Isaiah - 1

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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 speaks, I have nourished and brought up sons, and they have rebelled against me.

3 T he ox knows his owner, and the ass his master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not have understanding.

4 O sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, generation of evildoers, corrupt sons! They have forsaken the LORD; they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger; they have turned back.

5 W hy should I chastise you any more? Ye will revolt more and more; every head is sick, and every heart faint.

6 F rom the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in him; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

7 Y our 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 A nd 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 E xcept the LORD of the 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 princes of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

11 T o what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? shall the LORD say. I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; and I do not delight in the blood of bullocks or of lambs or of he goats.

12 W hen ye come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

13 B ring no more vain oblations; the incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot stand them; iniquity and the solemn meeting.

14 Y our new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

15 A nd when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; likewise, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil;

17 l earn to do good; seek judgment; restore unto the oppressed; hear the fatherless in right judgment; protect the widow.

18 T hen come, shall the LORD say, and we shall be even; if your sins were as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow; if they were red like crimson, they shall become as wool.

19 I f ye are willing and hearken, ye shall eat the good of the land;

20 B ut if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.

21 How is the faithful city become a harlot! It was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers.

22 T hy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:

23 T hy princes are rebellious and companions of thieves; every one loves bribes and follows after rewards; they do not hear the fatherless in judgment, neither does the cause of the widow come unto them.

24 T herefore saith the Lord, the LORD of the hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease myself of my adversaries and avenge myself of my enemies;

25 a nd I will turn my hand upon thee and according to pureness purge away thy dross and take away all thy tin;

26 a nd 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 Z ion shall be ransomed with judgment and her converts with righteousness.

28 A nd the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and those that forsook the LORD shall be consumed.

29 F or ye shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the groves that ye have chosen.

30 F or ye shall be as an oak whose leaf falls and as a garden that has no water.

31 A nd the strong idol shall be as tow and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and no one shall be able to quench them.