Isaiah 1
1
1The Visions of Isaiah son of Amoz, that he hath seen concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, For Jehovah hath spoken: Sons I have nourished and brought up, And they — they transgressed against Me.
3An ox hath known its owner, And an ass the crib of its master, Israel hath not known, My people hath not understood.
4Ah, sinning nation, a people heavy [with] iniquity, A seed of evil doers, sons — corrupters! They have forsaken Jehovah, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have gone away backward.
5Wherefore are ye stricken any more? Ye do add apostasy! Every head is become diseased, and every heart [is] sick.
6From the sole of the foot — unto the head, There is no soundness in it, Wound, and bruise, and fresh smiting! They have not been closed nor bound, Nor have they softened with ointment.
7Your land [is] a desolation, your cities burnt with fire, Your ground, before you strangers are consuming it, And a desolation as overthrown by strangers!
8And left hath been the daughter of Zion, As a booth in a vineyard, As a lodge in a place of cucumbers — as a city besieged.
9Unless Jehovah of Hosts had left to us a remnant, Shortly — as Sodom we had been, To Gomorrah we had been like!
10Hear the word of Jehovah, ye rulers of Sodom, Give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah,
11‘Why to Me the abundance of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah, I have been satiated [with] burnt-offerings of rams, And fat of fatlings; And blood of bullocks, and lambs, And he-goats I have not desired.
12When ye come in to appear before Me, Who hath required this of your hand, To trample My courts?
13Add not to bring in a vain present, Incense — an abomination it [is] to Me, New moon, and sabbath, calling of convocation! Rendure not iniquity — and a restraint!
14Your new moons and your set seasons hath My soul hated, They have been upon me for a burden, I have been weary of bearing.
15And in your spreading forth your hands, I hide mine eyes from you, Also when ye increase prayer, I do not hear, Your hands of blood have been full.
16Wash ye, make ye pure, Turn aside the evil of your doings, from before Mine eyes, Cease to do evil, learn to do good.
17Seek judgment, make happy the oppressed, Judge the fatherless, strive [for] the widow.
18Come, I pray you, and we reason, saith Jehovah, If your sins are as scarlet, as snow they shall be white, If they are red as crimson, as wool they shall be!
19If ye are willing, and have hearkened, The good of the land ye consume,
20And if ye refuse, and have rebelled, [By] the sword ye are consumed, For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken.
21How hath a faithful city become a harlot? I have filled it [with] judgment, Righteousness lodgeth in it — now murderers.
22Thy silver hath become dross, Thy drink polluted with water.
23Thy princes [are] apostates, and companions of thieves, Every one loving a bribe, and pursuing rewards, The fatherless they judge not, And the plea of the widow cometh not to them.
24Therefore — the affirmation of the Lord — Jehovah of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah, I am eased of Mine adversaries, And I am avenged of Mine enemies,
25And I turn back My hand upon thee, And I refine as purity thy dross, And I turn aside all thy tin,
26And I give back thy judges as at the first, And thy counsellors as in the beginning, After this thou art called, ‘A city of righteousness — a faithful city.’
27Zion in judgment is redeemed, And her captivity in righteousness.
28And the destruction of transgressors and sinners [is] together, And those forsaking Jehovah are consumed.
29For [men] are ashamed because of the oaks That ye have desired, And ye are confounded because of the gardens That ye have chosen.
30For ye are as an oak whose leaf is fading, And as a garden that hath no water.
31And the strong hath been for tow, And his work for a spark, And burned have both of them together, And there is none quenching!
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Isaiah 1: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Isaiah 1
1
Messages of Judgment
Quit Your Worship Charades
1The vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw regarding Judah and Jerusalem during the times of the kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
2-4Heaven and earth, you’re the jury.
Listen to God’s case:
“I had children and raised them well,
and they turned on me.
The ox knows who’s boss,
the mule knows the hand that feeds him,
But not Israel.
My people don’t know up from down.
Shame! Misguided God-dropouts,
staggering under their guilt-baggage,
Villainous gang,
band of vandals—
My people have walked out on me, their God,
turned their backs on The Holy of Israel,
walked off and never looked back.
5-9“Why bother even trying to do anything with you
when you just keep to your bullheaded ways?
You keep beating your heads against brick walls.
Everything within you protests against you.
From the bottom of your feet to the top of your head,
nothing’s working right.
Wounds and bruises and running sores—
untended, unwashed, unbandaged.
Your country is laid waste,
your cities burned down.
Your land is destroyed by outsiders while you watch,
reduced to rubble by barbarians.
Daughter Zion is deserted—
like a tumbledown shack on a dead-end street,
Like a tarpaper shanty on the wrong side of the tracks,
like a sinking ship abandoned by the rats.
If God-of-the-Angel-Armies hadn’t left us a few survivors,
we’d be as desolate as Sodom, doomed just like Gomorrah.
10“Listen to my Message,
you Sodom-schooled leaders.
Receive God’s revelation,
you Gomorrah-schooled people.
11-12“Why this frenzy of sacrifices?”
God ’s asking.
“Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of burnt sacrifices,
rams and plump grain-fed calves?
Don’t you think I’ve had my fill
of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats?
When you come before me,
whoever gave you the idea of acting like this,
Running here and there, doing this and that—
all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship?
13-17“Quit your worship charades.
I can’t stand your trivial religious games:
Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—
meetings, meetings, meetings—I can’t stand one more!
Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them!
You’ve worn me out!
I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion,
while you go right on sinning.
When you put on your next prayer-performance,
I’ll be looking the other way.
No matter how long or loud or often you pray,
I’ll not be listening.
And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing
people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash up.
Clean up your act.
Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
so I don’t have to look at them any longer.
Say no to wrong.
Learn to do good.
Work for justice.
Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless.
Go to bat for the defenseless.
Let’s Argue This Out
18-20“Come. Sit down. Let’s argue this out.”
This is God’s Message:
“If your sins are blood-red,
they’ll be snow-white.
If they’re red like crimson,
they’ll be like wool.
If you’ll willingly obey,
you’ll feast like kings.
But if you’re willful and stubborn,
you’ll die like dogs.”
That’s right. God says so.
Those Who Walk Out on God
21-23Oh! Can you believe it? The chaste city
has become a whore!
She was once all justice,
everyone living as good neighbors,
And now they’re all
at one another’s throats.
Your coins are all counterfeits.
Your wine is watered down.
Your leaders are turncoats
who keep company with crooks.
They sell themselves to the highest bidder
and grab anything not nailed down.
They never stand up for the homeless,
never stick up for the defenseless.
24-31This Decree, therefore, of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
the Strong One of Israel:
“This is it! I’ll get my oppressors off my back.
I’ll get back at my enemies.
I’ll give you the back of my hand,
purge the junk from your life, clean you up.
I’ll set honest judges and wise counselors among you
just like it was back in the beginning.
Then you’ll be renamed
City-That-Treats-People-Right, the True-Blue City.”
God’s right ways will put Zion right again.
God’s right actions will restore her prodigals.
But it’s curtains for rebels and God-traitors,
a dead end for those who walk out on God.
“Your dalliances in those oak grove shrines
will leave you looking mighty foolish,
All that fooling around in god and goddess gardens
that you thought was the latest thing.
You’ll end up like an oak tree
with all its leaves falling off,
Like an unwatered garden,
withered and brown.
‘The Strong Man’ will turn out to be dead bark and twigs,
and his ‘work,’ the spark that starts the fire
That exposes man and work both
as nothing but cinders and smoke.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.