Isaiah 1

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

²Hear, 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.

³The ox knows its owner,

and the ass its master’s crib;

but Israel does not know,

my people does not understand.”

⁴Ah, 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.

⁵Why will you still be smitten,

that you continue to rebel?

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,

but bruises and sores

and bleeding wounds;

they are not pressed out, or bound up,

or softened with oil.

⁷Your country lies desolate,

your cities are burned with fire;

in your very presence

aliens devour your land;

it is desolate, as overthrown by aliens.

⁸And the daughter of Zion is left

like a booth in a vineyard,

like a lodge in a cucumber field,

like a besieged city.

⁹If the Lord of hosts

had not left us a few survivors,

we should have been like Sodom,

and become like Gomorʹrah.

¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord,

you rulers of Sodom!

Give ear to the teaching of our God,

you people of Gomorʹrah!

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?

¹³Bring 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.

¹⁴Your new moons and your appointed feasts

my soul hates;

they have become a burden to me,

I am weary of bearing them.

¹⁵When 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.

¹⁶Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your doings

from before my eyes;

cease to do evil,

¹⁷learn 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.

¹⁹If you are willing and obedient,

you shall eat the good of the land;

²⁰but if you refuse and rebel,

you shall be devoured by the sword;

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

²¹How the faithful city

has become a harlot,

she that was full of justice!

Righteousness lodged in her,

but now murderers.

²²Your silver has become dross,

your wine mixed with water.

²³Your 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.

²⁴Therefore 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.

²⁵I will turn my hand against you

and will smelt away your dross as with lye

and remove all your alloy.

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,

the faithful city.”

²⁷Zion shall be redeemed by justice,

and those in her who repent, by righteousness.

²⁸But rebels and sinners shall be destroyed together,

and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.

²⁹For you shall be ashamed of the oaks

in which you delighted;

and you shall blush for the gardens

which you have chosen.

³⁰For you shall be like an oak

whose leaf withers,

and like a garden without water.

³¹And the strong shall become tow,

and his work a spark,

and both of them shall burn together,

with none to quench them.