Isaiah 1:18-31

English Standard Version

¹⁸“Come now, ^(A)let us reason^[a] together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as ^(B)white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
    they shall become like wool.
¹⁹^(C)If you are willing and obedient,
    you shall eat the good of the land;
²⁰but if you refuse and rebel,
    you shall be eaten by the sword;
    ^(D)for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The Unfaithful City

²¹How the faithful city
    ^(E)has become a whore,^[b]
    ^(F)she who was full of justice!
Righteousness lodged in her,
    but now murderers.
²²^(G)Your silver has become dross,
    your best wine mixed with water.
²³Your princes are rebels
    and companions of thieves.
Everyone ^(H)loves a bribe
    and runs after gifts.
^(I)They do not bring justice to the fatherless,
    and the widow's cause does not come to them.

²⁴Therefore the ^(J)Lord declares,
    the Lord of hosts,
    the ^(K)Mighty One of Israel:
“Ah, I will get relief from my enemies
    ^(L)and avenge myself on my foes.
²⁵^(M)I will turn my hand against you
    and will smelt away your ^(N)dross as with lye
    and remove all your alloy.
²⁶And I will restore your judges ^(O)as at the first,
    and your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward ^(P)you shall be called the city of righteousness,
    the faithful city.”

²⁷^(Q)Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
    and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
²⁸^(R)But rebels and sinners shall be broken together,
    and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
²⁹^(S)For they^[c] shall be ashamed of ^(T)the oaks
    that you desired;
and you shall blush for ^(U)the gardens
    that you have chosen.
³⁰For you shall be ^(V)like an oak
    whose leaf withers,
    and like a garden without water.
³¹And the strong shall become ^(W)tinder,
    and his work a spark,
and both of them shall burn together,
    with ^(X)none to quench them.