Isaiah — Chapter 1

¹The 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.

²Hear, heavens, And listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against me.

³The ox knows his owner, And the donkey his master`s crib; But Israel doesn`t know, My people don`t consider.

⁴Ah sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A seed of evil-doers, Children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken Yahweh. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They are estranged and backward.

⁵Why should you be beaten more, That you revolt more and more? The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faint.

⁶From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it: Wounds, welts, and open sores. They haven`t been closed, neither bandaged, neither soothed with oil.

⁷Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. Strangers devour your land in your presence, And it is desolate, As overthrown by strangers.

⁸The daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, As a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city.

⁹Unless Yahweh of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, We would have been as Sodom; We would have been like Gomorrah.

¹⁰Hear the word of Yahweh, you rulers of Sodom. Listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.

¹¹What are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?, says Yahweh. I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, And the fat of fed animals. I don`t delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs, Or of male goats.

¹²When you come to appear before me, Who has required this at your hand, to trample my courts?

¹³Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me; New moons, Sabbaths, and convocations: I can`t bear with evil assemblies.

¹⁴My soul hates your New Moons and your appointed feasts; they are a trouble to me; I am weary of bearing them.

¹⁵When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

¹⁶Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil;

¹⁷learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

¹⁸Come now, and let us reason together, says Yahweh: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

¹⁹If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land:

²⁰but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.

²¹How is the faithful city become a prostitute! she who was full of justice! righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.

²²Your silver is become dross, your wine mixed with water.

²³Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards: they don`t judge the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come to them.

²⁴Therefore says the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of my adversaries, and avenge me of my enemies;

²⁵and I will turn my hand on you, and thoroughly purge away your dross, and will take away all your tin;

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, a faithful town.

²⁷Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her converts with righteousness.

²⁸But the destruction of transgressors and sinners shall be together, and those who forsake Yahweh shall be consumed.

²⁹For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, and you shall be confounded for the gardens that you have chosen.

³⁰For you shall be as an oak whose leaf fades, and as a garden that has no water.

³¹The strong will be like tinder, and his work like a spark. They will both burn together, and no one will quench them.