Rebellion of God’s People

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning (A)Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw during the [a]reigns of (B)Uzziah, (C)Jotham, (D)Ahaz, and (E)Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

(F)Listen, heavens, and hear, (G)earth;
For the Lord has spoken:
(H)Sons I have raised and brought up,
But they have (I)revolted against Me.
An ox knows its owner,
And a donkey its master’s manger,
But Israel (J)does not know,
My people (K)do not understand.”

Oh, sinful nation,
People weighed down with guilt,
[b](L)Offspring of evildoers,
Sons who (M)act corruptly!
They have (N)abandoned the Lord,
They have (O)despised the Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away [c]from Him.

Where will you be stricken again,
As you (P)continue in your rebellion?
The entire head is (Q)sick
And the entire heart is faint.
(R)From the sole of the foot even to the head
There is (S)nothing healthy in it,
Only bruises, slashes, and raw wounds;
(T)Not pressed out nor bandaged,
Nor softened with oil.

Your (U)land is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
As for your fields, strangers are devouring them in front of you;
It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers.
The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard,
Like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a city under watch.
(V)If the Lord of armies
Had not left us a few (W)survivors,
We would be like (X)Sodom,
We would be like Gomorrah.

God Has Had Enough

10 Hear (Y)the word of the Lord,
You rulers of (Z)Sodom;
Listen to the instruction of our God,
You people of Gomorrah!
11 (AA)What are your many sacrifices to Me?”
Says the Lord.
“I [d]have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fattened cattle;
And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats.
12 When you come (AB)to appear before Me,
Who requires [e]of you this trampling of My courtyards?
13 Do not go on bringing your worthless offerings,
(AC)Incense is an abomination to Me.
(AD)New moon and Sabbath, the (AE)proclamation of an assembly—
I cannot (AF)endure wrongdoing and the festive assembly.
14 [f]I hate your new moon festivals and your (AG)appointed feasts,
They have become a burden to Me;
I am (AH)tired of bearing them.
15 So when you (AI)spread out your hands in prayer,
(AJ)I will hide My eyes from you;
Yes, even though you (AK)offer many prayers,
I will not be listening.
(AL)Your hands are [g]covered with blood.

16 (AM)Wash yourselves, (AN)make yourselves clean;
(AO)Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight.
(AP)Stop doing evil,
17 Learn to do good;
(AQ)Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor,
(AR)Obtain justice for the orphan,
Plead for the widow’s case.

Invitation to Debate

18 “Come now, and (AS)let us [h]debate your case,”
Says the Lord,
(AT)Though your sins are as scarlet,
They shall become as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be like wool.
19 (AU)If you are willing and obedient,
You will (AV)eat the best of the land;
20 But if you refuse and rebel,
You will be (AW)devoured by the sword.”
For (AX)the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Zion Corrupted; Will Be Redeemed

21 How the faithful city has become a (AY)prostitute,
She who was full of justice!
Righteousness once dwelt in her,
But now murderers.
22 Your silver has become [i]waste matter,
Your drink diluted with water.
23 Your (AZ)rulers are rebels
And companions of thieves;
Everyone (BA)loves a bribe
And chases after gifts.
They (BB)do not obtain justice for the [j]orphan,
Nor does the widow’s case come before them.

24 Therefore the Lord [k]God of armies,
The (BC)Mighty One of Israel, declares,
“Ah, I will have satisfaction against My adversaries,
And (BD)avenge Myself on My enemies.
25 I will also turn My hand against you,
And (BE)smelt away your impurities as with lye;
And I will remove all your slag.
26 Then I will restore your (BF)judges as at first,
And your counselors as at the beginning;
After that you will be called the (BG)city of righteousness,
A faithful city.”

27 Zion will be (BH)redeemed with justice
And her [l]repentant ones with righteousness.
28 But [m]wrongdoers and sinners together will be (BI)broken,
And those who abandon the Lord will come to an end.
29 [n]You certainly will be ashamed of the [o](BJ)oaks which you have desired,
And you will be embarrassed by the (BK)gardens which you have chosen.
30 For you will be like an [p]oak whose (BL)leaf withers away,
Or like a garden that has no water.
31 The strong man will become like [q]flax fiber,
And his work a spark.
So they shall both (BM)burn together
And there will be (BN)no one to extinguish them.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 1:1 Lit days
  2. Isaiah 1:4 Lit Seed
  3. Isaiah 1:4 Lit backward
  4. Isaiah 1:11 Or am sated with
  5. Isaiah 1:12 Lit of your hand
  6. Isaiah 1:14 Lit My soul hates
  7. Isaiah 1:15 Lit full of
  8. Isaiah 1:18 Or argue
  9. Isaiah 1:22 Lit dross
  10. Isaiah 1:23 Or fatherless
  11. Isaiah 1:24 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  12. Isaiah 1:27 Or returning
  13. Isaiah 1:28 Lit a breaking of wrongdoers and sinners together
  14. Isaiah 1:29 As in some mss; MT They
  15. Isaiah 1:29 Or terebinths
  16. Isaiah 1:30 Or terebinth
  17. Isaiah 1:31 Lit tow

The chazon (vision) of Yeshayah ben Amotz, which he saw concerning Yehudah and Yerushalayim in the yamim of Uziyahu, Yotam, Achaz, and Yechizkiyahu, melachim of Yehudah.

Hear, O Shomayim, and give ear, O Eretz, for Hashem hath spoken; I have nourished and brought up banim, and they have rebelled against Me [i.e., willfully flouted My authority. See Yeshayah 53:5,8].

The ox knoweth his owner, and the donkey his master’s manger; but Yisroel doth not know, My people doth not consider.

Ah, goy choteh (sinful nation), a people weighed down with avon (guilt, iniquity), zera of evildoers, banim of corruption; they forsook Hashem, they have spurned the Kadosh Yisroel (the Holy One of Yisroel), they have turned their back on Him. [T.N. Here we see it is 'My people’ (Ex 6:6-7) who are stricken, whereas in Yeshayah 53:8 it is Moshiach Ben Dovid who is stricken for My people.]

Why, seeing that ye will be stricken again, will ye rebel stubbornly again? The kol rosh is sick, and the kol levav faint.

From the sole of the regel even unto the rosh there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores; they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither soothed with shemen.

Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with eish; your land, zarim devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by zarim.

And the Bat Tziyon (i.e., Yerushalayim) is left as a sukkah in a kerem (vineyard), as a shack in a cucumber field, as an ir (city) under siege.

Except Hashem Tzva’os had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Amora (Gomorrah).

10 Hear the Devar Hashem, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the Torat Eloheinu, ye people of Amora (Gomorrah).

11 To what purpose is the multitude of your zevakhim unto Me? saith Hashem; I am fed up of the olot (burnt offerings) of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the dahm of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.

12 When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample khatzerai (My courts)?

13 Bring no more futile minchot; ketoret is an abomination unto Me; Rosh Chodesh (New Moon) and Shabbos, the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure aven (wickedness) and atzarah (solemn convocation).

14 Your Rosh Chodesh and your Mo’adim My Nefesh hateth; they are a burden unto Me; I am weary to bear them.

15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many tefillah, I will not hear; your hands are full of dahmim.

16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil;

17 Learn to do good; seek mishpat, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the almanah.

18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith Hashem; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of ha’aretz;

20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the cherev; for the mouth of Hashem hath spoken.

21 How is the Kiryah Ne’emanah (Faithful City, i.e., Yerushalayim) become a zonah (harlot)! It was full of mishpat; tzedek lodged in it; but now murderers.

22 Thy kesef is become dross, thy wine mixed with mayim:

23 Thy sarim (princes) are rebellious, and companions of ganavim: every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they give no justice to the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the almanah come unto them.

24 Therefore saith HaAdon, Hashem Tzva’os, Avir Yisroel (the Mighty One of Yisroel), Ah, I will relieve Myself of Mine adversaries, and avenge Me of Mine enemies:

25 And I will turn My hand upon thee, and refine away thy impurities, and take away all thy alloy:

26 And I will restore thy shofetim as at the first, and thy counselors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The Ir HaTzedek, the Kiryah Ne’emanah.

27 Tziyon shall be redeemed with mishpat, and those in her who make teshuvah with tzedakah.

28 And the destruction of the poshe’im and of the chote’im shall be together, and they that forsake Hashem shall be consumed.

29 For they shall be ashamed of the sacred oaks which ye have delighted in, and ye shall blush for the gannot (gardens) that ye have chosen.

30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no mayim. [T.N. The unquenchable fire of the apostate in the first chapter points to the unquenchable fire of Gehinnom in the last verse of the last chapter (66:24) and the loathesomeness of those there—Daniel 12:2].

31 And the strong shall be as tinder, and the maker of it [the idol] as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.