Isaiah 1:21-5:30
New King James Version
The Degenerate City
21 (A)How the faithful city has become a [a]harlot!
It was full of justice;
Righteousness lodged in it,
But now (B)murderers.
22 (C)Your silver has become dross,
Your wine mixed with water.
23 (D)Your princes are rebellious,
And (E)companions of thieves;
(F)Everyone loves bribes,
And follows after rewards.
They (G)do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.
24 Therefore the Lord says,
The Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel,
“Ah, (H)I will [b]rid Myself of My adversaries,
And [c]take vengeance on My enemies.
25 I will turn My hand against you,
And (I)thoroughly[d] purge away your dross,
And take away all your alloy.
26 I will restore your judges (J)as at the first,
And your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward (K)you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”
27 Zion shall be redeemed with justice,
And her [e]penitents with righteousness.
28 The (L)destruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together,
And those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
29 For [f]they shall be ashamed of the [g]terebinth trees
Which you have desired;
And you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens
Which you have chosen.
30 For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades,
And as a garden that has no water.
31 (M)The strong shall be as tinder,
And the work of it as a spark;
Both will burn together,
And no one shall (N)quench them.
The Future House of God(O)
2 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 Now (P)it shall come to pass (Q)in the latter days
(R)That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
3 Many people shall come and say,
(S)“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
(T)For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning [h]hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.
The Day of the Lord
5 O house of Jacob, come and let us (U)walk
In the light of the Lord.
6 For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob,
Because they are filled (V)with eastern ways;
They are (W)soothsayers like the Philistines,
(X)And they [i]are pleased with the children of foreigners.
7 (Y)Their land is also full of silver and gold,
And there is no end to their treasures;
Their land is also full of horses,
And there is no end to their chariots.
8 (Z)Their land is also full of idols;
They worship the work of their own hands,
That which their own fingers have made.
9 People bow down,
And each man humbles himself;
Therefore do not forgive them.
10 (AA)Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust,
From the terror of the Lord
And the glory of His majesty.
11 The [j]lofty looks of man shall be (AB)humbled,
The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down,
And the Lord alone shall be exalted (AC)in that day.
12 For the day of the Lord of hosts
Shall come upon everything proud and lofty,
Upon everything lifted up—
And it shall be brought low—
13 Upon all (AD)the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up,
And upon all the oaks of Bashan;
14 (AE)Upon all the high mountains,
And upon all the hills that are lifted up;
15 Upon every high tower,
And upon every fortified wall;
16 (AF)Upon all the ships of Tarshish,
And upon all the beautiful sloops.
17 The [k]loftiness of man shall be bowed down,
And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low;
The Lord alone will be exalted in that day,
18 But the idols [l]He shall utterly abolish.
19 They shall go into the (AG)holes of the rocks,
And into the caves of the [m]earth,
(AH)From the terror of the Lord
And the glory of His majesty,
When He arises (AI)to shake the earth mightily.
20 In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver
And his idols of gold,
Which they made, each for himself to worship,
To the moles and bats,
21 To go into the clefts of the rocks,
And into the crags of the rugged rocks,
From the terror of the Lord
And the glory of His majesty,
When He arises to shake the earth mightily.
22 (AJ)Sever[n] yourselves from such a man,
Whose (AK)breath is in his nostrils;
For [o]of what account is he?
Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem
3 For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
(AL)Takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah
(AM)The[p] stock and the store,
The whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water;
2 (AN)The mighty man and the man of war,
The judge and the prophet,
And the diviner and the elder;
3 The captain of fifty and the [q]honorable man,
The counselor and the skillful artisan,
And the expert enchanter.
4 “I will give (AO)children[r] to be their princes,
And [s]babes shall rule over them.
5 The people will be oppressed,
Every one by another and every one by his neighbor;
The child will be insolent toward the [t]elder,
And the [u]base toward the honorable.”
6 When a man takes hold of his brother
In the house of his father, saying,
“You have clothing;
You be our ruler,
And let these ruins be under your [v]power,”
7 In that day he will protest, saying,
“I cannot cure your ills,
For in my house is neither food nor clothing;
Do not make me a ruler of the people.”
8 For (AP)Jerusalem stumbled,
And Judah is fallen,
Because their tongue and their doings
Are against the Lord,
To provoke the eyes of His glory.
9 The look on their countenance witnesses against them,
And they declare their sin as (AQ)Sodom;
They do not hide it.
Woe to their soul!
For they have brought evil upon themselves.
10 “Say to the righteous (AR)that it shall be well with them,
(AS)For they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
11 Woe to the wicked! (AT)It shall be ill with him,
For the reward of his hands shall be [w]given him.
12 As for My people, children are their oppressors,
And women rule over them.
O My people! (AU)Those who lead you [x]cause you to err,
And destroy the way of your paths.”
Oppression and Luxury Condemned
13 The Lord stands up (AV)to [y]plead,
And stands to judge the people.
14 The Lord will enter into judgment
With the elders of His people
And His princes:
“For you have [z]eaten up (AW)the vineyard;
The plunder of the poor is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by (AX)crushing My people
And grinding the faces of the poor?”
Says the Lord God of hosts.
16 Moreover the Lord says:
“Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,
And walk with [aa]outstretched necks
And [ab]wanton eyes,
Walking and [ac]mincing as they go,
Making a jingling with their feet,
17 Therefore the Lord will strike with (AY)a scab
The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion,
And the Lord will (AZ)uncover their secret parts.”
18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery:
The jingling anklets, the [ad]scarves, and the (BA)crescents;
19 The pendants, the bracelets, and the veils;
20 The headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands;
The perfume boxes, the charms,
21 and the rings;
The nose jewels,
22 the festal apparel, and the mantles;
The outer garments, the purses,
23 and the mirrors;
The fine linen, the turbans, and the robes.
24 And so it shall be:
Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench;
Instead of a sash, a rope;
Instead of well-set hair, (BB)baldness;
Instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth;
And [ae]branding instead of beauty.
25 Your men shall fall by the sword,
And your [af]mighty in the war.
Jerusalem’s Glorious Future
4 And (BE)in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying,
“We will (BF)eat our own food and wear our own apparel;
Only let us be called by your name,
To take away (BG)our reproach.”
The Renewal of Zion
2 In that day (BH)the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious;
And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing
For those of Israel who have escaped.
3 And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem (BI)will be called holy—everyone who is (BJ)recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 4 When (BK)the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the [ag]blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, 5 then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, (BL)a cloud and smoke by day and (BM)the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a [ah]covering. 6 And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, (BN)for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.
God’s Disappointing Vineyard
5 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
A song of my Beloved (BO)regarding His vineyard:
My Well-beloved has a vineyard
[ai]On a very fruitful hill.
2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
He built a tower in its midst,
And also [aj]made a winepress in it;
(BP)So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
But it brought forth wild grapes.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
(BQ)Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
4 What more could have been done to My vineyard
That I have not done in (BR)it?
Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
Did it bring forth wild grapes?
5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:
(BS)I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned;
And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will lay it (BT)waste;
It shall not be pruned or [ak]dug,
But there shall come up briers and (BU)thorns.
I will also command the clouds
That they rain no rain on it.”
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.
He looked for justice, but behold, oppression;
For righteousness, but behold, [al]a cry for help.
Impending Judgment on Excesses
8 Woe to those who [am]join (BV)house to house;
They add field to field,
Till there is no place
Where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!
9 (BW)In my hearing the Lord of hosts said,
“Truly, many houses shall be desolate,
Great and beautiful ones, without inhabitant.
10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one (BX)bath,[an]
And a homer of seed shall yield one [ao]ephah.”
11 (BY)Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
That they may [ap]follow intoxicating drink;
Who continue until night, till wine inflames them!
12 (BZ)The harp and the strings,
The tambourine and flute,
And wine are in their feasts;
But (CA)they do not regard the work of the Lord,
Nor consider the operation of His hands.
13 (CB)Therefore my people have gone into captivity,
Because they have no (CC)knowledge;
Their honorable men are famished,
And their multitude dried up with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself
And opened its mouth beyond measure;
Their glory and their multitude and their pomp,
And he who is jubilant, shall descend into it.
15 People shall be brought down,
(CD)Each man shall be humbled,
And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
16 But the Lord of hosts shall be (CE)exalted in judgment,
And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.
17 Then the lambs shall feed in their pasture,
And in the waste places of (CF)the [aq]fat ones strangers shall eat.
18 Woe to those who [ar]draw iniquity with cords of [as]vanity,
And sin as if with a cart rope;
19 (CG)That say, “Let Him make speed and hasten His work,
That we may see it;
And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come,
That we may know it.”
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are (CH)wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!
22 Woe to men mighty at drinking wine,
Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,
23 Who (CI)justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away justice from the righteous man!
24 Therefore, (CJ)as the [at]fire devours the stubble,
And the flame consumes the chaff,
So (CK)their root will be as rottenness,
And their blossom will ascend like dust;
Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 (CL)Therefore the anger of the Lord is aroused against His people;
He has stretched out His hand against them
And stricken them,
And (CM)the hills trembled.
Their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the streets.
(CN)For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
26 (CO)He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar,
And will (CP)whistle to them from (CQ)the end of the earth;
Surely (CR)they shall come with speed, swiftly.
27 No one will be weary or stumble among them,
No one will slumber or sleep;
Nor (CS)will the belt on their loins be loosed,
Nor the strap of their sandals be broken;
28 (CT)Whose arrows are sharp,
And all their bows bent;
Their horses’ hooves will [au]seem like flint,
And their wheels like a whirlwind.
29 Their roaring will be like a lion,
They will roar like young lions;
Yes, they will roar
And lay hold of the prey;
They will carry it away safely,
And no one will deliver.
30 In that day they will roar against them
Like the roaring of the sea.
And if one (CU)looks to the land,
Behold, darkness and [av]sorrow;
And the light is darkened by the clouds.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 1:21 Unfaithful
- Isaiah 1:24 be relieved of
- Isaiah 1:24 avenge Myself
- Isaiah 1:25 refine with lye
- Isaiah 1:27 Lit. returners
- Isaiah 1:29 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; some Heb. mss., Tg. you
- Isaiah 1:29 Sites of pagan worship
- Isaiah 2:4 knives
- Isaiah 2:6 Or clap, shake hands to make bargains with the children
- Isaiah 2:11 proud
- Isaiah 2:17 pride
- Isaiah 2:18 Or shall utterly vanish
- Isaiah 2:19 Lit. dust
- Isaiah 2:22 Lit. Cease yourselves from the man
- Isaiah 2:22 Lit. in what is he to be esteemed
- Isaiah 3:1 Every support
- Isaiah 3:3 Eminent looking men
- Isaiah 3:4 boys
- Isaiah 3:4 Or capricious ones
- Isaiah 3:5 aged
- Isaiah 3:5 despised, lightly esteemed
- Isaiah 3:6 Lit. hand
- Isaiah 3:11 done to him
- Isaiah 3:12 lead you astray
- Isaiah 3:13 contend, plead His case
- Isaiah 3:14 burned
- Isaiah 3:16 Head held high
- Isaiah 3:16 seductive, ogling
- Isaiah 3:16 tripping or skipping
- Isaiah 3:18 headbands
- Isaiah 3:24 burning scar
- Isaiah 3:25 Lit. strength
- Isaiah 4:4 bloodshed
- Isaiah 4:5 canopy
- Isaiah 5:1 Lit. In a horn, the son of fatness
- Isaiah 5:2 Lit. hewed out
- Isaiah 5:6 hoed
- Isaiah 5:7 wailing
- Isaiah 5:8 Accumulate houses
- Isaiah 5:10 1 bath=1⁄10 homer
- Isaiah 5:10 1 ephah=1⁄10 homer
- Isaiah 5:11 pursue
- Isaiah 5:17 Lit. fatlings, rich ones
- Isaiah 5:18 drag
- Isaiah 5:18 emptiness or falsehood
- Isaiah 5:24 Lit. tongue of fire
- Isaiah 5:28 Lit. be regarded as
- Isaiah 5:30 distress
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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