Isaiah 1

¹ The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

² Listen, you heavens; earth, attend for Yahweh is speaking, ‘I reared sons, I brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.

³ The ox knows its owner and the ass its master’s crib, Israel knows nothing, my people understands nothing.’

⁴ A sinful nation, a people weighed down with guilt, a breed of wrong-doers, perverted sons. They have abandoned Yahweh, despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away from him.

⁵ Where shall I strike you next, since you heap one betrayal on another? The whole head is sick, the whole heart grown faint;

⁶ from the sole of the foot to the head there is not a sound spot: wounds, bruises, open sores not dressed, not bandaged, not soothed with oil.

⁷ Your land is desolate, your towns burnt down, your fields – strangers lay them waste before your eyes; all is desolation, as after the fall of Sodom.[*a]

⁸ The daughter of Zion is left like a shanty in a vineyard, like a shed in a melon patch, like a besieged city.

⁹ Had Yahweh not left us a few survivors, we should be like Sodom, we should now be like Gomorrah.

¹⁰ Hear the word of Yahweh, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the command of our God, you people of Gomorrah.

¹¹ ‘What are your endless sacrifices to me? says Yahweh. I am sick of holocausts of rams and the fat of calves. The blood of bulls and of goats revolts me.

¹² When you come to present yourselves before me, who asked you to trample over my courts?

¹³ Bring me your worthless offerings no more, the smoke of them fills me with disgust. New Moons, sabbaths, assemblies – I cannot endure festival and solemnity.

¹⁴ Your New Moons and your pilgrimages I hate with all my soul. They lie heavy on me, I am tired of bearing them.

¹⁵ When you stretch out your hands I turn my eyes away. You may multiply your prayers, I shall not listen.

¹⁶ Your hands are covered with blood, wash, make yourselves clean. Take your wrong-doing out of my sight. Cease to do evil.

¹⁷ Learn to do good, search for justice, help the oppressed, be just to the orphan, plead for the widow.

¹⁸ ‘Come now, let us talk this over, says Yahweh. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

¹⁹ ‘If you are willing to obey, you shall eat the good things of the earth.

²⁰ But if you persist in rebellion, the sword shall eat you instead.’ The mouth of Yahweh has spoken.

²¹ What a harlot she has become, the faithful city, Zion, that was all justice! Once integrity lived there, but now assassins.

²² Your silver has turned into dross, your wine is watered.

²³ Your princes are rebels, accomplices of thieves. All are greedy for profit and chase after bribes. They show no justice to the orphan, the cause of the widow is never heard.

²⁴ Therefore – it is the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth who speaks, the Mighty One of Israel, ‘Ah, I will outdo my enemies, avenge myself on my foes.

²⁵ ‘I will turn my hand against you, I will smelt away your dross in the furnace, I will remove all your base metal from you.

²⁶ ‘I will restore your judges as of old, your counsellors as in bygone days. Then you will be called City of Integrity, Faithful City.’

²⁷ Zion will be redeemed by justice, and her penitents by integrity. Rebels and sinners together will be shattered, and those who abandon Yahweh will perish.

²⁹ Yes, you will be ashamed of the terebinths which give you such pleasure; you will blush for the gardens that charm you.

³⁰ Since you will be like a terebinth with faded leaves, like a garden without water.

³¹ The man of high estate will be tinder, his handiwork a spark. Both will burn together and no one put them out.