⁴ Woe to the sinful nation,
    a people whose guilt is great,^(P)
a brood of evildoers,^(Q)
    children given to corruption!^(R)
They have forsaken^(S) the Lord;
    they have spurned the Holy One^(T) of Israel
    and turned their backs^(U) on him.

⁵ Why should you be beaten^(V) anymore?
    Why do you persist^(W) in rebellion?^(X)
Your whole head is injured,
    your whole heart^(Y) afflicted.^(Z)
6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head^(AA)
    there is no soundness^(AB)—
only wounds and welts^(AC)
    and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged^(AD)
    or soothed with olive oil.^(AE)

⁷ Your country is desolate,^(AF)
    your cities burned with fire;^(AG)
your fields are being stripped by foreigners^(AH)
    right before you,
    laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.^(AI)
8 Daughter Zion^(AJ) is left^(AK)
    like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut^(AL) in a cucumber field,
    like a city under siege.
⁹ Unless the Lord Almighty
    had left us some survivors,^(AM)
we would have become like Sodom,
    we would have been like Gomorrah.^(AN)

¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord,^(AO)
    you rulers of Sodom;^(AP)
listen to the instruction^(AQ) of our God,
    you people of Gomorrah!^(AR)
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices—
    what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
    of rams and the fat of fattened animals;^(AS)
I have no pleasure^(AT)
    in the blood of bulls^(AU) and lambs and goats.^(AV)
12 When you come to appear before me,
    who has asked this of you,^(AW)
    this trampling of my courts?
¹³ Stop bringing meaningless offerings!^(AX)
    Your incense^(AY) is detestable^(AZ) to me.
New Moons,^(BA) Sabbaths and convocations^(BB)—
    I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
¹⁴ Your New Moon^(BC) feasts and your appointed festivals^(BD)
    I hate with all my being.^(BE)
They have become a burden to me;^(BF)
    I am weary^(BG) of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands^(BH) in prayer,
    I hide^(BI) my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
    I am not listening.^(BJ)

Your hands^(BK) are full of blood!^(BL)

¹⁶ Wash^(BM) and make yourselves clean.
    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;^(BN)
    stop doing wrong.^(BO)
17 Learn to do right;^(BP) seek justice.^(BQ)
    Defend the oppressed.^[a](BR)
Take up the cause of the fatherless;^(BS)
    plead the case of the widow.^(BT)

¹⁸ “Come now, let us settle the matter,”^(BU)
    says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;^(BV)
though they are red as crimson,
    they shall be like wool.^(BW)
19 If you are willing and obedient,^(BX)
    you will eat the good things of the land;^(BY)
20 but if you resist and rebel,^(BZ)
    you will be devoured by the sword.”^(CA)
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.^(CB)

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

²⁴ Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    the Mighty One^(CK) of Israel, declares:
“Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes
    and avenge^(CL) myself on my enemies.^(CM)
25 I will turn my hand against you;^[b](CN)
    I will thoroughly purge^(CO) away your dross^(CP)
    and remove all your impurities.^(CQ)
26 I will restore your leaders as in days of old,^(CR)
    your rulers as at the beginning.
Afterward you will be called^(CS)
    the City of Righteousness,^(CT)
    the Faithful City.^(CU)”

²⁷ Zion will be delivered with justice,
    her penitent^(CV) ones with righteousness.^(CW)
28 But rebels and sinners^(CX) will both be broken,
    and those who forsake^(CY) the Lord will perish.^(CZ)

²⁹ “You will be ashamed^(DA) because of the sacred oaks^(DB)
    in which you have delighted;
you will be disgraced because of the gardens^(DC)
    that you have chosen.
³⁰ You will be like an oak with fading leaves,^(DD)
    like a garden without water.
³¹ The mighty man will become tinder
    and his work a spark;
both will burn together,
    with no one to quench the fire.^(DE)”

⁵ But your many enemies will become like fine dust,^(N)
    the ruthless^(O) hordes like blown chaff.^(P)
Suddenly,^(Q) in an instant,
⁶     the Lord Almighty will come^(R)
with thunder^(S) and earthquake^(T) and great noise,
    with windstorm and tempest^(U) and flames of a devouring fire.^(V)
7 Then the hordes of all the nations^(W) that fight against Ariel,^(X)
    that attack her and her fortress and besiege her,
will be as it is with a dream,^(Y)
    with a vision in the night—
⁸ as when a hungry person dreams of eating,
    but awakens^(Z) hungry still;
as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking,
    but awakens faint and thirsty still.^(AA)
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
    that fight against Mount Zion.^(AB)

⁹ Be stunned and amazed,^(AC)
    blind yourselves and be sightless;^(AD)
be drunk,^(AE) but not from wine,^(AF)
    stagger,^(AG) but not from beer.
¹⁰ The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:^(AH)
    He has sealed your eyes^(AI) (the prophets);^(AJ)
    he has covered your heads (the seers).^(AK)

“These people^(AN) come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,^(AO)
    but their hearts are far from me.^(AP)
Their worship of me
    is based on merely human rules they have been taught.^[b](AQ)
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
    with wonder upon wonder;^(AR)
the wisdom of the wise^(AS) will perish,
    the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.^(AT)”
¹⁵ Woe to those who go to great depths
    to hide^(AU) their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
    “Who sees us?^(AV) Who will know?”^(AW)
16 You turn things upside down,
    as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!^(AX)
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed^(AY) it,
    “You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,^(AZ)
    “You know nothing”?^(BA)

¹⁷ In a very short time,^(BB) will not Lebanon^(BC) be turned into a fertile field^(BD)
    and the fertile field seem like a forest?^(BE)
18 In that day^(BF) the deaf^(BG) will hear the words of the scroll,
    and out of gloom and darkness^(BH)
    the eyes of the blind will see.^(BI)
19 Once more the humble^(BJ) will rejoice in the Lord;
    the needy^(BK) will rejoice in the Holy One^(BL) of Israel.
²⁰ The ruthless^(BM) will vanish,^(BN)
    the mockers^(BO) will disappear,
    and all who have an eye for evil^(BP) will be cut down—
²¹ those who with a word make someone out to be guilty,
    who ensnare the defender in court^(BQ)
    and with false testimony^(BR) deprive the innocent of justice.^(BS)

“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;^(BV)
    no longer will their faces grow pale.^(BW)
23 When they see among them their children,^(BX)
    the work of my hands,^(BY)
they will keep my name holy;^(BZ)
    they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One^(CA) of Jacob,
    and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
²⁴ Those who are wayward^(CB) in spirit will gain understanding;^(CC)
    those who complain will accept instruction.”^(CD)