⁴ Woe to the sinful nation,
    a people whose guilt is great,^(P)
a brood of evildoers,^(Q)
    children given to corruption!^(R)
They have forsaken^(S) the Lord;
    they have spurned the Holy One^(T) of Israel
    and turned their backs^(U) on him.

⁵ Why should you be beaten^(V) anymore?
    Why do you persist^(W) in rebellion?^(X)
Your whole head is injured,
    your whole heart^(Y) afflicted.^(Z)
6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head^(AA)
    there is no soundness^(AB)—
only wounds and welts^(AC)
    and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged^(AD)
    or soothed with olive oil.^(AE)

⁷ Your country is desolate,^(AF)
    your cities burned with fire;^(AG)
your fields are being stripped by foreigners^(AH)
    right before you,
    laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.^(AI)
8 Daughter Zion^(AJ) is left^(AK)
    like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut^(AL) in a cucumber field,
    like a city under siege.
⁹ Unless the Lord Almighty
    had left us some survivors,^(AM)
we would have become like Sodom,
    we would have been like Gomorrah.^(AN)

¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord,^(AO)
    you rulers of Sodom;^(AP)
listen to the instruction^(AQ) of our God,
    you people of Gomorrah!^(AR)
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;^(AS)
I have no pleasure^(AT)
    in the blood of bulls^(AU) and lambs and goats.^(AV)
12 When you come to appear before me,
    who has asked this of you,^(AW)
    this trampling of my courts?
¹³ Stop bringing meaningless offerings!^(AX)
    Your incense^(AY) is detestable^(AZ) to me.
New Moons,^(BA) Sabbaths and convocations^(BB)—
    I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
¹⁴ Your New Moon^(BC) feasts and your appointed festivals^(BD)
    I hate with all my being.^(BE)
They have become a burden to me;^(BF)
    I am weary^(BG) of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands^(BH) in prayer,
    I hide^(BI) my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
    I am not listening.^(BJ)

Your hands^(BK) are full of blood!^(BL)

¹⁶ Wash^(BM) and make yourselves clean.
    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;^(BN)
    stop doing wrong.^(BO)
17 Learn to do right;^(BP) seek justice.^(BQ)
    Defend the oppressed.^[a](BR)
Take up the cause of the fatherless;^(BS)
    plead the case of the widow.^(BT)

¹⁸ “Come now, let us settle the matter,”^(BU)
    says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;^(BV)
though they are red as crimson,
    they shall be like wool.^(BW)
19 If you are willing and obedient,^(BX)
    you will eat the good things of the land;^(BY)
20 but if you resist and rebel,^(BZ)
    you will be devoured by the sword.”^(CA)
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.^(CB)

²¹ See how the faithful city
    has become a prostitute!^(CC)
She once was full of justice;
    righteousness^(CD) used to dwell in her—
    but now murderers!^(CE)
22 Your silver has become dross,^(CF)
    your choice wine is diluted with water.
²³ Your rulers are rebels,^(CG)
    partners with thieves;^(CH)
they all love bribes^(CI)
    and chase after gifts.
They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;
    the widow’s case does not come before them.^(CJ)

²⁴ Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    the Mighty One^(CK) of Israel, declares:
“Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes
    and avenge^(CL) myself on my enemies.^(CM)
25 I will turn my hand against you;^[b](CN)
    I will thoroughly purge^(CO) away your dross^(CP)
    and remove all your impurities.^(CQ)
26 I will restore your leaders as in days of old,^(CR)
    your rulers as at the beginning.
Afterward you will be called^(CS)
    the City of Righteousness,^(CT)
    the Faithful City.^(CU)”

²⁷ Zion will be delivered with justice,
    her penitent^(CV) ones with righteousness.^(CW)
28 But rebels and sinners^(CX) will both be broken,
    and those who forsake^(CY) the Lord will perish.^(CZ)

²⁹ “You will be ashamed^(DA) because of the sacred oaks^(DB)
    in which you have delighted;
you will be disgraced because of the gardens^(DC)
    that you have chosen.
³⁰ You will be like an oak with fading leaves,^(DD)
    like a garden without water.
³¹ The mighty man will become tinder
    and his work a spark;
both will burn together,
    with no one to quench the fire.^(DE)”

“Holy, holy^(I), holy is the Lord Almighty;^(J)
    the whole earth^(K) is full of his glory.”^(L)

“Until the cities lie ruined^(AI)
    and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted^(AJ)
    and the fields ruined and ravaged,^(AK)
12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away^(AL)
    and the land is utterly forsaken.^(AM)
13 And though a tenth remains^(AN) in the land,
    it will again be laid waste.^(AO)
But as the terebinth and oak
    leave stumps^(AP) when they are cut down,
    so the holy^(AQ) seed will be the stump in the land.”^(AR)

“‘It will not take place,
    it will not happen,^(T)
8 for the head of Aram is Damascus,^(U)
    and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.^(V)
Within sixty-five years
    Ephraim will be too shattered^(W) to be a people.
⁹ The head of Ephraim is Samaria,^(X)
    and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.
If you do not stand^(Y) firm in your faith,^(Z)
    you will not stand at all.’”^(AA)

² The people walking in darkness^(C)
    have seen a great light;^(D)
on those living in the land of deep darkness^(E)
    a light has dawned.^(F)
3 You have enlarged the nation^(G)
    and increased their joy;^(H)
they rejoice before you
    as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
    when dividing the plunder.^(I)
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,^(J)
    you have shattered^(K)
the yoke^(L) that burdens them,
    the bar across their shoulders,^(M)
    the rod of their oppressor.^(N)
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
    and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,^(O)
    will be fuel for the fire.
⁶ For to us a child is born,^(P)
    to us a son is given,^(Q)
    and the government^(R) will be on his shoulders.^(S)
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor,^(T) Mighty God,^(U)
    Everlasting^(V) Father,^(W) Prince of Peace.^(X)
7 Of the greatness of his government^(Y) and peace^(Z)
    there will be no end.^(AA)
He will reign^(AB) on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
    with justice^(AC) and righteousness^(AD)
    from that time on and forever.^(AE)
The zeal^(AF) of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

Yet for all this, his anger^(AR) is not turned away,
    his hand is still upraised.^(AS)

¹³ But the people have not returned^(AT) to him who struck^(AU) them,
    nor have they sought^(AV) the Lord Almighty.
¹⁴ So the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail,
    both palm branch and reed^(AW) in a single day;^(AX)
15 the elders^(AY) and dignitaries^(AZ) are the head,
    the prophets^(BA) who teach lies^(BB) are the tail.
¹⁶ Those who guide^(BC) this people mislead them,
    and those who are guided are led astray.^(BD)
17 Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men,^(BE)
    nor will he pity^(BF) the fatherless and widows,
for everyone is ungodly^(BG) and wicked,^(BH)
    every mouth speaks folly.^(BI)

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
    his hand is still upraised.^(BJ)

¹⁸ Surely wickedness burns like a fire;^(BK)
    it consumes briers and thorns,^(BL)
it sets the forest thickets ablaze,^(BM)
    so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.
¹⁹ By the wrath^(BN) of the Lord Almighty
    the land will be scorched^(BO)
and the people will be fuel for the fire;^(BP)
    they will not spare one another.^(BQ)
20 On the right they will devour,
    but still be hungry;^(BR)
on the left they will eat,^(BS)
    but not be satisfied.
Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring^[b]:
²¹     Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh;^(BT)
    together they will turn against Judah.^(BU)

Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
    his hand is still upraised.^(BV)

53 Who has believed our message^(A)
    and to whom has the arm^(B) of the Lord been revealed?^(C)
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,^(D)
    and like a root^(E) out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance^(F) that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering,^(G) and familiar with pain.^(H)
Like one from whom people hide^(I) their faces
    he was despised,^(J) and we held him in low esteem.

⁴ Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,^(K)
yet we considered him punished by God,^(L)
    stricken by him, and afflicted.^(M)
5 But he was pierced^(N) for our transgressions,^(O)
    he was crushed^(P) for our iniquities;
the punishment^(Q) that brought us peace^(R) was on him,
    and by his wounds^(S) we are healed.^(T)
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,^(U)
    each of us has turned to our own way;^(V)
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity^(W) of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed^(X) and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;^(Y)
he was led like a lamb^(Z) to the slaughter,^(AA)
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
⁸ By oppression^[a] and judgment^(AB) he was taken away.
    Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;^(AC)
    for the transgression^(AD) of my people he was punished.^[b]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,^(AE)
    and with the rich^(AF) in his death,
though he had done no violence,^(AG)
    nor was any deceit in his mouth.^(AH)

¹⁰ Yet it was the Lord’s will^(AI) to crush^(AJ) him and cause him to suffer,^(AK)
    and though the Lord makes^[c] his life an offering for sin,^(AL)
he will see his offspring^(AM) and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper^(AN) in his hand.
¹¹ After he has suffered,^(AO)
    he will see the light^(AP) of life^[d] and be satisfied^[e];
by his knowledge^[f] my righteous servant^(AQ) will justify^(AR) many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.^(AS)
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,^[g](AT)
    and he will divide the spoils^(AU) with the strong,^[h]
because he poured out his life unto death,^(AV)
    and was numbered with the transgressors.^(AW)
For he bore^(AX) the sin of many,^(AY)
    and made intercession^(AZ) for the transgressors.