Isaiah 1
1 The 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.
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken,
I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but
Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of
evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have
provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more:
the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no
soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not
been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your
land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by
strangers.
8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a
lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant,
we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the
law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?
saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed
beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your
hand, to tread my courts?
13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me;
the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is
iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they
are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from
you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of
blood.
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from
before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge
the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith 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 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the
land:
20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword:
for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of
judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one
loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless,
neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
24 Therefore saith the LORD, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of
Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy
dross, and take away all thy tin:
26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy
counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of
righteousness, the faithful city.
27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with
righteousness.
28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners
shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and
ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden
that hath no water.
31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark,
and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
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