Isaiah 1-4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.(A)
The Wickedness of Judah
2 Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth,
for the Lord has spoken:
I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.(B)
3 The ox knows its owner
and the donkey its master’s crib,
but Israel does not know;
my people do not understand.(C)
4 Woe, sinful nation,
people laden with iniquity,
offspring who do evil,
children who act corruptly,
who have forsaken the Lord,
who have despised the Holy One of Israel,
[[who are utterly estranged!]][a](D)
5 Why do you seek further beatings?
Why do you continue to rebel?
The whole head is injured,
and the whole heart faint.(E)
6 From the sole of the foot to the head,
there is no soundness in it,
only bruises and sores
and bleeding wounds;
they have not been drained or bound up
or softened with oil.(F)
7 Your country lies desolate;
your cities are burned with fire;
in your very presence
aliens devour your land;
it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.(G)
8 And daughter Zion is left
like a booth in a vineyard,
like a shelter in a cucumber field,
like a besieged city.
9 If the Lord of hosts
had not left us a few survivors,
we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah.(H)
10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!(I)
11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls
or of lambs or of goats.(J)
12 When you come to appear before me,[b]
who asked this from your hand?
Trample my courts no more!(K)
13 Bringing offerings is futile;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and calling of convocation—
I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.(L)
14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.(M)
15 When you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.(N)
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove your evil deeds
from before my eyes;
cease to do evil;(O)
17 learn to do good;
seek justice;
rescue the oppressed;
defend the orphan;
plead for the widow.(P)
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?(Q)
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land,(R)
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured by the sword,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(S)
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!(T)
22 Your silver has become dross;
your wine is mixed with water.(U)
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.(V)
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!(W)
25 I will turn my hand against you;
I will smelt away your dross as with lye
and remove all your alloy.(X)
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.(Y)
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.(Z)
29 For you shall be ashamed of the oaks
in which you delighted,
and you shall blush for the gardens
that you have chosen.(AA)
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.(AB)
The Future House of God
2 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.(AC)
2 In days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains
and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.(AD)
3 Many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.(AE)
4 He shall judge between the nations
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation;
neither shall they learn war any more.(AF)
5 O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord!(AG)
Judgment Pronounced on Arrogance
6 You have forsaken your people,
the house of Jacob,
for they are full of diviners[c] from the East
and of soothsayers like the Philistines,
and they clasp hands with foreigners.(AH)
7 Their land is filled with silver and gold,
and there is no end to their treasures;
their land is filled with horses,
and there is no end to their chariots.(AI)
8 Their land is filled with idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their own fingers have made.(AJ)
9 And so people are humbled,
and everyone is brought low—
[[do not forgive them!(AK)
10 Enter into the rock,
and hide in the dust
from the terror of the Lord
and from the glory of his majesty.]][d](AL)
11 The haughty eyes of people shall be brought low,
and the pride of everyone shall be humbled,
and the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.(AM)
12 For the Lord of hosts has a day
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up and high;[e](AN)
13 against all the cedars of Lebanon,
lofty and lifted up;
and against all the oaks of Bashan;(AO)
14 against all the high mountains
and against all the lofty hills;(AP)
15 against every high tower
and against every fortified wall;
16 against all the ships of Tarshish
and against all the highly prized vessels.(AQ)
17 The haughtiness of people shall be humbled,
and the pride of everyone shall be brought low,
and the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.(AR)
18 The idols shall utterly pass away.(AS)
19 Enter the caves of the rocks
and the holes of the ground,
from the terror of the Lord
and from the glory of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.(AT)
20 On that day people will throw away
to the moles and to the bats
their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,(AU)
21 to enter the caverns of the rocks
and the clefts in the crags,
from the terror of the Lord
and from the glory of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.(AV)
22 [[Turn away from mortals,
who have only breath in their nostrils,
for of what account are they?]][f](AW)
3 For now the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts,
is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah
support and staff—
all support of bread
and all support of water—(AX)
2 warrior and soldier,
judge and prophet,
diviner and elder,(AY)
3 captain of fifty
and dignitary,
counselor and skillful magician
and expert enchanter.
4 And I will make youths their princes,
and children shall rule over them.(AZ)
5 The people will be oppressed,
everyone by another
and everyone by a neighbor;
the youth will be insolent to the elder
and the base to the honorable.(BA)
6 Someone will seize a relative,
a member of the clan, saying,
“You have a cloak;
you shall be our leader,
and this heap of ruins
shall be under your rule.”(BB)
7 But the other will cry out on that day, saying,
“I will not be a healer;
in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
you shall not make me
leader of the people.”(BC)
8 For Jerusalem has stumbled,
and Judah has fallen,
because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord,
defying his glorious presence.(BD)
9 The look on their faces bears witness against them;
they proclaim their sin like Sodom;
they do not hide it.
Woe to them,
for they have brought evil on themselves.(BE)
10 Tell the innocent how fortunate they are,
for they shall eat the fruit of their labors.(BF)
11 Woe to the guilty! How unfortunate they are,
for what their hands have done shall be done to them.(BG)
12 My people—their oppressors extort them,
and creditors[g] rule over them.
O my people, your leaders mislead you
and confuse the course of your paths.(BH)
13 The Lord rises to argue his case;
he stands to judge the peoples.(BI)
14 The Lord enters into judgment
with the elders and princes of his people:
It is you who have devoured the vineyard;
the spoil of the poor is in your houses.(BJ)
15 What do you mean by crushing my people,
by grinding the face of the poor? says the Lord God of hosts.(BK)
16 The Lord said:
Because the daughters of Zion are haughty
and walk with outstretched necks,
glancing wantonly with their eyes,
mincing along as they go,
tinkling with their feet;(BL)
17 the Lord will afflict with scabs
the heads of the daughters of Zion,
and the Lord will lay bare their scalps and heads.
18 On that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents;(BM) 19 the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarfs; 20 the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets;(BN) 21 the signet rings and nose rings;(BO) 22 the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; 23 the garments of gauze, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.
24 Instead of perfume there will be a stench;
and instead of a sash, a rope;
and instead of well-styled hair, baldness;
and instead of a rich robe, a binding of sackcloth;
instead of beauty, shame.[h](BP)
25 Your men shall fall by the sword
and your warriors in battle.(BQ)
26 And her gates shall lament and mourn;
desolate, she shall sit upon the ground.(BR)
4 Seven women shall take hold of one man on that day, saying,
“We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes;
just let us be called by your name;
take away our disgrace.”(BS)
The Future Glory of the Survivors in Zion
2 On that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel.(BT) 3 Whoever is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem,(BU) 4 once the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.(BV) 5 Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its places of assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Indeed, over all the glory there will be a canopy.(BW) 6 It will serve as a pavilion, a shade by day from the heat and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.(BX)
Isaiah 8-11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Isaiah’s Son a Sign of the Assyrian Invasion
8 Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz,’[a](A) 2 and have it attested[b] for me by reliable witnesses, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.”(B) 3 And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, 4 for before the child knows how to call ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”(C)
5 The Lord spoke to me again: 6 “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently and melt in fear before[c] Rezin and the son of Remaliah,(D) 7 therefore the Lord is bringing up against it the mighty flood waters of the River, the king of Assyria and all his glory; it will rise above all its channels and overflow all its banks; 8 it will sweep on into Judah as a flood and, pouring over, will reach up to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.(E)
9 Take notice,[d] you peoples, and be dismayed;
listen, all you far countries;
gird yourselves and be dismayed![e]
10 Take counsel together, but it shall be brought to naught;
speak a word, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.”(F)
11 The Lord spoke thus to me while his hand was strong upon me and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying:(G) 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what it fears or be in dread.(H) 13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.(I) 14 He will become a sanctuary, a stone one strikes against; for both houses of Israel he will become a rock one stumbles over, a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.(J) 15 And many among them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”(K)
Disciples of Isaiah
16 Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples.(L) 17 I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.(M) 18 See, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.(N) 19 Now if people say to you, “Consult the ghosts and the familiar spirits that chirp and mutter; should not a people consult their gods, the dead on behalf of the living,(O) 20 for teaching and for instruction?” surely those who speak like this will have no dawn!(P) 21 They will pass through the land,[f] greatly distressed and hungry; when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse[g] their king and their gods. They will turn their faces upward,(Q) 22 or they will look to the earth, but they will see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and they will be thrust into thick darkness.[h](R)
The Righteous Reign of the Coming King
9 [i]But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.(S)
2 [j]The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.(T)
3 You have multiplied exultation;[k]
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.(U)
4 For the yoke of their burden
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.(V)
5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.(W)
6 For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders,
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.(X)
7 Great will be his authority,[l]
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.(Y)
Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression
8 The Lord sent a word against Jacob,
and it fell on Israel,
9 and all the people knew it—
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria—
but in pride and arrogance of heart they said:(Z)
10 “The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
but we will put cedars in their place.”
11 So the Lord raised adversaries[m] against them
and stirred up their enemies,(AA)
12 the Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west,
and they devoured Israel with open mouth.
For all this his anger has not turned away;
his hand is stretched out still.(AB)
13 The people did not turn to him who struck them
or seek the Lord of hosts.(AC)
14 So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail,
palm branch and reed in one day—(AD)
15 elders and dignitaries are the head,
and prophets who teach lies are the tail,(AE)
16 for those who led this people led them astray,
and those who were led by them were left in confusion.(AF)
17 That is why the Lord did not have pity on[n] their young people
or compassion on their orphans and widows,
for everyone was godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth spoke folly.
For all this his anger has not turned away;
his hand is stretched out still.(AG)
18 For wickedness burned like a fire,
consuming briers and thorns;
it kindled the thickets of the forest,
and they swirled upward in a column of smoke.(AH)
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
the land was burned,
and the people became like fuel for the fire;
no one spared another.(AI)
20 They gorged on the right but still were hungry,
and they devoured on the left but were not satisfied;
they devoured the flesh of their own kindred;[o](AJ)
21 Manasseh devoured Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
and together they were against Judah.
For all this his anger has not turned away;
his hand is stretched out still.(AK)
10 Woe to those who make iniquitous decrees,
who write oppressive statutes,(AL)
2 to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
to make widows their spoil
and to plunder orphans!(AM)
3 What will you do on the day of punishment,
in the calamity that will come from far away?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth,(AN)
4 so as not to crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain?
For all this his anger has not turned away;
his hand is stretched out still.(AO)
Arrogant Assyria Also Judged
5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger—
the club in their hands is my fury!(AP)
6 Against a godless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take spoil and seize plunder,
and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.(AQ)
7 But this is not what he intends,
nor does he have this in mind,
but it is in his heart to destroy
and to cut off nations not a few.(AR)
8 For he says:
“Are not my commanders all kings?(AS)
9 Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus?(AT)
10 As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols
whose images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,(AU)
11 shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols
what I have done to Samaria and her images?”
12 When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he[p] will punish the arrogant boasting of the king of Assyria and his haughty pride.(AV) 13 For he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I have removed the boundaries of peoples
and have plundered their treasures;
like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.(AW)
14 My hand has found, like a nest,
the wealth of the peoples,
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
so I have gathered all the earth,
and there was none that moved a wing
or opened its mouth or chirped.”(AX)
15 Shall the ax vaunt itself over the one who wields it
or the saw magnify itself against the one who handles it?
As if a rod should raise the one who lifts it up,
or as if a staff should lift the one who is not wood!(AY)
16 Therefore the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts,
will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled
like the burning of fire.(AZ)
17 The light of Israel will become a fire
and his Holy One a flame,
and it will burn and devour
his thorns and briers in one day.(BA)
18 The glory of his forest and his fruitful land
the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
and it will be as when an invalid wastes away.(BB)
19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
that a child can write them down.(BC)
The Repentant Remnant of Israel
20 On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer lean on the one who struck them but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.(BD) 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.(BE) 22 For though your people, O Israel, were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, an overwhelming verdict.(BF) 23 For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in all the earth.[q](BG)
24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they beat you with a rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. 25 For in a very little while my indignation will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction.”(BH) 26 The Lord of hosts will wield a whip against them, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt.(BI) 27 On that day his burden will be removed from your shoulder, and his yoke will be destroyed from your neck.
He has gone up from Samaria;[r](BJ)
28 he has come to Aiath;
he has passed through Migron;
at Michmash he stores his baggage;(BK)
29 they have crossed over the pass;
at Geba they lodge for the night;
Ramah trembles;
Gibeah of Saul has fled.(BL)
30 Cry aloud, O daughter Gallim!
Listen, O Laishah!
Answer her, O Anathoth!(BM)
31 Madmenah is in flight;
the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.(BN)
32 This very day he will halt at Nob;
he will shake his fist
at the mount of daughter Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.(BO)
33 Look, the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts,
will lop the boughs with terrifying power;
the tallest trees will be cut down,
and the lofty will be brought low.(BP)
34 He will hack down the thickets of the forest with an ax,
and Lebanon with its majestic trees[s] will fall.
The Peaceful Kingdom
11 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow[t] out of his roots.(BQ)
2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.(BR)
3 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see
or decide by what his ears hear,(BS)
4 but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor
and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.(BT)
5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.(BU)
6 The wolf shall live with the lamb;
the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the lion will feed[u] together,
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
9 They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.(BV)
Return of the Remnant of Israel and Judah
10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.(BW)
11 On that day the Lord will again raise[v] his hand to recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.(BX)
12 He will raise a signal for the nations
and will assemble the outcasts of Israel
and gather the dispersed of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.(BY)
13 The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart;
the hostility of Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
and Judah shall not be hostile toward Ephraim.(BZ)
14 But they shall swoop down on the backs of the Philistines in the west;
together they shall plunder the people of the east.
They shall put forth their hand against Edom and Moab,
and the Ammonites shall obey them.(CA)
15 And the Lord will dry up[w]
the tongue of the sea of Egypt
and will wave his hand over the River
with his scorching wind
and will split it into seven channels
and make a way to cross on foot;(CB)
16 so there shall be a highway from Assyria
for the remnant that is left of his people,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from the land of Egypt.(CC)
Footnotes
- 8.1 That is, the spoil speeds, the prey hastens
- 8.2 Q ms Gk Syr: MT and I caused to be attested
- 8.6 Cn: Heb rejoicing with
- 8.9 Gk: Heb Be shattered
- 8.9 Q mss: MT repeats gird yourselves and be dismayed!
- 8.21 Heb it
- 8.21 Or curse by
- 8.22 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 9.1 8.23 in Heb
- 9.2 9.1 in Heb
- 9.3 Cn: Heb multiplied the nation not
- 9.7 Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 9.11 Cn: Heb the adversaries of Rezin
- 9.17 Q ms: MT rejoice over
- 9.20 Or arm
- 10.12 Gk: Heb I
- 10.23 Or land
- 10.27 Cn: Heb and his yoke from your neck, and a yoke will be destroyed because of fatness
- 10.34 Cn Compare Gk Vg: Heb with a majestic one
- 11.1 Cn Compare Syr: Heb bear fruit
- 11.6 Q ms Gk Syr: MT and the fatted calf
- 11.11 Cn Compare Gk: Heb the Lord will again a second time
- 11.15 Gk Syr: Heb destroy
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.