Isaiah 1:18-31
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
18 Come now, let us argue it out,
says the Lord:
If your sins are like scarlet,
will they become like snow?
If they are red like crimson,
will they become like wool?(A)
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land,(B)
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured by the sword,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(C)
The Degenerate City
21 How the faithful city
has become a prostitute!
She that was full of justice,
righteousness lodged in her—
but now murderers!(D)
22 Your silver has become dross;
your wine is mixed with water.(E)
23 Your princes are rebels
and companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe
and runs after gifts.
They do not defend the orphan,
and the widow’s cause does not come before them.(F)
24 Therefore says the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel:
Surely I will pour out my wrath on my enemies
and avenge myself on my foes!(G)
25 I will turn my hand against you;
I will smelt away your dross as with lye
and remove all your alloy.(H)
26 And I will restore your judges as at the first
and your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness,
the faithful city.(I)
27 Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
28 But rebels and sinners shall be destroyed together,
and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.(J)
29 For you shall be ashamed of the oaks
in which you delighted,
and you shall blush for the gardens
that you have chosen.(K)
30 For you shall be like an oak
whose leaf withers
and like a garden without water.
31 The strong shall become like tinder
and their work like a spark;
they and their work shall burn together,
with no one to quench them.(L)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.