Isaiah 1

1 The visions 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.

The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw about 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 Jehovah speaketh: “I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against me.

Give ear, O heavens, and you, O earth, to the word which the Lord has said: I have taken care of my children till they became men, but their hearts have been turned away from me.

3 The ox knoweth his owner, And the ass his master's crib; But Israel doth not know; My people do not consider.”

Even the ox has knowledge of its owner, and the ass of the place where its master puts its food: but Israel has no knowledge, my people give no thought to me.

4 Ah, sinful nation! a people laden with iniquity! A race of evil-doers! degenerate children! They have forsaken Jehovah; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; They have gone backward.

O nation full of sin, a people weighted down with crime, a generation of evil-doers, false-hearted children: they have gone away from the Lord, they have no respect for the Holy One of Israel, their hearts are turned back from him.

5 Where can ye be smitten again, Since ye renew your rebellion? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint;

Why will you have more and more punishment? why keep on in your evil ways? Every head is tired and every heart is feeble.

6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it; It is all bruises, and stripes, and flesh wounds, Neither pressed, nor bound up, nor softened with ointment.

The body, from head to foot, is all diseased; it is a mass of open wounds, marks of blows, and broken flesh: the flow of blood has not been stopped, and no oil has been put on the wounds.

7 Your country is desolate; Your cities are burnt with fire; Your ground, strangers devour it before your eyes; It is become desolate, destroyed by an enemy.

Your country has become waste; your towns are burned with fire; as for your land, it is overturned before your eyes, made waste and overcome by men from strange lands.

8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a shed in a vineyard, As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city.

And the daughter of Zion has become like a tent in a vine-garden, like a watchman's house in a field of fruit, like a town shut in by armies.

9 Had not Jehovah of hosts left us a small remnant, We had soon become as Sodom; We had been like to Gomorrah.

If the Lord of armies had not kept some at least of us safe, we would have been like Sodom, and the fate of Gomorrah would have been ours.

10 Hear ye the word of Jehovah, ye princes of Sodom! Give ear to the instruction of our God, ye people of Gomorrah!

Give ear to the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; let your hearts be turned to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.

11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah; I am satiated with burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; In the blood of bullocks and of lambs and of goats I have no delight.

What use to me is the number of the offerings which you give me? says the Lord; your burned offerings of sheep, and the best parts of fat cattle, are a weariness to me; I take no pleasure in the blood of oxen, or of lambs, or of he-goats.

12 When ye come to appear before me, Who hath required this of you, to tread my courts?

At whose request do you come before me, making my house unclean with your feet?

13 Bring no more false oblations! Incense is an abomination to me, The new moon also, and the sabbath, and the calling of the assembly; Iniquity and festivals I cannot endure.

Give me no more false offerings; the smoke of burning flesh is disgusting to me, so are your new moons and Sabbaths and your holy meetings.

14 Your new moons and your feasts my soul hateth; They are a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.

Your new moons and your regular feasts are a grief to my soul: they are a weight in my spirit; I am crushed under them.

15 When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; Yea, when ye multiply prayers, I will not hear: Your hands are full of blood!

And when your hands are stretched out to me, my eyes will be turned away from you: even though you go on making prayers, I will not give ear: your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash you; make you clean; Put away your evil doings from before mine eyes;

Be washed, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; let there be an end of sinning;

17 Cease to do evil; Learn to do well; Seek justice; relieve the oppressed; Defend the fatherless; plead for the widow!

Take pleasure in well-doing; let your ways be upright, keep down the cruel, give a right decision for the child who has no father, see to the cause of the widow.

18 Come, now, and let us argue together, saith Jehovah. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they be red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

Come now, and let us have an argument together, says the Lord: how may your sins which are red like blood be white as snow? how may their dark purple seem like wool?

19 If ye be willing and obedient, Ye shall consume the good of the land.

If you will give ear to my word and do it, the good things of the land will be yours;

20 But if ye refuse, and be rebellious, The sword shall consume you; For the mouth of Jehovah hath said it.

But if your hearts are turned against me, I will send destruction on you by the sword; so the Lord has said.

21 How is the faithful city become a harlot, She that was full of equity! Once justice dwelt in her, but now murderers!

The upright town has become untrue; there was a time when her judges gave right decisions, when righteousness had a resting-place in her, but now she is full of those who take men's lives.

22 Thy silver is become dross; Thy wine is adulterated with water.

Your silver is no longer true metal, your wine is mixed with water.

23 Thy princes are faithless, companions of thieves; Every one of them loveth gifts, and seeketh rewards; They render not justice to the fatherless, And the cause of the widow cometh not before them.

Your chiefs have gone against the Lord, they have become friends of thieves; every one of them is looking for profit and going after rewards; they do not give right decisions for the child who has no father, and they do not let the cause of the widow come before them.

24 Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ha! I will ease me of mine adversaries, And avenge me of mine enemies.

For this reason the Lord, the Lord of armies, the Strong One of Israel, has said, I will put an end to my haters, and send punishment on those who are against me;

25 And I will again turn my hand toward thee, And wholly purge away thy dross, And take away all thy alloy.

And my hand will again be on you, washing away what is unclean as with soap, and taking away all your false metal;

26 And I will restore thee judges, as at the first, And counsellors, as at the beginning. Then shalt thou be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.

And I will give you judges again as at the first, and wise guides as in the past; then you will be named, The Town of Righteousness, the true town.

27 Through justice shall Zion be delivered, And her reformed sons through righteousness.

Upright acts will be the price of Zion's forgiveness, and by righteousness will men be living there.

28 But destruction shall fall at once on the rebels and sinners; Yea, they that forsake Jehovah shall be consumed.

But a common destruction will overtake sinners and evil-doers together, and those who have gone away from the Lord will be cut off.

29 For ye shall be ashamed of the terebinths in which ye delighted; Ye shall blush for the gardens which ye loved;

For you will be put to shame because of the trees of your desire, and because of the gardens of your pleasure.

30 And ye shall be as a terebinth-tree whose leaves are withered, And as a garden in which is no water.

For you will be like a tree whose leaves have become dry, and like a garden without water.

31 The strong shall become tow, And his work a spark of fire; Both shall burn together, And none shall quench them.

And the strong will be as food for the fire, and his work as a flame; and they will be burned together, with no one to put out the fire.