Isaiah 1
1
I
1THE VISION OF ISAIAH THE SON OF AMOZ, WHICH HE SAW CONCERNING JUDAH AND JERUSALEM; IN THE DAYS OF UZZIAH, JOTHAM, AHAZ, HEZEEIAH, KINGS OF JUDAH.
2 Hear, O ye heavens; and give ear, O earth:
For Jehovah speaketh.
I have nourished and brought up children;
And they have rebelled against me.
3The ox knoweth his owner,
And the ass his master's crib:
But Israel doth not know;
My people doth not consider.
4Wo to the sinful nation, people laden with iniquity,
Seed of evil-doers, children that are corrupters:
They have forsaken Jehovah,
They have despised the Holy One of Israel;
They are gone away backward.
5Upon what part will ye be smitten any more, should you still revolt?
The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint:
6From the sole of the foot even unto the crown of the head, there is no soundness;
But wounds, and lashes, and fresh stripes:
They have not been pressed out, neither bound up,
Nor mollified with oil.
7Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire;
Your land, strangers devour it before your eyes;
It is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8And the daughter of Zion is left alone, as a shed in a vineyard;
As a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a city that is saved.
9Except Jehovah of hosts had left unto us the smallest remnant,
We had been as Sodom, we had become like unto Gomorrah.
10Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O ye princes of Sodom!
Give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah!
11Why to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah:
I am cloyed with the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts;
And in the blood of bullocks, and of lambs, and of he-goats, I have no delight.
12When ye come to appear before me,
Who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
13Bring no more insincere oblation,
Incense! it is an abomination unto me;
The new moon, the sabbath, and the proclaiming of an assembly,
I cannot endure: it is iniquity, even the solemn assembly.
14Your new moons, and your appointed festivals, my soul hateth:
They are a burden unto me; I am weary of bearing them.
15And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you;
Even when ye multiply prayer, I will not hear:
Your hands are full of blood.
16Wash ye, make ye clean;
Remove ye far away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes;
Cease to do evil:
17Learn to do good; seek after justice; correct the evil-doer;
Do justice to the orphan; plead for the widow.
18Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah:
Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow;
Though they be red as crimson, they shall be as wool.
19If ye be willing and obedient,
Ye shall eat the good of the land;
20But if ye refuse and rebel,
Ye shall be devoured with the sword:
For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.
21How is the faithful city become an harlot!
She that was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in her;
But now murderers!
22Thy silver is become dross;
Thy wine mixed with water.
23Thy princes are rebellious, and associates of robbers;
Every one of them loveth a bribe, and hunteth after rewards:
For the orphan they procure no justice;
And the cause of the widow cometh not before them.
24Wherefore saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the mighty One of Israel:
Ah! I will ease me of mine adversaries,
And avenge me of mine enemies.
25And I will direct mine hand against thee,
And entirely melt out thy dross,
And remove all thy tin:
26And I will restore thy judges, as at the first;
And thy counsellors, as at the beginning: Afterward thou shalt be called,
The town of righteousness, the faithful city.
27Zion shall be redeemed with judgment,
And those that return unto her, with righteousness.
28But the destruction of revolters and of sinners shall be together;
And they that forsake Jehovah shall perish.
29Then shall men be ashamed of the grove of teberinths, which are your delight;
And ye shall blush for the gardens, which ye have loved:
30For ye shall be as the teberinth, whose leaves are withered;
And as a garden, wherein there is no water.
31The powerful shall become as tow,
And his work as a spark of fire;
And they shall burn both of them together; and none shall quench them.
Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.