1:1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
1:2 Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
1:3 The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”
1:4 Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
1:5 Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted.
1:6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness - only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with olive oil.
1:7 Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
1:8 Daughter Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a city under siege.
1:9 Unless the Lord Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.
1:10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
1:11 “The multitude of your sacrifices - what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
1:12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?
1:13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations - I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
1:14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!
1:16 Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.
1:17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.* Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. / *Or justice. Correct the oppressor
1:18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
1:19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land;
1:20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
1:21 See how the faithful city has become a prostitute! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her - but now murderers!
1:22 Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water.
1:23 Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.
1:24 Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes and avenge myself on my enemies.
1:25 I will turn my hand against you;* I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities. / *That is, against Jerusalem
1:26 I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.”
1:27 Zion will be delivered with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.
1:28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the Lord will perish.
1:29 “You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen.
1:30 You will be like an oak with fading leaves, like a garden without water.
1:31 The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire.”