Isaiah 1 / 66
- 1The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. ( A Rebellious Nation )
- 2Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: "I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
- 3The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand."
- 4Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD ; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
- 5Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted.
- 6From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness- only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil.
- 7Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
- 8The Daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a field of melons, like a city under siege.
- 9Unless the LORD Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.
- 10Hear the word of the LORD , you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
- 11"The multitude of your sacrifices- what are they to me?" says the LORD . "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
- 12When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?
- 13Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations- I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
- 14Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
- 15When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;
- 16wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,
- 17learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of 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 as crimson, they shall be like wool.
- 19If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
- 20but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
- 21See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her- but now murderers!
- 22Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water.
- 23Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow's case does not come before them.
- 24Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: "Ah, I will get relief from my foes and avenge myself on my enemies.
- 25I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities.
- 26I will restore your judges as in days of old, your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City."
- 27Zion will be redeemed with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.
- 28But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
- 29"You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen.
- 30You will be like an oak with fading leaves, like a garden without water.
- 31The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire."