Isaiah 1:2–20

A Message for Rebellious Judah

²Listen, O heavens! Pay attention, earth!

This is what the Lord says:

“The children I raised and cared for

have rebelled against me.

³Even an ox knows its owner,

and a donkey recognizes its master’s care—

but Israel doesn’t know its master.

My people don’t recognize my care for them.”

⁴Oh, what a sinful nation they are—

loaded down with a burden of guilt.

They are evil people,

corrupt children who have rejected the Lord.

They have despised the Holy One of Israel

and turned their backs on him.

⁵Why do you continue to invite punishment?

Must you rebel forever?

Your head is injured,

and your heart is sick.

⁶You are battered from head to foot—

covered with bruises, welts, and infected wounds—

without any soothing ointments or bandages.

⁷Your country lies in ruins,

and your towns are burned.

Foreigners plunder your fields before your eyes

and destroy everything they see.

⁸Beautiful Jerusalem stands abandoned

like a watchman’s shelter in a vineyard,

like a lean-to in a cucumber field after the harvest,

like a helpless city under siege.

⁹If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies

had not spared a few of us,

we would have been wiped out like Sodom,

destroyed like Gomorrah.

¹⁰Listen to the Lord, you leaders of “Sodom.”

Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.”

¹¹“What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?”

says the Lord.

“I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams

and the fat of fattened cattle.

I get no pleasure from the blood

of bulls and lambs and goats.

¹²When you come to worship me,

who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?

¹³Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;

the incense of your offerings disgusts me!

As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath

and your special days for fasting—

they are all sinful and false.

I want no more of your pious meetings.

¹⁴I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals.

They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them!

¹⁵When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look.

Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen,

for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.

¹⁶Wash yourselves and be clean!

Get your sins out of my sight.

Give up your evil ways.

¹⁷Learn to do good.

Seek justice.

Help the oppressed.

Defend the cause of orphans.

Fight for the rights of widows.

¹⁸“Come now, let’s settle this,”

says the Lord.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

I will make them as white as snow.

Though they are red like crimson,

I will make them as white as wool.

¹⁹If you will only obey me,

you will have plenty to eat.

²⁰But if you turn away and refuse to listen,

you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies.

I, the Lord, have spoken!”