Isaiah 1
1
1This is the vision Isaiah son of Amoz saw about what would happen to Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah saw these things while Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.
God’s Case Against His Children
2Heaven and earth, listen,
because the Lord is speaking:
“I raised my children and helped them grow up,
but they have turned against me.
3An ox knows its master,
and a donkey knows where its owner feeds it,
but the people of Israel do not know me;
my people do not understand.”
4How terrible! Israel is a nation of sin,
a people loaded down with guilt,
a group of children doing evil,
children who are full of evil.
They have left the Lord;
they hate God, the Holy One of Israel,
and have turned away from him as if he were a stranger.
5Why should you continue to be punished?
Why do you continue to turn against him?
Your whole head is hurt,
and your whole heart is sick.
6There is no healthy spot
from the bottom of your foot to the top of your head;
you are covered with wounds, hurts, and open sores
that are not cleaned and covered,
and no medicine takes away the pain.
7Your land is ruined;
your cities have been burned with fire.
While you watch,
your enemies are stealing everything from your land;
it is ruined like a country destroyed by enemies.
8Jerusalem is left alone
like an empty shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut left in a field of melons,
like a city surrounded by enemies.
9The Lord All-Powerful
allowed a few of our people to live.
Otherwise we would have been completely destroyed
like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
10Jerusalem, your rulers are like those of Sodom,
and your people are like those of Gomorrah.
Hear the word of the Lord;
listen to the teaching of our God!
11The Lord says,
“I do not want all these sacrifices.
I have had enough of your burnt sacrifices
of male sheep and fat from fine animals.
I am not pleased
by the blood of bulls, lambs, and goats.
12You come to meet with me,
but who asked you to do
all this running in and out of my Temple’s rooms?
13Don’t continue bringing me worthless sacrifices!
I hate the incense you burn.
I can’t stand your New Moons, Sabbaths, and other feast days;
I can’t stand the evil you do in your holy meetings.
14I hate your New Moon feasts
and your other yearly feasts.
They have become a heavy weight on me,
and I am tired of carrying it.
15When you raise your arms to me in prayer,
I will refuse to look at you.
Even if you say many prayers,
I will not listen to you,
because your hands are full of blood.
16Wash yourselves and make yourselves clean.
Stop doing the evil things I see you do.
Stop doing wrong.
17Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Punish those who hurt others.
Help the orphans.
Stand up for the rights of widows.”
18The Lord says,
“Come, let us talk about these things.
Though your sins are like scarlet,
they can be as white as snow.
Though your sins are deep red,
they can be white like wool.
19If you become willing and obey me,
you will eat good crops from the land.
20But if you refuse to obey and if you turn against me,
you will be destroyed by your enemies’ swords.”
The Lord himself said these things.
Jerusalem Is Not Loyal to God
21The city of Jerusalem once followed the Lord,
but she is no longer loyal to him.
She used to be filled with fairness;
people there lived the way God wanted.
But now, murderers live there.
22Jerusalem, you have become like the scum left when silver is purified;
you are like wine mixed with water.
23Your rulers are rebels
and friends of thieves.
They all accept money for doing wrong,
and they are paid to cheat people.
They don’t seek justice for the orphans
or listen to the widows’ needs.
24So the Lord God All-Powerful,
the Mighty One of Israel, says:
“You, my enemies, will not cause me any more trouble.
I will pay you back for what you did.
25I will turn against you
and clean away all your wrongs as if with soap;
I will take all the worthless things out of you.
26I will bring back judges as you had long ago;
your counselors will be like those you had in the beginning.
Then you will be called the City That Is Right with God,
the Loyal City.”
27By doing what is fair,
Jerusalem will be free again.
By doing what is right,
her people who come back to the Lord will have freedom.
28But sinners and those who turn against him will be destroyed;
those who have left the Lord will die.
29“You will be ashamed,
because you have worshiped gods under the oak trees.
You will be disgraced,
because you have worshiped idols in your gardens.
30You will be like an oak whose leaves are dying
or like a garden without water.
31Powerful people will be like small, dry pieces of wood,
and their works will be like sparks.
They will burn together,
and no one will be able to put out that fire.”
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 1
1
1#Isa 2:1; Nu 12:6The 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.
The Wickedness of Judah
2#Mic 1:2; Dt 32:1 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth.
For the Lord has spoken:
I have nourished and brought up children,
and they have rebelled against Me;
3#Jer 8:7; Isa 44:18 the ox knows his owner,
and the donkey his master’s crib,
but Israel does not know;
My people do not consider.
4#Isa 5:24; 5:19 Alas, sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity,
a brood of evildoers,
children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the Lord,
they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger,
they are estranged and backward.
5#Isa 9:13; 31:6 Why should you be beaten again,
that you revolt more and more?
The whole head is sick,
and the whole heart faint.
6#Jer 6:14; Mt 9:12 From the sole of the foot even to the head
there is no soundness in it.
Wounds, bruises,
and open sores;
they have not been closed,
nor bandaged, nor soothed with oil.
7#Lev 26:34; Isa 6:11 Your country is desolate,
your cities are burned with fire;
strangers devour your land
in your presence;
and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8#Isa 10:32; Job 27:18 The daughter of Zion is left
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a field of melons,
like a besieged city.
9#Ge 19:24; Ro 9:29 Unless the Lord of Hosts
had left to us a very small remnant,
we would have been as Sodom;
we would have been like Gomorrah.
10#Rev 11:8; Dt 32:32 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the law of our God,
you people of Gomorrah:
11#Jer 6:20; 1Sa 15:22 For what purpose is the multitude
of your sacrifices to Me? says the Lord.
I am full of the burnt offerings of rams,
and the fat of fed animals.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of male goats.
12#Ex 23:17; 34:23 When you come to appear before Me,
who has required this at your hand,
to trample My courts?
13#Isa 66:3; 1Ch 23:31 Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to Me.
New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations—
I cannot bear with evil assemblies.
14#Isa 43:24 My soul hates
your New Moons and your appointed feasts;
they are a burden to Me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15#Isa 59:2–3; Mic 3:4 When you reach out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
even when you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.
16#Ps 26:6; 1Pe 3:11 Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
put away the evil from your deeds, from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
17#Jer 22:3; Zep 2:3 learn to do good; seek justice,
relieve the oppressed;
judge the fatherless,
plead for the widow.
18#Ps 51:7; Rev 7:14 Come now, and let us reason together,
says the Lord.
Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool.
19#Dt 30:15–16 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
20#Isa 40:5; 58:14 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured with the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spokenit.
The Degenerate City
21How the faithful city
has become a prostitute!
She was full of justice;
righteousness lodged in her,
but now murderers.
22Your silver has become dross,
your wine mixed with water.
23#Ex 23:8; Mic 7:3 Your princes are rebellious
and companions of thieves;
everyone loves a bribe
and follows after rewards.
They do not defend the fatherless,
nor does the cause of the widow come before them.
24#Dt 28:63; Isa 49:26 Therefore the Lord, the Lord of Hosts,
the Mighty One of Israel, says:
Ah, I will get relief from My adversaries,
and avenge Myself on My enemies.
25#Mal 3:3 And I will turn My hand against you,
thoroughly purge away your dross,
and take away all your impurities.
26#Jer 33:7; Zec 8:3 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.
28#Job 31:3; Ps 1:6 But the destruction of the transgressors and sinners shall be together,
and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
29#Isa 57:5; 65:3 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks
which you have desired,
and you shall be humiliated 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.
31#Isa 66:24 The strong shall be as tinder,
and his work like a spark;
they will both burn together,
and no one will quench them.
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