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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