Isaiah 1–5

1The ^avision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the ^bdays of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

The Wickedness of Judah

^2cHear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!

For the Lord has spoken:

“I have nourished and brought up children,

And they have rebelled against Me;

^3dThe ox knows its owner

And the donkey its master’s ¹crib;

But Israel ^edoes not know,

My people do not ²consider.”

⁴Alas, sinful nation,

A people ³laden with iniquity,

^fA ⁴brood of evildoers,

Children who are corrupters!

They have forsaken the Lord,

They have provoked to anger

The Holy One of Israel,

They have turned away backward.

^5gWhy should you be stricken again?

You will revolt more and more.

The whole head is sick,

And the whole heart faints.

⁶From the sole of the foot even to the head,

There is no soundness in it,

But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;

They have not been closed or bound up,

Or soothed with ointment.

^7hYour country is desolate,

Your cities are burned with fire;

Strangers devour your land in your presence;

And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

⁸So the daughter of Zion is left ⁱas a ⁵booth in a vineyard,

As a hut in a garden of cucumbers,

^jAs a besieged city.

^9kUnless the Lord of hosts

Had left to us a very small remnant,

We would have become like ^lSodom,

We would have been made like Gomorrah.

¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord,

You rulers ^mof Sodom;

Give ear to the law of our God,

You people of Gomorrah:

¹¹“To what purpose is the multitude of your ⁿsacrifices to Me?”

Says the Lord.

“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams

And the fat of fed cattle.

I do not delight in the blood of bulls,

Or of lambs or goats.

¹²“When you come ^oto appear before Me,

Who has required this from your hand,

To trample My courts?

¹³Bring no more ^pfutile ⁶sacrifices;

Incense is an abomination to Me.

The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and ^qthe calling of assemblies—

I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.

¹⁴Your ^rNew Moons and your ^sappointed feasts

My soul hates;

They are a trouble to Me,

I am weary of bearing them.

^15tWhen you ⁷spread out your hands,

I will hide My eyes from you;

^uEven though you make many prayers,

I will not hear.

Your hands are full of ⁸blood.

¹⁶“Wash ^vyourselves, make yourselves clean;

Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.

^wCease to do evil,

¹⁷Learn to do good;

Seek justice,

Rebuke ⁹the oppressor;

¹Defend the fatherless,

Plead for the widow.

¹⁸“Come now, and let us ^xreason together,”

Says the Lord,

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

^yThey shall be as white as snow;

Though they are red like crimson,

They shall be as wool.

¹⁹If you are willing and obedient,

You shall eat the good of the land;

²⁰But if you refuse and rebel,

You shall be devoured by the sword”;

^zFor the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The Degenerate City

^21aHow the faithful city has become a ²harlot!

It was full of justice;

Righteousness lodged in it,

But now ^bmurderers.

^22cYour silver has become dross,

Your wine mixed with water.

^23dYour princes are rebellious,

And ^ecompanions of thieves;

^fEveryone loves bribes,

And follows after rewards.

They ^gdo not defend the fatherless,

Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.

²⁴Therefore the Lord says,

The Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel,

“Ah, ^hI will ³rid Myself of My adversaries,

And ⁴take vengeance on My enemies.

²⁵I will turn My hand against you,

And ⁱthoroughly ⁵purge away your dross,

And take away all your alloy.

²⁶I will restore your judges ^jas at the first,

And your counselors as at the beginning.

Afterward ^kyou shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”

²⁷Zion shall be redeemed with justice,

And her ⁶penitents with righteousness.

²⁸The ^ldestruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together,

And those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.

²⁹For ⁷they shall be ashamed of the ⁸terebinth trees

Which you have desired;

And you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens

Which you have chosen.

³⁰For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades,

And as a garden that has no water.

^31mThe strong shall be as tinder,

And the work of it as a spark;

Both will burn together,

And no one shall ⁿquench them.

The Future House of God

2The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

²Now ^ait shall come to pass ^bin the latter days

^cThat the mountain of the Lord’s house

Shall be established on the top of the mountains,

And shall be exalted above the hills;

And all nations shall flow to it.

³Many people shall come and say,

^d“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

To the house of the God of Jacob;

He will teach us His ways,

And we shall walk in His paths.”

^eFor out of Zion shall go forth the law,

And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

⁴He shall judge between the nations,

And rebuke many people;

They shall beat their swords into plowshares,

And their spears into pruning ¹hooks;

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

Neither shall they learn war anymore.

The Day of the Lord

⁵O house of Jacob, come and let us ^fwalk

In the light of the Lord.

⁶For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob,

Because they are filled ^gwith eastern ways;

They are ^hsoothsayers like the Philistines,

ⁱAnd they ²are pleased with the children of foreigners.

^7jTheir land is also full of silver and gold,

And there is no end to their treasures;

Their land is also full of horses,

And there is no end to their chariots.

^8kTheir land is also full of idols;

They worship the work of their own hands,

That which their own fingers have made.

⁹People bow down,

And each man humbles himself;

Therefore do not forgive them.

^10lEnter into the rock, and hide in the dust,

From the terror of the Lord

And the glory of His majesty.

¹¹The ³lofty looks of man shall be ^mhumbled,

The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down,

And the Lord alone shall be exalted ⁿin that day.

¹²For the day of the Lord of hosts

Shall come upon everything proud and lofty,

Upon everything lifted up—

And it shall be brought low—

¹³Upon all ^othe cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up,

And upon all the oaks of Bashan;

^14pUpon all the high mountains,

And upon all the hills that are lifted up;

¹⁵Upon every high tower,

And upon every fortified wall;

^16qUpon all the ships of Tarshish,

And upon all the beautiful sloops.

¹⁷The ⁴loftiness of man shall be bowed down,

And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low;

The Lord alone will be exalted in that day,

¹⁸But the idols ⁵He shall utterly abolish.

¹⁹They shall go into the ^rholes of the rocks,

And into the caves of the ⁶earth,

^sFrom the terror of the Lord

And the glory of His majesty,

When He arises ^tto shake the earth mightily.

²⁰In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver

And his idols of gold,

Which they made, each for himself to worship,

To the moles and bats,

²¹To go into the clefts of the rocks,

And into the crags of the rugged rocks,

From the terror of the Lord

And the glory of His majesty,

When He arises to shake the earth mightily.

^22uSever ⁷yourselves from such a man,

Whose ^vbreath is in his nostrils;

For ⁸of what account is he?

Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

3For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts,

^aTakes away from Jerusalem and from Judah

^bThe ¹stock and the store,

The whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water;

^2cThe mighty man and the man of war,

The judge and the prophet,

And the diviner and the elder;

³The captain of fifty and the ²honorable man,

The counselor and the skillful artisan,

And the expert enchanter.

⁴“I will give ^dchildren ³to be their princes,

And ⁴babes shall rule over them.

⁵The people will be oppressed,

Every one by another and every one by his neighbor;

The child will be insolent toward the ⁵elder,

And the ⁶base toward the honorable.”

⁶When a man takes hold of his brother

In the house of his father, saying,

“You have clothing;

You be our ruler,

And let these ruins be under your ⁷power,”

⁷In that day he will protest, saying,

“I cannot cure your ills,

For in my house is neither food nor clothing;

Do not make me a ruler of the people.”

⁸For ^eJerusalem stumbled,

And Judah is fallen,

Because their tongue and their doings

Are against the Lord,

To provoke the eyes of His glory.

⁹The look on their countenance witnesses against them,

And they declare their sin as ^fSodom;

They do not hide it.

Woe to their soul!

For they have brought evil upon themselves.

¹⁰“Say to the righteous ^gthat it shall be well with them,

^hFor they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

¹¹Woe to the wicked! ⁱIt shall be ill with him,

For the reward of his hands shall be ⁸given him.

¹²As for My people, children are their oppressors,

And women rule over them.

O My people! ^jThose who lead you ⁹cause you to err,

And destroy the way of your paths.”

Oppression and Luxury Condemned

¹³The Lord stands up ^kto ¹plead,

And stands to judge the people.

¹⁴The Lord will enter into judgment

With the elders of His people

And His princes:

“For you have ²eaten up ^lthe vineyard;

The plunder of the poor is in your houses.

¹⁵What do you mean by ^mcrushing My people

And grinding the faces of the poor?”

Says the Lord God of hosts.

¹⁶Moreover the Lord says:

“Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,

And walk with ³outstretched necks

And ⁴wanton eyes,

Walking and ⁵mincing as they go,

Making a jingling with their feet,

¹⁷Therefore the Lord will strike with ⁿa scab

The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion,

And the Lord will ^ouncover their secret parts.”

¹⁸In that day the Lord will take away the finery:

The jingling anklets, the ⁶scarves, and the ^pcrescents;

¹⁹The pendants, the bracelets, and the veils;

²⁰The headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands;

The perfume boxes, the charms,

²¹and the rings;

The nose jewels,

²²the festal apparel, and the mantles;

The outer garments, the purses,

²³and the mirrors;

The fine linen, the turbans, and the robes.

²⁴And so it shall be:

Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench;

Instead of a sash, a rope;

Instead of well-set hair, ^qbaldness;

Instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth;

And ⁷branding instead of beauty.

²⁵Your men shall fall by the sword,

And your ⁸mighty in the war.

^26rHer gates shall lament and mourn,

And she being desolate ^sshall sit on the ground.

4And ^ain that day seven women shall take hold of one man,…