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

24 Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    the Mighty One(I) of Israel, declares:
“Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes
    and avenge(J) myself on my enemies.(K)
25 I will turn my hand against you;[a](L)
    I will thoroughly purge(M) away your dross(N)
    and remove all your impurities.(O)
26 I will restore your leaders as in days of old,(P)
    your rulers as at the beginning.
Afterward you will be called(Q)
    the City of Righteousness,(R)
    the Faithful City.(S)

27 Zion will be delivered with justice,
    her penitent(T) ones with righteousness.(U)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 1:25 That is, against Jerusalem

“If a man divorces(A) his wife
    and she leaves him and marries another man,
should he return to her again?
    Would not the land be completely defiled?(B)
But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers(C)
    would you now return to me?”(D)
declares the Lord.
“Look up to the barren heights(E) and see.
    Is there any place where you have not been ravished?
By the roadside(F) you sat waiting for lovers,
    sat like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land(G)
    with your prostitution(H) and wickedness.
Therefore the showers have been withheld,(I)
    and no spring rains(J) have fallen.
Yet you have the brazen(K) look of a prostitute;
    you refuse to blush with shame.(L)

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Unfaithful Israel

During the reign of King Josiah,(A) the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what faithless(B) Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree(C) and has committed adultery(D) there. I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister(E) Judah saw it.(F) I gave faithless Israel(G) her certificate of divorce(H) and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear;(I) she also went out and committed adultery. Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land(J) and committed adultery(K) with stone(L) and wood.(M)

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