Ah, sinful nation, A people loaded down with wickedness [with sin, with injustice, with wrongdoing], Offspring of evildoers, Sons who behave corruptly! They have abandoned (rejected) the Lord, They have despised the Holy One of Israel [provoking Him to anger], They have turned away from Him.

Why should you be stricken and punished again [since no change results from it]? You [only] continue to rebel. The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint and sick.

“When you come to appear before Me, Who requires this of you, this trampling of My [temple] courts [by your sinful feet]?

“Do not bring worthless offerings again, [Your] incense is repulsive to Me; [Your] New Moon and Sabbath [observances], the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure wickedness [your sin, your injustice, your wrongdoing] and [the squalor of] the festive assembly.

“Let Us Reason”

“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be like wool.

But rebels and sinners will be crushed and destroyed together, And those who abandon (turn away from) the Lord will be consumed (perish).

Their partiality testifies against them, They display their sin like Sodom; They do not even hide it. Woe (judgment is coming) to them! For they have brought evil on themselves [as a reward].

Parable of the Vineyard

Now let me sing for my greatly Beloved [Lord] A song of my Beloved about His vineyard (His chosen people). My greatly Beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile slope (the promised land, Canaan).

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who drag along wickedness with cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes [towing their own punishment];

He touched my mouth with it and said, “Listen carefully, this has touched your lips; your wickedness [your sin, your injustice, your wrongdoing] is taken away and your sin atoned for and forgiven.”

Trials to Come for Judah

The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim (the ten northern tribes) separated from Judah—[He will call for] the king of Assyria.”

And the Light of Israel will become a fire and His Holy One a flame, And it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and briars in a single day.

Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done excellent and glorious things; Let this be known throughout the earth.

Listen carefully, the day of the Lord is coming, Cruel, with wrath and raging anger, To make the land a horror [of devastation]; And He shall exterminate its sinners from it.

In this way I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing]; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And will abase the arrogance of the tyrant.

“Even the cypress trees rejoice over you [kings of Babylon], even the cedars of Lebanon, saying, ‘Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.’

“Prepare a slaughtering place for his sons Because of the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of their fathers. They must not rise and take possession of the earth, And fill the face of the world with cities.”

Gladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful field; In the vineyards there will be no singing or joyful sound; No treader treads out wine in the presses, For I (God) put an end to the joyful shouting.

But the Lord of hosts revealed Himself in my ears, “This sin absolutely will not be forgiven you Until you die,” says the Lord God of hosts.

Take a harp, walk around the city, O forgotten prostitute; Play the strings skillfully, sing many songs, That you may be remembered.

And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor [as God’s impartial judgment of sin comes on all].

Lord, You will establish peace for us, Since You have also performed for us all that we have done.

Listen carefully, the Lord is about to come out of His [heavenly] place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing]; The earth will reveal the [innocent] blood shed upon her And will no longer cover her slain.

In that day [it will be said of the redeemed nation of Israel], “A vineyard of wine, sing in praise of it!

Therefore through this the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of Jacob (Israel) will be atoned for and forgiven; And this will be the full price [that God requires] for taking away his sin: When Israel makes all the stones of the [pagan] altars like crushed chalk stones; When the Asherim and the incense altars will not stand.