Isaiah 1

English Standard Version

1 The ^(A)vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem ^(B)in the days of ^(C)Uzziah, ^(D)Jotham, ^(E)Ahaz, and ^(F)Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

The Wickedness of Judah

²^(G)Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O ^(H)earth;
    for the Lord has spoken:
“Children^[a] ^(I)have I reared and brought up,
    but they have rebelled against me.
³The ox ^(J)knows its owner,
    and the donkey its master's crib,
but Israel does ^(K)not know,
    my people do not understand.”

⁴Ah, sinful nation,
    a people laden with iniquity,
^(L)offspring of evildoers,
    children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the Lord,
    they have ^(M)despised ^(N)the Holy One of Israel,
    they are utterly ^(O)estranged.

⁵Why will you still be ^(P)struck down?
    Why will you ^(Q)continue to rebel?
The whole head is sick,
    and the whole heart faint.
⁶^(R)From the sole of the foot even to the head,
    there is no soundness in it,
but bruises and sores
    and raw wounds;
they are ^(S)not pressed out or bound up
    or softened with oil.

⁷^(T)Your country lies desolate;
    your cities are burned with fire;
in your very presence
    foreigners devour your land;
    it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.
⁸And ^(U)the daughter of Zion is left
    like a ^(V)booth in a vineyard,
like a lodge in a cucumber field,
    like a besieged city.

⁹^(W)If the Lord of hosts
had not left us ^(X)a few survivors,
we should have been like ^(Y)Sodom,
and become like ^(Z)Gomorrah.

¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord,
    you rulers of ^(AA)^(AB)Sodom!
Give ear to the teaching^[b] of our God,
    you people of ^(AC)Gomorrah!
¹¹^(AD)“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 well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
    or of lambs, or of goats.

¹²“When you come to ^(AE)appear before me,
    who has required of you
    this trampling of my courts?
¹³Bring no more vain offerings;
    incense is an abomination to me.
^(AF)New moon and Sabbath and the ^(AG)calling of convocations—
    I cannot endure ^(AH)iniquity and ^(AI)solemn assembly.
¹⁴Your ^(AJ)new moons and your appointed feasts
    my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
    I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵When you ^(AK)spread out your hands,
    I will hide my eyes from you;
^(AL)even though you make many prayers,
    I will not listen;
    ^(AM)your hands are full of blood.
¹⁶^(AN)Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
    remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
^(AO)cease to do evil,
¹⁷    learn to do good;
^(AP)seek justice,
    correct oppression;
^(AQ)bring justice to the fatherless,
    plead the widow's cause.

¹⁸“Come now, ^(AR)let us reason^[c] together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as ^(AS)white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
    they shall become like wool.
¹⁹^(AT)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;
    ^(AU)for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The Unfaithful City

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

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

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

Footnotes

Isaiah 1:2 Or Sons; also verse 4
Isaiah 1:10 Or law
Isaiah 1:18 Or dispute
Isaiah 1:21 Or become unchaste
Isaiah 1:29 Some Hebrew manuscripts you

Isaiah 58

English Standard Version

True and False Fasting

58 “Cry aloud; do not hold back;
    ^(A)lift up your voice like a trumpet;
^(B)declare to my people their transgression,
    to the house of Jacob their sins.
²^(C)Yet they seek me daily
    and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
    and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
    they delight to draw near to God.
³^(D)‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
    Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,^[a]
    ^(E)and oppress all your workers.
⁴Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
    and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
    will not make your voice to be heard on high.
⁵^(F)Is such the fast that I choose,
    ^(G)a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
    and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
    and a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶“Is not this the fast that I choose:
    ^(H)to loose the bonds of wickedness,
    to undo the straps ^(I)of the yoke,
to let the oppressed^[b] go free,
    and to break every yoke?
⁷Is it not ^(J)to share your bread with the hungry
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
    ^(K)and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸^(L)Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
    ^(M)and your healing shall spring up speedily;
^(N)your righteousness shall go before you;
    ^(O)the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away ^(P)the yoke from your midst,
    ^(Q)the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰^(R)if you pour yourself out for the hungry
    and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
^(S)then shall your light rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be as the noonday.
¹¹And the Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your desire in scorched places
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be ^(T)like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters do not fail.
¹²^(U)And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
    the restorer of streets to dwell in.

¹³^(V)“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
    from doing your pleasure^[c] on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
    and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
    or seeking ^(W)your own pleasure,^[d] or talking idly;^[e]
¹⁴then you shall take delight in the Lord,
    ^(X)and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;^[f]
^(Y)I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
    ^(Z)for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”