Isaiah 1
1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
This is the vision that Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw about Judah and Jerusalem in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 Hear, [ye] heavens, and give ear, [thou] earth! for Jehovah hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up children; and they have rebelled against me.
Heavens, listen! Earth, pay attention! For the Lord has spoken! I brought up children, I cared for them, but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; Israel doth not know, my people hath no intelligence.
An ox knows its owner, and a donkey knows its feeding trough; but my people don't know me, they don't understand me.
4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that corrupt themselves! They have forsaken Jehovah; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they are turned away backward.
What a sinful nation—a people carrying such a load of guilt, an evil generation, corrupt children! They have abandoned the Lord. They have despised Israel's Holy One. They have become strangers. They have gone backwards.
5 Why should ye be smitten any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Are you wanting to be punished? Are you going to continue to rebel? The whole of your head is damaged, and your heart is totally giving out.
6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in him; wounds, and weals, and open sores: they have not been dressed, nor bound up, nor mollified with oil.
You're injured from head to toe, bruised and sore, with open wounds that haven't been cleaned or bandaged or treated with olive oil.
7 Your country is desolate; your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers eat it up in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
Your country has been devastated, your towns burned down, your fields stripped bare by foreigners right in front of you, as they turn it all into a wasteland.
8 And the daughter of Zion is left, as a booth in a vineyard, as a night-lodge in a cucumber-garden, as a besieged city.
The daughter of Zion is left like a shack in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a city under attack.
9 Unless Jehovah of hosts had left us a very small residue, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
If the Lord Almighty hadn't let a few of us survive, we would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of Jehovah, rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, people of Gomorrah!
Listen to what the Lord has to say, you rulers of Sodom! Pay attention to the instructions of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith Jehovah. I am sated with burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and in the blood of bullocks, and of lambs, and of he-goats I take no pleasure.
What use are all your many sacrifices to me? asks the Lord. I am sick and tired of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of sacrificial animals. I don't delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats!
12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this from your hand — to tread my courts?
When you come to appear before me in worship, who asked you to proudly tramp around my courts?
13 Bring no more vain oblations! Incense is an abomination unto me, — new moon and sabbath, the calling of convocations — wickedness and the solemn meeting I cannot bear.
Don't bring me any more meaningless offerings; your incense is offensive to me. Your new moon festivals and Sabbath observations and your calling of special religious meetings—I can't stand them because they're evil, as are your solemn assemblies.
14 Your new moons and your set feasts my soul hateth: they are a burden to me; I am wearied of bearing [them].
I detest your new moon and yearly festivals with my whole being! They've become just a burden to me—I can't bear them anymore!
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
When you hold up your hands to me in prayer, I'll look away. Even though you pray many prayers, I won't pay attention to them, because your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; — cease to do evil,
Wash yourselves and clean yourselves up. Get rid of your sins—I don't want to see them! Stop doing evil!
17 learn to do well: seek judgment, gladden the oppressed, do justice to the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Learn to do good; strive for justice, condemn those who oppress others; support the rights of orphans, take up cases to defend widows.
18 Come now, let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Come on, let's argue this out, says the Lord. Even though your sins are like scarlet, they will become white like snow. Even though they are red like crimson, they will become like wool.
19 If ye be willing and hearken, ye shall eat the good of the land;
If you really want this, and if you do as you're told, then you yourselves will eat the best things that the land produces.
20 but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken.
But if you are defiant, and if you are rebellious, you'll be killed by the sword. This is what the Lord has declared!
21 How is the faithful city become a harlot! It was full of judgment; righteousness used to lodge in it, but now murderers.
The city that used to be faithful has turned into a prostitute! Once she operated on principles of justice and followed what was right, but now only murderers live there.
22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine is mixed with water:
Your silver has become worthless waste; you wine has been watered down.
23 thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth presents, and hunteth after rewards; they judge not the fatherless, and the cause of the widow cometh not unto them.
Your leaders are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and want to get kickbacks. They don't defend the rights of orphans, and refuse to take cases to help widows.
24 Therefore saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah! I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies.
So this is what the Lord says, the Lord Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel: Ha! I will take satisfaction in punishing my enemies, by paying back those who hate me!
25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and will thoroughly purge away thy dross, and take away all thine alloy;
I will turn against you. I will refine you in a furnace, removing all impurities.
26 and I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning. Afterwards thou shalt be called, Town of righteousness, Faithful city.
I will give you good leaders as you used to have before, wise counselors as you had in the beginning. After that you will once again be called the City of Integrity, the Faithful City.
27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and they that return of her with righteousness.
Zion will be rescued by justice, those who repent by doing right.
28 But the ruin of the transgressors and of the sinners [shall be] together; and they that forsake Jehovah shall be consumed.
But rebels and sinners will be destroyed together, and those who abandon the Lord will die.
29 For they shall be ashamed of the terebinths that ye have desired, and ye shall blush for the gardens that ye have chosen.
You will be ashamed about how you enjoyed your pagan worship among the oak trees; you will be embarrassed because you chose the pleasure gardens of idols.
30 For ye shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.
As a result you will become like an oak whose leaves have withered, a dried-out garden that has no water.
31 And the strong shall be for tow, and his work a spark; and they shall both burn together, and there shall be none to quench [them].
Your strong people will become like tinder, and their work will become like a spark. They will burn together, and nobody will be able to put out the flames.
