses and the armlets and the sashes,
and the ⌊perfume boxes⌋l and the amulets,
21 the signet rings and the nose rings,
22 the festal robes and the mantles,
and the cloaks and the