Isaiah 1
EasyEnglish Bible
Isaiah's vision and message
1 This is a vision that God showed to Isaiah, the son of Amoz. It was a message about his country, Judah, and the city of Jerusalem.[a] God showed it to Isaiah at the time when Uzziah, then Jotham, then Ahaz and then Hezekiah were kings of Judah.
God's people are guilty[b]
2 Hear the Lord, those who live in heaven![c] Listen to him, you people on the earth! Listen carefully because the Lord has spoken! He says, ‘I have helped my children to grow. I took care of them but now they have turned against me!
3 An ox knows its master. A donkey knows the place where its master feeds it. But Israel's people do not know me. My people do not understand me.’
4 Oh! Israel, you are a nation of people who do not obey me. The people are guilty of many evil things. Their sins are like a heavy weight on their backs. They are a family of people who do wicked things. They have turned away from the Lord, the Holy God of Israel. They have turned their backs against him.
5 You continue to fight against God. Why do you do that? God will continue to punish you. You are weak and you hurt all over. Your mind and your body have great pain. 6 From the bottom of your feet, to the top of your head, everywhere hurts! There are wounds all over your body that are still bleeding. Nobody has cleaned your wounds or covered them. Nobody has put olive oil on them to make them better.
7 Your land has become useless. Fire has destroyed your towns and cities. Foreign people have taken the crops from your fields, while you stood there and watched. Strangers have destroyed everything in your country.
8 Jerusalem is now like a hut in a vineyard or in a field of crops. It stands there alone, with its enemies all round it.
9 Unless the Lord Almighty had left some of us alive, we would have become like Sodom. We would have been completely destroyed, like Gomorrah.
10 Yes, you are like the rulers of Sodom, so listen to the Lord's message! You are no better than the people in Gomorrah! So listen to what our God is saying to you.
11 The Lord says, ‘All your sacrifices are not important to me. I have received too many sacrifices that you have burned as gifts to me. I have received too many sheep and fat animals. I do not want any more blood from bulls, goats and lambs that you have offered to me as sacrifices. They do not give me any pleasure.
12 You come to worship me in my temple. But are you doing what I want? Did I ask you to march round the temple yards with all your animals?
13 Do not bring any more useless gifts to offer to me! I do not like your incense. You like to have feasts at new moons, or on Sabbath days. But because of your sins, I hate all your holy meetings.
14 I hate your new moon feasts and your holy meetings. They have become like a heavy load for me. I cannot carry it any longer!
15 When you lift up your hands to pray to me, I have to look away. Even if you pray very many times to me, I do not listen to you, because your hands are full of blood.[d]
16 Wash yourselves and make yourselves clean! Remove your sins, so that I no longer see them. Stop doing evil things!
17 Instead, learn to do what is right. Be honest and fair in what you do. Help people who are in pain. Make sure that widows and children who have no family receive justice.’
18 The Lord says, ‘Please come, so that we talk about this together. Even if your sins are like a red stain, they will become as white as snow. Even if they are bright red, they will become like white wool.[e]
19 I will forgive you if you agree to obey me. If you are ready to do that, you will again eat plenty of good food from the land. 20 But if you refuse to obey me and you turn against me, you will die in war.’
That is what the Lord himself has said.
Jerusalem is guilty
21 Oh! Jerusalem! Once you loved the Lord, as a wife loves her husband. But now you have become like a prostitute! At one time, the city was full of justice, and honest people lived there. But now the city is full of murderers!
22 Your pure silver has become dirt. You have mixed water with your best wine.
23 Your rulers have turned against God. They are friends of robbers. They all accept bribes and they love to receive gifts. But they do not help widows or children who have no family. They do not make sure that they receive justice.
24 So the Lord says this. He is the Lord Almighty, Israel's Mighty One. He says, ‘Oh! I will punish my enemies as they deserve. I will pay them back!
25 I will turn against you, Jerusalem. I will make you pure again. But you will be like metal that burns in a very hot fire to remove all the dirt.
26 Then I will again give you honest judges, as you had a long time ago. I will also give you wise officers, as you had before. After that, you will be called “The Righteous City” and “The Faithful City”.’
27 God will use justice to make Zion free. He will do what is right for those who return to serve him.
28 But he will destroy people who turn against him, and those who continue to do wrong things. People who no longer trust the Lord will live no more.
29 You will become ashamed because you trusted special oak trees to help you. You worshipped idols in your special gardens, and you will be ashamed because of that.
30 You will be like an oak tree with leaves that have become dry. You will be like a garden that has no water.
31 Even your most powerful men will disappear. They will be like a piece of string that burns in a fire. Their sins will be the fire that destroys them. They and their sins will burn together, and nobody will put out the fire.
Footnotes
- 1:1 Jerusalem was the capital city of Judah.
- 1:2 In chapters 1-5, Isaiah describes the people who live in Judah and in its capital city, Jerusalem. They have problems because they are not obeying God. God says that he will punish them.
- 1:2 When we write Lord like this, it is a special name for God. Sometimes people write it as ‘Yahweh’, or as ‘Jehovah’. It is his own name that he told Moses. See Exodus 3:14. It means ‘I am who I am’. This shows that God has always been there and he always will be there.
- 1:15 ‘your hands are full of blood’ means that they have killed people, and they have done many bad things.
- 1:18 God is saying that he will forgive them, even if their sins are very bad. A stain is a strong mark that spoils something that is nice.
Isaia 1
La Nuova Diodati
1 La visione d'Isaia, figlio di Amots, che egli ebbe riguardo a Giuda, e a Gerusalemme ai giorni di Uzziah, di Jotham, di Achaz e di Ezechia re di Giuda.
2 Udite, o cieli, e ascolta, o terra, perché l'Eterno ha parlato: «Ho allevato dei figli e li ho fatti crescere, ma essi si sono ribellati contro di me.
3 Il bue riconosce il suo proprietario e l'asino la mangiatoia del suo padrone, ma Israele non ha conoscenza e il mio popolo non ha intendimento».
4 Guai, nazione peccatrice, popolo carico di iniquità, razza di malfattori, figli che operano perversamente! Hanno abbandonato l'Eterno, hanno disprezzato il Santo d'Israele, si sono sviati e voltati indietro.
5 Perché volete essere ulteriormente colpiti? Vi ribellereste ancor di piú. Tutto il capo è malato, tutto il cuore langue.
6 Dalla pianta del piede fino alla testa non vi è nulla di sano: solo ferite, lividure e piaghe aperte, che non sono state pulite né fasciate né lenite con olio.
7 Il vostro paese è desolato, le vostre città arse dal fuoco, il vostro suolo lo divorano gli stranieri sotto i vostri occhi; è una desolazione come se fosse distrutto da stranieri.
8 Cosí la figlia di Sion è rimasta come un capanno in una vigna, come una capanna in un campo di cocomeri, come una città assediata.
9 Se l'Eterno degli eserciti non ci avesse lasciato un piccolo residuo, saremmo come Sodoma, assomiglieremmo a Gomorra.
10 Ascoltate la parola dell'Eterno, o capi di Sodoma, prestate orecchio alla legge del nostro DIO, o popolo di Gomorra!
11 «Che m'importa la moltitudine dei vostri sacrifici, dice l'Eterno. Sono sazio degli olocausti di montoni e del grasso di bestie ingrassate; il sangue dei tori, degli agnelli e dei capri non lo gradisco.
12 Quando venite a presentarvi davanti a me, chi ha richiesto questo da voi, che calpestiate i miei cortili?
13 Smettete di portare oblazioni inutili; l'incenso, è per me un abominio; non posso sopportare i noviluni e i sabati, il convocare assemblee e l'iniquità assieme alle riunioni sacre.
14 Io odio i vostri noviluni e le vostre feste solenni; sono un peso per me, sono stanco di sopportarle.
15 Quando stendete le vostre mani, io nascondo i miei occhi da voi; anche se moltiplicate le preghiere, io non ascolto; le vostre mani sono piene di sangue.
16 Lavatevi, purificatevi, togliete dalla mia presenza la malvagità delle vostre azioni, cessate di fare il male.
17 Imparate a fare il bene, cercate la giustizia, soccorrete l'oppresso, rendete giustizia all'orfano, difendete la causa della vedova.
18 Venite quindi e discutiamo assieme, dice l'Eterno, anche se i vostri peccati fossero come scarlatto, diventeranno bianchi come neve; anche se fossero rossi come porpora, diventeranno come lana.
19 Se siete disposti a ubbidire, mangerete le cose migliori del paese;
20 ma se rifiutate e vi ribellate, sarete divorati dalla spada», perché la bocca dell'Eterno ha parlato.
21 Come mai la città fedele è divenuta una prostituta? Era piena di rettitudine, la giustizia vi dimorava, ma ora vi abitano gli assassini.
22 ll tuo argento è diventato scorie, il tuo vino è stato diluito con acqua.
23 I tuoi principi sono ribelli e compagni di ladri; tutti amano regali e corrono dietro alle ricompense. Non fanno giustizia all'orfano, e la causa della vedova non giunge davanti a loro.
24 Perciò il Signore, l'Eterno degli eserciti, il Potente d'Israele dice: «Ah, mi vendicherò dei miei avversari e farò vendetta dei miei nemici.
25 Metterò nuovamente la mia mano su di te, ti purificherò delle tue scorie come con la soda e rimuoverò tutto il tuo piombo.
26 Ristabilirò i tuoi giudici come erano all'inizio, e i tuoi consiglieri come erano al principio. Dopo questo, sarai chiamata" la città della giustizia", "la città fedele".
27 Sion sarà redenta mediante la rettitudine, e i suoi convertiti mediante la giustizia.
28 Ma i ribelli e i peccatori saranno distrutti assieme, e quelli che abbandonano l'Eterno saranno sterminati.
29 Allora avrete vergogna delle querce che avete amato e arrossirete dei giardini che avete scelto.
30 Poiché sarete come una quercia dalle foglie appassite e come un giardino senz'acqua.
31 L'uomo forte sarà come stoppia e la sua opera come una favilla; bruceranno insieme tutte e due e nessuno li spegnerà».
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