Isaiah 1–5

¹The 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.^*

The Wickedness of Judah

²Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth,

for the Lord has spoken:

I reared children and brought them up,

but they have rebelled against me.^*

³The ox knows its owner

and the donkey its master’s crib,

but Israel does not know;

my people do not understand.^*

⁴Woe, sinful nation,

people laden with iniquity,

offspring who do evil,

children who act corruptly,

who have forsaken the Lord,

who have despised the Holy One of Israel,

[[who are utterly estranged!]]^a*

⁵Why do you seek further beatings?

Why do you continue to rebel?

The whole head is injured,

and the whole heart faint.^*

⁶From the sole of the foot to the head,

there is no soundness in it,

only bruises and sores

and bleeding wounds;

they have not been drained or bound up

or softened with oil.^*

⁷Your country lies desolate;

your cities are burned with fire;

in your very presence

aliens devour your land;

it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.^*

⁸And daughter Zion is left

like a booth in a vineyard,

like a shelter in a cucumber field,

like a besieged city.

⁹If the Lord of hosts

had not left us a few survivors,

we would have been like Sodom

and become like Gomorrah.^*

¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord,

you rulers of Sodom!

Listen to the teaching of our God,

you people of Gomorrah!^*

¹¹What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?

says the Lord;

I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams

and the fat of fed beasts;

I do not delight in the blood of bulls

or of lambs or of goats.^*

¹²When you come to appear before me,^b

who asked this from your hand?

Trample my courts no more!^*

¹³Bringing offerings is futile;

incense is an abomination to me.

New moon and Sabbath and calling of convocation—

I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.^*

¹⁴Your new moons and your appointed festivals

my soul hates;

they have become a burden to me;

I am weary of bearing them.^*

¹⁵When you stretch out your hands,

I will hide my eyes from you;

even though you make many prayers,

I will not listen;

your hands are full of blood.^*

¹⁶Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove your evil deeds

from before my eyes;

cease to do evil;^*

¹⁷learn to do good;

seek justice;

rescue the oppressed;

defend the orphan;

plead for the widow.^*

¹⁸Come now, let us argue it out,

says the Lord:

If your sins are like scarlet,

will they become like snow?

If they are red like crimson,

will they become like 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,

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.^*

The Degenerate City

²¹How the faithful city

has become a prostitute!

She that was full of justice,

righteousness lodged in her—

but now murderers!^*

²²Your silver has become dross;

your wine is mixed with water.^*

²³Your princes are rebels

and companions of thieves.

Everyone loves a bribe

and runs after gifts.

They do not defend the orphan,

and the widow’s cause does not come before them.^*

²⁴Therefore says the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel:

Surely I will pour out my wrath on my enemies

and avenge myself on my foes!^*

²⁵I will turn my hand against you;

I will smelt away your dross as with lye

and remove all your alloy.^*

²⁶And I will restore your judges as at the first

and your counselors as at the beginning.

Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness,

the faithful city.^*

²⁷Zion shall be redeemed by justice,

and those in her who repent, by righteousness.

²⁸But rebels and sinners shall be destroyed together,

and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.^*

²⁹For you shall be ashamed of the oaks

in which you delighted,

and you shall blush for the gardens

that you have chosen.^*

³⁰For you shall be like an oak

whose leaf withers

and like a garden without water.

³¹The strong shall become like tinder

and their work like a spark;

they and their work shall burn together,

with no one to quench them.^*

The Future House of God

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

²In days to come

the mountain of the Lord’s house

shall be established as the highest of the mountains

and shall be raised above the hills;

all the nations shall stream to it.^*

³Many peoples shall come and say,

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

to the house of the God of Jacob,

that he may teach us his ways

and that we may walk in his paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth instruction

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.^*

⁴He shall judge between the nations

and shall arbitrate for many peoples;

they shall beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation;

neither shall they learn war any more.^*

⁵O house of Jacob,

come, let us walk

in the light of the Lord!^*

Judgment Pronounced on Arrogance

⁶You have forsaken your people,

the house of Jacob,

for they are full of diviners^c from the East

and of soothsayers like the Philistines,

and they clasp hands 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;

they bow down to the work of their hands,

to what their own fingers have made.^*

⁹And so people are humbled,

and everyone is brought low—

[[do not forgive them!^*

¹⁰Enter into the rock,

and hide in the dust

from the terror of the Lord

and from the glory of his majesty.]]^d*

¹¹The haughty eyes of people shall be brought low,

and the pride of everyone shall be humbled,

and the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.^*

¹²For the Lord of hosts has a day

against all that is proud and lofty,

against all that is lifted up and high;^e*

¹³against all the cedars of Lebanon,

lofty and lifted up;

and against all the oaks of Bashan;^*

¹⁴against all the high mountains

and against all the lofty hills;^*

¹⁵against every high tower

and against every fortified wall;

¹⁶against all the ships of Tarshish

and against all the highly prized vessels.^*

¹⁷The haughtiness of people shall be humbled,

and the pride of everyone shall be brought low,

and the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.^*

¹⁸The idols shall utterly pass away.^*

¹⁹Enter the caves of the rocks

and the holes of the ground,

from the terror of the Lord

and from the glory of his majesty,

when he rises to terrify the earth.^*

²⁰On that day people will throw away

to the moles and to the bats

their idols of silver and their idols of gold,

which they made for themselves to worship,^*

²¹to enter the caverns of the rocks

and the clefts in the crags,

from the terror of the Lord

and from the glory of his majesty,

when he rises to terrify the earth.^*

²²[[Turn away from mortals,

who have only breath in their nostrils,

for of what account are they?]]^f*

³For now the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts,

is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah

support and staff—

all support of bread

and all support of water—^*

²warrior and soldier,

judge and prophet,

diviner and elder,^*

³captain of fifty

and dignitary,

counselor and skillful magician

and expert enchanter.

⁴And I will make youths their princes,

and children shall rule over them.^*

⁵The people will be oppressed,

everyone by another

and everyone by a neighbor;

the youth will be insolent to the elder

and the base to the honorable.^*

⁶Someone will seize a relative,

a member of the clan, saying,

“You have a cloak;

you shall be our leader,

and this heap of ruins

shall be under your rule.”^*

⁷But the other will cry out on that day, saying,

“I will not be a healer;

in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;

you shall not make me

leader of the people.”^*

⁸For Jerusalem has stumbled,

and Judah has fallen,

because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord,

defying his glorious presence.^*

⁹The look on their faces bears witness against them;

they proclaim their sin like Sodom;

they do not hide it.

Woe to them,

for they have brought evil on themselves.^*

¹⁰Tell the innocent how fortunate they are,

for they shall eat the fruit of their labors.^*

¹¹Woe to the guilty! How unfortunate they are,

for what their hands have done shall be done to them.^*

¹²My people—their oppressors extort them,

and creditors^g rule over them.

O my people, your leaders mislead you

and confuse the course of your paths.^*

¹³The Lord rises to argue his case;

he stands to judge the peoples.^*

¹⁴The Lord enters into judgment

with the elders and princes of his people:

It is you who have devoured the vineyard;

the spoil of the poor is in your houses.^*

¹⁵What do you mean by crushing my people,

by grinding the face of the poor? says the Lord God of hosts.^*

¹⁶The Lord said:

Because the daughters of Zion are haughty

and walk with outstretched necks,

glancing wantonly with their eyes,

mincing along as they go,

tinkling with their feet;^*

¹⁷the Lord will afflict with scabs

the heads of the daughters of Zion,

and the Lord will lay bare their scalps and heads.

¹⁸On that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents;^{* 19}the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarfs; ²⁰the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets;^{* 21}the signet rings and nose rings;^{* 22}the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; ²³the garments of gauze, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.

²⁴Instead of perfume there will be a stench;

and instead of a sash, a rope;

and instead of well-styled hair, baldness;

and instead of a rich robe, a binding of sackcloth;

instead of beauty, shame.^h*

²⁵Your men shall fall by the sword

and your warriors in battle.^*

²⁶And her gates shall lament and mourn;

desolate, she shall sit upon the ground.^*

⁴Seven women shall take hold of one man on that day, saying,

“We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes;

just let us be called by your name;

…