Isaiah 1-3
Complete Jewish Bible
1 This is the vision of Yesha‘yahu the son of Amotz, which he saw concerning Y’hudah and Yerushalayim during the days of ‘Uziyahu, Yotam, Achaz and Y’chizkiyahu, kings of Y’hudah:
2 “Hear, heaven! Listen, earth!
For Adonai is speaking.
“I raised and brought up children,
but they rebelled against me.
3 An ox knows its owner
and a donkey its master’s stall,
but Isra’el does not know,
my people do not reflect.
4 “Oh, sinful nation,
a people weighed down by iniquity,
descendants of evildoers,
immoral children!
They have abandoned Adonai,
spurned the Holy One of Isra’el,
turned their backs on him!
5 “Where should I strike you next,
as you persist in rebelling?
The whole head is sick,
the whole heart diseased.
6 From the sole of the foot to the head
there is nothing healthy,
only wounds, bruises and festering sores
that haven’t been dressed or bandaged
or softened up with oil.
7 “Your land is desolate,
your cities are burned to the ground;
foreigners devour your land in your presence;
it’s as desolate as if overwhelmed by floods.
8 The daughter of Tziyon is left
like a shack in a vineyard,
like a shed in a cucumber field,
like a city under siege.”
9 If Adonai-Tzva’ot had not left us
a tiny, tiny remnant,
we would have become like S’dom,
we would have resembled ‘Amora.
10 Hear what Adonai says,
you rulers of S’dom!
Listen to God’s Torah,
you people of ‘Amora!
11 “Why are all those sacrifices
offered to me?” asks Adonai.
“I’m fed up with burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fattened animals!
I get no pleasure from the blood
of bulls, lambs and goats!
12 Yes, you come to appear in my presence;
but who asked you to do this,
to trample through my courtyards?
13 Stop bringing worthless grain offerings!
They are like disgusting incense to me!
Rosh-Hodesh, Shabbat, calling convocations —
I can’t stand evil together with your assemblies!
14 Everything in me hates your Rosh-Hodesh
and your festivals;
they are a burden to me —
I’m tired of putting up with them!
15 “When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
no matter how much you pray,
I won’t be listening;
because your hands are covered with blood.
16 “Wash yourselves clean!
Get your evil deeds out of my sight!
Stop doing evil, 17 learn to do good!
Seek justice, relieve the oppressed,
defend orphans, plead for the widow.
18 “Come now,” says Adonai,
“let’s talk this over together.
Even if your sins are like scarlet,
they will be white as snow;
even if they are red as crimson,
they will be like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good of the land;
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you will be eaten by the sword”;
for the mouth of Adonai has spoken.
21 How the faithful city has become a whore!
Once she was filled with justice,
righteousness lodged in her;
but now murderers!
22 Your silver is no longer pure,
your wine is watered down.
23 Your leaders are rebels, friends of thieves.
They all love bribes and run after gifts.
They give no justice to orphans,
the widow’s complaint doesn’t catch their attention.
24 “Therefore,” says the Lord, Adonai-Tzva’ot,
the Mighty One of Isra’el,
“I will free myself of my adversaries,
I will take vengeance on my enemies.
25 But I will also turn my hand against you!
I will cleanse your impurities as with lye
and remove all your alloyed base metal.
26 I will restore your judges as at first
and your advisers as at the beginning.
After that, you will be called
the City of Righteousness, Faithful City.
27 Tziyon will be redeemed by justice;
and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
28 “Rebels and sinners together will be broken
and those who abandon Adonai be consumed.
29 You will be ashamed of the sacred oaks you desired,
you will blush at the gardens you chose;
30 for you will be like an oak whose leaf fades,
like a garden without any water.
31 The strong will be like tinder
and [the idol’s] maker like a spark;
both will burn together,
and no one will put them out.”
2 This is the word that Yesha‘yahu the son of Amotz saw concerning Y’hudah and Yerushalayim:
2 In the acharit-hayamim
the mountain of Adonai’s house
will be established as the most important mountain.
It will be regarded more highly than the other hills,
and all the Goyim will stream there.
3 Many peoples will go and say,
“Come, let’s go up to the mountain of Adonai,
to the house of the God of Ya‘akov!
He will teach us about his ways,
and we will walk in his paths.”
For out of Tziyon will go forth Torah,
the word of Adonai from Yerushalayim.
4 He will judge between the nations
and arbitrate for many peoples.
Then they will hammer their swords into plow-blades
and their spears into pruning-knives;
nations will not raise swords at each other,
and they will no longer learn war.
5 Descendants of Ya‘akov, come!
Let’s live in the light of Adonai!
6 For you have abandoned your people
the house of Ya‘akov.
Now they are filled from the east,
full of sorcerers, like the P’lishtim;
even the children of foreigners
are enough for them!
7 Their land is full of silver and gold;
They have no end of treasures.
Their land is full of horses;
They have no end of chariots.
8 Their land is full of idols;
everyone worships the work of his hands,
what his own fingers have made.
9 A person bows down, a man lowers himself —
don’t forgive them!
10 Come into the rock, hide in the dust
to escape the terror of Adonai
and the glory of his majesty.
11 The proud looks of man will be humiliated;
the arrogance of men will be bowed down;
and when that day comes,
Adonai alone will be exalted.
12 Yes, Adonai-Tzva’ot has a day in store
for all who are proud and lofty,
for all who are lifted high to be humiliated;
13 for all cedars of the L’vanon that are high and lifted up,
for all the oaks of the Bashan;
14 for all the high mountains,
for all the hills that are lifted up;
15 for every high tower,
for every fortified wall;
16 for every “Tarshish” ship,
for every luxurious vessel.
17 The pride of man will be bowed down,
the arrogance of men will be humiliated,
and when that day comes,
Adonai alone will be exalted.
18 The idols will be completely abolished.
19 People will enter cracks in the rocks
and holes in the ground
to escape the terror of Adonai
and his glorious majesty,
when he sets out to convulse the earth.
20 On that day a man will take hold
of his idols of silver and idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
and fling them away to the moles and bats!
21 Then they will enter the cracks in the rocks
and the crevices in the cliffs
to escape the terror of Adonai
and his glorious majesty,
when he sets out to convulse the earth.
22 Stop relying on man,
in whose nostrils is a mere breath —
after all, he doesn’t count for much,
does he?
3 For see! The Lord, Adonai-Tzva’ot,
will remove from Yerushalayim and Y’hudah
every kind of support —
all reserves of food and water;
2 heroes and warriors, judges and prophets,
diviners and leaders, 3 captains of fifty,
men of rank and advisers,
skillful magicians and expert enchanters.
4 I will put children in authority;
capriciousness will govern them.
5 People will oppress each other —
everyone his friend, everyone his neighbor.
The young will be insolent toward their elders,
the insignificant arrogant toward the respected.
6 A man will take hold of his brother
in his father’s house and say,
“You have a coat, so rule us!
Take charge of this ruin!”
7 But on that day, he will protest,
“I don’t have a remedy,
I lack food and clothing for my own house;
don’t put me in charge of people!”
8 For Yerushalayim is ruined,
and Y’hudah has fallen;
because their words and deeds defy Adonai,
in open provocation of his glory.
9 Their very look witnesses against them!
They parade their sin, like S’dom;
they don’t even try to hide it —
all the worse for them! —
they bring evil on themselves.
10 Say that it will go well with the righteous,
that they will enjoy the fruit of their actions;
11 but woe to the wicked, it will go badly with him;
for what he has done will be done to him.
12 My people — children oppress them,
and women are ruling over them.
My people! Your guides lead you astray
and obliterate the paths you should follow.
13 Adonai rises to accuse,
he stands to judge the peoples.
14 Adonai presents the indictment
against the leaders and officers of his people:
“It is you who devour the vineyard;
in your houses is plunder taken from the poor.
15 What do you mean by crushing my people
and grinding down the faces of the poor?”
says Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot.
16 Moreover Adonai says:
“Because Tziyon’s women are so proud,
walking with their heads in the air
and throwing seductive glances,
moving with mincing steps
and jingling their anklets —
17 Adonai will strike the crown of the heads
of Tziyon’s women with sores,
and Adonai will expose their private parts.”
18 On that day Adonai will take away their finery — their anklets, medallions and crescents, 19 their pendants, bracelets and veils; 20 their headbands, armlets, sashes, perfume bottles, amulets, 21 rings and nose-jewels; 22 their fine dresses, wraps, shawls, handbags, 23 gauze scarves, linen underclothes, turbans and capes. 24 Then, there will be
instead of perfume, a stench;
instead of a belt, a rope;
instead of well-set hair, a shaved scalp;
instead of a rich robe, a sackcloth skirt;
and a slave-brand instead of beauty.
25 Your men will fall by the sword
and your warriors in battle.
26 Her gates will lament and mourn;
ravaged, she will sit on the ground.
Yeshayah 1-3
Orthodox Jewish Bible
1 The chazon (vision) of Yeshayah ben Amotz, which he saw concerning Yehudah and Yerushalayim in the yamim of Uziyahu, Yotam, Achaz, and Yechizkiyahu, melachim of Yehudah.
2 Hear, O Shomayim, and give ear, O Eretz, for Hashem hath spoken; I have nourished and brought up banim, and they have rebelled against Me [i.e., willfully flouted My authority. See Yeshayah 53:5,8].
3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the donkey his master’s manger; but Yisroel doth not know, My people doth not consider.
4 Ah, goy choteh (sinful nation), a people weighed down with avon (guilt, iniquity), zera of evildoers, banim of corruption; they forsook Hashem, they have spurned the Kadosh Yisroel (the Holy One of Yisroel), they have turned their back on Him. [T.N. Here we see it is 'My people’ (Ex 6:6-7) who are stricken, whereas in Yeshayah 53:8 it is Moshiach Ben Dovid who is stricken for My people.]
5 Why, seeing that ye will be stricken again, will ye rebel stubbornly again? The kol rosh is sick, and the kol levav faint.
6 From the sole of the regel even unto the rosh there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores; they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither soothed with shemen.
7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with eish; your land, zarim devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by zarim.
8 And the Bat Tziyon (i.e., Yerushalayim) is left as a sukkah in a kerem (vineyard), as a shack in a cucumber field, as an ir (city) under siege.
9 Except Hashem Tzva’os had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Amora (Gomorrah).
10 Hear the Devar Hashem, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the Torat Eloheinu, ye people of Amora (Gomorrah).
11 To what purpose is the multitude of your zevakhim unto Me? saith Hashem; I am fed up of the olot (burnt offerings) of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the dahm of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.
12 When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample khatzerai (My courts)?
13 Bring no more futile minchot; ketoret is an abomination unto Me; Rosh Chodesh (New Moon) and Shabbos, the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure aven (wickedness) and atzarah (solemn convocation).
14 Your Rosh Chodesh and your Mo’adim My Nefesh hateth; they are a burden unto Me; I am weary to bear them.
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many tefillah, I will not hear; your hands are full of dahmim.
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do good; seek mishpat, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the almanah.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith Hashem; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of ha’aretz;
20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the cherev; for the mouth of Hashem hath spoken.
21 How is the Kiryah Ne’emanah (Faithful City, i.e., Yerushalayim) become a zonah (harlot)! It was full of mishpat; tzedek lodged in it; but now murderers.
22 Thy kesef is become dross, thy wine mixed with mayim:
23 Thy sarim (princes) are rebellious, and companions of ganavim: every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they give no justice to the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the almanah come unto them.
24 Therefore saith HaAdon, Hashem Tzva’os, Avir Yisroel (the Mighty One of Yisroel), Ah, I will relieve Myself of Mine adversaries, and avenge Me of Mine enemies:
25 And I will turn My hand upon thee, and refine away thy impurities, and take away all thy alloy:
26 And I will restore thy shofetim as at the first, and thy counselors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The Ir HaTzedek, the Kiryah Ne’emanah.
27 Tziyon shall be redeemed with mishpat, and those in her who make teshuvah with tzedakah.
28 And the destruction of the poshe’im and of the chote’im shall be together, and they that forsake Hashem shall be consumed.
29 For they shall be ashamed of the sacred oaks which ye have delighted in, and ye shall blush for the gannot (gardens) that ye have chosen.
30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no mayim. [T.N. The unquenchable fire of the apostate in the first chapter points to the unquenchable fire of Gehinnom in the last verse of the last chapter (66:24) and the loathesomeness of those there—Daniel 12:2].
31 And the strong shall be as tinder, and the maker of it [the idol] as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
2 The Davar that Yeshayah ben Amotz saw concerning Yehudah and Yerushalayim.
2 And it shall come to pass in the acharit hayamim, that the Har Beis Hashem shall be established as the rosh of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all the Goyim shall flow unto it.
3 And amim rabbim (many peoples) shall come and say, Come ye, and let us go up to Har Hashem, to the Beis Elohei Ya’akov; and He will teach us of His Derakhim, and we will walk in His Orakhot; for out of Tziyon shall go forth the torah, and the Devar Hashem from Yerushalayim.
4 And He shall judge among the Goyim, and shall arbitrate for amim rabbim; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Goy shall not lift up cherev against Goy, neither shall they train for milchamah any more.
5 O Bais Ya’akov, come ye, and let us walk in the Ohr Hashem.
6 Therefore Thou hast abandoned Thy people Bais Ya’akov, because they have found their fullness from Kedem (the East), and practice divination like the Pelishtim, and they clasp hands contentedly with yaldei nochrim (children of foreigners).
7 Their land also is full of kesef and zahav, neither is there any end of their otzarot; their land is also full of susim, neither is there any end of their merkevot:
8 Their land also is full of elilim; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own etzbe’ot have made;
9 And adam are humbled and ish are brought low; therefore forgive them not.
10 Enter into the Tzur, and hide thee in the aphar, for pachad Hashem, and for the hadar of His majesty.
11 The lofty looks of adam shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of anashim shall be brought low, and Hashem alone shall be exalted in Yom Hahu.
12 For the Yom L’Hashem Tzva’os shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
13 And upon all the cedars of Levanon, that are high and lofty, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
14 And upon kol heharim, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
15 And upon every lofty migdal, and upon every fortified chomah (wall),
16 And upon all the oniyyot of Tarshish, and upon all the beautiful ships.
17 And the haughtiness of adam shall be humbled, and the pride of anashim shall be brought low; and Hashem alone shall be exalted in Yom Hahu.
18 And the elilim shall utterly pass away.
19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of aphar, for pachad (terror of) Hashem, and for the hadar of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake ha’aretz.
20 In Yom Hahu a man shall cast his elilei kesef, and his elilei zahav, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the crags before pachad (terror) of Hashem, and for the hadar of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake ha’aretz.
22 Cease ye from HaAdam, whose neshamah is in his nostrils: for of what account is he?
3 For, hinei, HaAdon, Hashem Tzva’os, doth take away from Yerushalayim and from Yehudah supply and support, the whole supply of lechem, and the whole supply of mayim.
2 The Gibbor, and the Ish Milchamah, the Shofet, and the Navi, the Diviner, and the Zaken,
3 The sar chamishim, the men of rank and yo’etz (counselor), and masters in art, and the expert enchanter.
4 And I will make ne’arim (lads) to be their sarim, and babes shall rule over them.
5 And HaAm shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his re’a; the na’ar shall behave himself proudly against the zaken, and the base against the honorable.
6 When an ish shall take hold of his brother of his bais avi, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our katzin, and let this ruin be under thy yad;
7 In Yom Hahu shall he protest, saying, I am no curer of your ills; for in my bais is neither lechem nor simlah (clothing); make me not a Katzin Am.
8 For Yerushalayim is ruined, and Yehudah fallen; because their leshon and their deeds are against Hashem, to provoke the eyes of His kavod.
9 The show of their countenance doth testify against them; and they make known their chet like S’dom; they conceal it not. Oy to their nefesh! For they do ra’ah unto themselves.
10 Say ye to the tzaddik, that it shall be tov with him; for they shall eat the p’ri of their deeds.
11 Oy to the rasha! It shall be rah with him; for what his hands have wrought will be done to him.
12 As for My people, children are their nogesim (taskmasters), and nashim rule over them. O My people, they which lead thee cause thee to go astray, misleading and swallowing up the Derech Orkhot (way of paths) of thee.
13 Hashem hath stood to accuse, and standeth for Din (judging) the Amim (Nations).
14 Hashem will enter into mishpat with the Ziknei Amo (Elders of His People), and the sarim thereof; for ye have eaten up the kerem (vineyard); the plunder of the oni is in your batim (houses).
15 What mean ye that ye crush Ami, and grind the faces of the aniyim? saith Adonoi Hashem Tzva’os.
16 Moreover Hashem saith, Because the Banot Tziyon are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and winking [flirtatious] eyes, walking and tripping along as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet [ankle rings];
17 Therefore Adonoi will strike with a scab the kodkod (top of the head) Banot Tziyon, and Hashem will lay bare their nakedness.
18 In Yom Hahu, Adonoi will take away the fine show of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their headbands, and their crescent necklaces,
19 The earrings, and the bracelets, and the veils,
20 The diadems, and the ankle chains, and the girdles, and the perfume bottles, and the lechashim (amulets),
21 The taba’ot (rings), and nose rings,
22 The machalatzot (festal robes), and the mantles, and the cloaks, and the charitim (money purses),
23 The hand mirrors, and the sedinim (linen coverings), and the tzenifot (turbans), and the veils.
24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of fragrance there shall be stench; and instead of a sash, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a rich cloak, a wrapping of sak (sackcloth); and branding instead of yofi (beauty).
25 Thy men shall fall by the cherev, and thy gevurah in milchamah.
26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon ha’aretz.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International