Chapter 42

1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my Spirit upon him,

he will bring forth justice to the nations.

2 He will not cry or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street;

3 a bruised reed he will not break,

and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;

he will faithfully bring forth justice.

4 He will not failt or be discouragedu

till he has established justice in the earth;

and the coastlands wait for his law.

5 Thus says God, the Lord,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread forth the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people upon it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

6 “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,

I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as a covenant to the people,

a light to the nations,

7 to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.

8 I am the Lord, that is my name;

my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to graven images.

9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,

and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth

I tell you of them.”

10 Sing to the Lord a new song,

his praise from the end of the earth!

Let the sea roar* and all that fills it,

the coastlands and their inhabitants.

11 Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,

the villages that Kedar inhabits;

let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy,

let them shout from the top of the mountains.

12 Let them give glory to the Lord,

and declare his praise in the coastlands.

13 The Lord goes forth like a mighty man,

like a man of war he stirs up his fury;

he cries out, he shouts aloud,

he shows himself mighty against his foes.

14 For a long time I have held my peace,

I have kept still and restrained myself;

now I will cry out like a woman in travail,

I will gasp and pant.

15 I will lay waste mountains and hills,

and dry up all their herbage;

I will turn the rivers into islands,

and dry up the pools.

16 And I will lead the blind

in a way that they know not,

in paths that they have not known I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light,

the rough places into level ground.

These are the things I will do,

and I will not forsake them.

17 They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame,

who trust in graven images,

who say to molten images,

“You are our gods.”

18 Hear, you deaf;

and look, you blind, that you may see!

19 Who is blind but my servant,

or deaf as my messenger whom I send?

Who is blind as my dedicated one,

or blind as the servant of the Lord?

20 He sees* many things, but does not observe them;

his ears are open, but he does not hear.

21 The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,

to magnify his law and make it glorious.

22 But this is a people robbed and plundered,

they are all of them trapped in holes

and hidden in prisons;

they have become a prey with none to rescue,

a spoil with none to say, “Restore!”

23 Who among you will give ear to this,

will attend and listen for the time to come?

24 Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler,

and Israel to the robbers?

Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,

in whose ways they would not walk,

and whose law they would not obey?

25 So he poured upon him the heat of his anger

and the might of battle;

it set him …

Chapter 1

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

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;

for the Lord has spoken:

“Sons have I reared and brought up,

but they have rebelled against me.

3 The ox knows its owner,

and the ass its master’s crib;

but Israel does not know,

my people does not understand.”

4 Ah, sinful nation,

a people laden with iniquity,

offspring of evildoers,

sons who deal corruptly!

They have forsaken the Lord,

they have despised the Holy One of Israel,

they are utterly estranged.

5 Why will you still be smitten,

that you continue to rebel?

The whole head is sick,

and the whole heart faint.

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

there is no soundness in it,

but bruises and sores

and bleeding wounds;

they are not pressed out, or bound up,

or softened with oil.

7 Your country lies desolate,

your cities are burned with fire;

in your very presence

aliens devour your land;

it is desolate, as overthrown by aliens.

8 And the daughter of Zion is left

like a booth in a vineyard,

like a lodge in a cucumber field,

like a besieged city.

9 If the Lord of hosts

had not left us a few survivors,

we should have been like Sodom,

and become like Gomorrah.

10 Hear the word of the Lord,

you rulers of Sodom!

Give ear to the teaching of our God,

you people of Gomorrah!

11 “What 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 he-goats.

12 “When you come to appear before me,

who requires of you

this trampling of my courts?

13 Bring no more vain offerings;

incense is an abomination to me.

New moon and sabbath and the calling of assemblies—

I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.

14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts

my soul hates;

they have become a burden to me,

I am weary of bearing them.

15 When you spread forth 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.

16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your doings

from before my eyes;

cease to do evil,

17 learn to do good;

seek justice,

correct oppression;

defend the fatherless,

plead for the widow.

18 “Come now, let us reason together,

says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient,

you shall eat the good of the land;

20 But if you refuse and rebel,

you shall be devoured by the sword;

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

21 How the faithful city has become a harlot,

she that was full of justice!

Righteousness lodged in her,

but now murderers.

22 Your silver has become dross,

your wine mixed with water.

23 Your princes are rebels

and companions of thieves.

Every one loves a bribe

and runs after gifts.

They do not defend the fatherless,

and the widow’s cause does not come to them.

24 Therefore the Lord says,

the Lord of hosts,

the Mighty One of Israel:

“Ah, I will vent my wrath on my enemies,

and avenge myself on my foes.

25 I will turn my hand against you

and will smelt away your dross as with lye

and remove all your alloy.

26 And I …

Chapter 6

1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory.”

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

6 Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven.” 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

‘Hear and hear, but do not understand;

see and see, but do not perceive.’

10 Make the heart of this people fat,

and their ears heavy,

and shut their eyes;

lest they see with their eyes,

and hear with their ears,

and understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”

And he said:

“Until cities lie waste

without inhabitant,

and houses without men,

and the land is utterly desolate,

12 and the Lord removes men far away,

and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

13 And though a tenth remain in it,

it will be burned again,

like a terebinth or an oak,

whose stump remains standing

when it is felled.”

The holy seed is its stump.