Isaiah 1-3 (New American Standard Bible)

Isaiah 1

Rebellion of God's People

 ¹The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning ^(A)Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw during the reigns of ^(B)Uzziah, ^(C)Jotham, ^(D)Ahaz and ^(E)Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
    ^2(F)Listen, O heavens, and hear, O ^(G)earth;
         For the LORD speaks,
         "^(H)Sons I have reared and brought up,
         But they have ^(I)revolted against Me.
    ³"An ox knows its owner,
         And a donkey its master's manger,
         But Israel ^(J)does not know,
         My people ^(K)do not understand."
    ⁴Alas, sinful nation,
         People weighed down with iniquity,
         ^(L)Offspring of evildoers,
         Sons who ^(M)act corruptly!
         They have ^(N)abandoned the LORD,
         They have ^(O)despised the Holy One of Israel,
         They have turned away from Him.
    ⁵Where will you be stricken again,
         As you ^(P)continue in your rebellion?
         The whole head is ^(Q)sick
         And the whole heart is faint.
    ^6(R)From the sole of the foot even to the head
         There is ^(S)nothing sound in it,
         Only bruises, welts and raw wounds,
         ^(T)Not pressed out or bandaged,
         Nor softened with oil.
    ⁷Your ^(U)land is desolate,
         Your cities are burned with fire,
         Your fields--strangers are devouring them in your presence;
         It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers.
    ⁸The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard,
         Like a watchman's hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.
    ^9(V)Unless the LORD of hosts
         Had left us a few ^(W)survivors,
         We would be like ^(X)Sodom,
         We would be like Gomorrah.

God Has Had Enough

    ¹⁰Hear ^(Y)the word of the LORD,
         You rulers of ^(Z)Sodom;
         Give ear to the instruction of our God,
         You people of Gomorrah.
    ¹¹"^(AA)What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?"
         Says the LORD.
         "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
         And the fat of fed cattle;
         And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats.
    ¹²"When you come ^(AB)to appear before Me,
         Who requires of you this trampling of My courts?
    ¹³"Bring your worthless offerings no longer,
         ^(AC)Incense is an abomination to Me
         ^(AD)New moon and sabbath, the ^(AE)calling of assemblies--
         I cannot ^(AF)endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.
    ¹⁴"I hate your new moon festivals and your ^(AG)appointed feasts,
         They have become a burden to Me;
         I am ^(AH)weary of bearing them.
    ¹⁵"So when you ^(AI)spread out your hands in prayer,
         ^(AJ)I will hide My eyes from you;
         Yes, even though you ^(AK)multiply prayers,
         I will not listen
         ^(AL)Your hands are covered with blood.
    ¹⁶"^(AM)Wash yourselves, ^(AN)make yourselves clean;
         ^(AO)Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight
         ^(AP)Cease to do evil,
    ¹⁷Learn to do good;
         ^(AQ)Seek justice,
         Reprove the ruthless,
         ^(AR)Defend the orphan,
         Plead for the widow.

"Let Us Reason"

    ¹⁸"Come now, and ^(AS)let us reason together,"
         Says the LORD,
         "^(AT)Though your sins are as scarlet,
         They will be as white as snow;
         Though they are red like crimson,
         They will be like wool.
    ¹⁹"^(AU)If you consent and obey,
         You will ^(AV)eat the best of the land;
    ²⁰"But if you refuse and rebel,
         You will be ^(AW)devoured by the sword "
         Truly, ^(AX)the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Zion Corrupted, to Be Redeemed

    ²¹How the faithful city has become a ^(AY)harlot,
         She who was full of justice!
         Righteousness once lodged in her,
         But now murderers.
    ²²Your silver has become dross,
         Your drink diluted with water.
    ²³Your ^(AZ)rulers are rebels
         And companions of thieves;
         Everyone ^(BA)loves a bribe
         And chases after rewards
         They ^(BB)do not defend the orphan,
         Nor does the widow's plea come before them.
    ²⁴Therefore the Lord GOD of hosts,
         The ^(BC)Mighty One of Israel, declares,
         "Ah, I will be relieved of My adversaries
         And ^(BD)avenge Myself on My foes.
    ²⁵"I will also turn My hand against you,
         And will ^(BE)smelt away your dross as with lye
         And will remove all your alloy.
    ²⁶"Then I will restore your ^(BF)judges as at the first,
         And your counselors as at the beginning;
         After that you will be called the ^(BG)city of righteousness,
         A faithful city."
    ²⁷Zion will be ^(BH)redeemed with justice
         And her repentant ones with righteousness.
    ²⁸But transgressors and sinners will be ^(BI)crushed together,
         And those who forsake the LORD will come to an end.
    ²⁹Surely you will be ashamed of the ^(BJ)oaks which you have desired,
         And you will be embarrassed at the ^(BK)gardens which you have chosen.
    ³⁰For you will be like an oak whose ^(BL)leaf fades away
         Or as a garden that has no water.
    ³¹The strong man will become tinder,
         His work also a spark.
         Thus they shall both ^(BM)burn together
         And there will be ^(BN)none to quench them.

Isaiah 2

God's Universal Reign

 ¹The word which ^(BO)Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
    ²Now it will come about that
         ^(BP)In the last days
         The ^(BQ)mountain of the house of the LORD
         Will be established as the chief of the mountains,
         And will be raised above the hills;
         And ^(BR)all the nations will stream to it.
    ³And many peoples will come and say,
         "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
         To the house of the God of Jacob;
         That He may teach us concerning His ways
         And that we may walk in His paths."
         For the law will go forth ^(BS)from Zion
         And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
    ⁴And He will judge between the nations,
         And will render decisions for many peoples;
         And ^(BT)they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks
         ^(BU)Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
         And never again will they learn war.
    ⁵Come, ^(BV)house of Jacob, and let us walk in the ^(BW)light of the LORD.
    ⁶For You have ^(BX)abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob,
         Because they are filled with influences from the east,
         And they are soothsayers ^(BY)like the Philistines,
         And they ^(BZ)strike bargains with the children of foreigners.
    ⁷Their land has also been filled with silver and gold
         And there is no end to their treasures;
         Their land has also been filled with ^(CA)horses
         And there is no end to their chariots.
    ⁸Their land has also been ^(CB)filled with idols;
         They worship the ^(CC)work of their hands,
         That which their fingers have made.
    ⁹So ^(CD)the common man has been humbled
         And the man of importance has been abased,
         But ^(CE)do not forgive them.
    ^10(CF)Enter the rock and hide in the dust
         ^(CG)From the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty.
    ¹¹The ^(CH)proud look of man will be abased
         And the ^(CI)loftiness of man will be humbled,
         And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

A Day of Reckoning Coming

    ¹²For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning
         Against ^(CJ)everyone who is proud and lofty
         And against everyone who is lifted up,
         That he may be abased.
    ¹³And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up,
         Against all the ^(CK)oaks of Bashan,
    ¹⁴Against all the ^(CL)lofty mountains,
         Against all the hills that are lifted up,
    ¹⁵Against every ^(CM)high tower,
         Against every fortified wall,
    ¹⁶Against all the ^(CN)ships of Tarshish
         And against all the beautiful craft.
    ¹⁷The pride of man will be humbled
         And the loftiness of men will be abased;
         And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
    ¹⁸But the ^(CO)idols will completely vanish.
    ¹⁹Men will ^(CP)go into caves of the rocks
         And into holes of the ground
         Before the terror of the LORD
         And the splendor of His majesty,
         When He arises ^(CQ)to make the earth tremble.
    ²⁰In that day men will ^(CR)cast away to the moles and the ^(CS)bats
         Their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
         Which they made for themselves to worship,
    ²¹In order to ^(CT)go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs
         Before the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty,
         When He arises to make the earth tremble.
    ^22(CU)Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils;
         For ^(CV)why should he be esteemed?

Isaiah 3

God Will Remove the Leaders

    ¹For behold, the Lord GOD of hosts ^(CW)is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah
         Both supply and support, the whole supply of bread
         And the whole supply of water;
    ^2(CX)The mighty man and the warrior,
         The judge and the prophet,
         The diviner and the elder,
    ³The captain of fifty and the honorable man,
         The counselor and the expert artisan,
         And the skillful enchanter.
    ⁴And I will make mere ^(CY)lads their princes,
         And capricious children will rule over them,
    ⁵And the people will be ^(CZ)oppressed,
         Each one by another, and each one by his ^(DA)neighbor;
         The youth will storm against the elder
         And the inferior against the honorable.
    ⁶When a man ^(DB)lays hold of his brother in his father's house, saying,
         "You have a cloak, you shall be our ruler,
         And these ruins will be under your charge,"
    ⁷He will protest on that day, saying,
         "I will not be your ^(DC)healer,
         For in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
         You should not appoint me ruler of the people."
    ⁸For ^(DD)Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen,
         Because their ^(DE)speech and their actions are against the LORD,
         To ^(DF)rebel against His glorious presence.
    ⁹The expression of their faces bears witness against them,
         And they display their sin like ^(DG)Sodom;
         They do not even conceal it
         Woe to them!
         For they have ^(DH)brought evil on themselves.
    ¹⁰Say to the ^(DI)righteous that it will go well with them,
         For they will eat the fruit of their actions.
    ¹¹Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him,
         For ^(DJ)what he deserves will be done to him.
    ¹²O My people! Their oppressors are ^(DK)children,
         And women rule over them
         O My people! ^(DL)Those who guide you lead you astray
         And confuse the direction of your paths.

God Will Judge

    ^13(DM)The LORD arises to contend,
         And stands to judge the people.
    ¹⁴The LORD ^(DN)enters into judgment with the elders and princes of His people,
         "It is you who have ^(DO)devoured the vineyard;
         The ^(DP)plunder of the poor is in your houses.
    ¹⁵"What do you mean by ^(DQ)crushing My people
         And grinding the face of the poor?"
         Declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

Judah's Women Denounced

    ¹⁶Moreover, the LORD said, "Because the ^(DR)daughters of Zion are proud
         And walk with heads held high and seductive eyes,
         And go along with mincing steps
         And tinkle the bangles on their feet,
    ¹⁷Therefore the Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs,
         And the LORD will make their foreheads bare."

 ¹⁸In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, ^(DS)crescent ornaments,

 ¹⁹dangling earrings, bracelets, veils,

 ^20(DT)headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets,

 ²¹finger rings, ^(DU)nose rings,

 ²²festal robes, outer tunics, cloaks, money purses,

 ²³hand mirrors, undergarments, turbans and veils.
    ²⁴Now it will come about that instead of sweet ^(DV)perfume there will be putrefaction;
         Instead of a belt, a rope;
         Instead of ^(DW)well-set hair, a ^(DX)plucked-out scalp;
         Instead of fine clothes, a ^(DY)donning of sackcloth;
         And branding instead of beauty.
    ²⁵Your men will ^(DZ)fall by the sword
         And your mighty ones in battle.
    ²⁶And her ^(EA)gates will lament and mourn,
         And deserted she will ^(EB)sit on the ground.