Beginning
1 This is the vision which Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw about Judah and Jerusalem at the time of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
The Lord Accuses Israel of Sin
2 Listen, heaven, and pay attention, earth!
Yahweh has spoken,
“I raised my children and helped them grow,
but they have rebelled against me.
3 Oxen know their owners,
and donkeys know where their masters feed them.
But Israel doesn’t know its owner.
My people don’t understand who feeds them.
4 “How horrible it will be for a nation that sins.
Its people are loaded down with guilt.
They are descendants of evildoers
and destructive children.
They have abandoned Yahweh.
They have despised Qedosh Yisrael.
They have turned their backs on him.
5 “Why do you still want to be beaten?
Why do you continue to rebel?
Your whole head is infected.
Your whole heart is failing.
6 From the bottom of your feet to the top of your head
there is no healthy spot left on your body—
only bruises, sores, and fresh wounds.
They haven’t been cleansed, bandaged,
or soothed with oil.
7 “Your country is devastated.
Your cities are burned down.
Your fields are destroyed right before your eyes by foreigners.
Your fields are devastated and taken over by foreigners.
8 My people Zion are left like a hut in a vineyard,
like a shack in a cucumber field,
like a city under attack.”
9 If Yahweh Tsebaoth hadn’t left us a few survivors,
we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Israel’s Corrupt Religion
10 Listen to the word of Yahweh, you rulers of Sodom!
Pay attention to the teachings from our Elohim, you people of Gomorrah!
11 Yahweh asks, “What do your many animal sacrifices mean to me?
I’ve had enough of your burnt offerings of rams
and enough fat from your fattened calves.
I’m not pleased with the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats.
12 When you appear in my presence,
who asked you to trample on my courtyards?
13 Don’t bring any more worthless grain offerings.
Your incense is disgusting to me,
so are your New Moon Festivals, your days of worship,
and the assemblies you call.
I can’t stand your evil assemblies.
14 I hate your New Moon Festivals and your appointed festivals.
They’ve become a burden to me,
and I’m tired of putting up with them.
15 So when you stretch out your hands in prayer,
I will turn my eyes away from you.
Even though you offer many prayers,
I will not listen because your hands are covered with blood.
The Lord Invites Israel to Turn Away from Sin
16 “Wash yourselves! Become clean!
Get your evil deeds out of my sight.
Stop doing evil.
17 Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Arrest oppressors.
Defend orphans.
Plead the case of widows.”
18 “Come on now, let’s discuss this!” says Yahweh.
“Though your sins are bright red,
they will become as white as snow.
Though they are dark red,
they will become as white as wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best from the land.
20 But if you refuse and rebel,
you will be destroyed by swords.”
Yahweh has spoken.
Jerusalem’s Future
21 How the faithful town has become a prostitute!
She was full of justice,
and righteousness lived in her.
But now murderers live there!
22 Your silver is not pure.
Your wine is watered down.
23 Your rulers are rebels, friends with thieves.
They all love bribes and run after gifts.
They never defend orphans.
They don’t notice the widows’ pleas.
24 That’s why Adonay, Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Mighty One of Israel, says,
“How horrible it will be when I take revenge on my opponents!
I will avenge myself against my enemies.
25 I will turn my power against you.
I will remove your impurities with bleach.
I will get rid of all your impurities.
26 I will give you judges like you had long ago,
advisers like you had in the beginning.
After that you will be called the Righteous City,
the Faithful Town.”
27 Zion will be pardoned by the Lord’s justice,
and those who return will be pardoned
by the Lord’s righteousness.
28 Rebels and sinners will be crushed at the same time,
and those who abandon Yahweh will come to an end.
29 You will be ashamed of the oaks that you wanted to worship
and embarrassed by the garden that you have chosen for your gods.
30 You will be like an oak whose leaves wither
and like a garden without water.
31 Strong people will become tinder for a fire,
and their work will be the spark.
Both of them will burn together,
and there will be no one to put out the fire.
The Lord Will Teach the Nations(A)
2 This is the message which Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw about Judah and Jerusalem.
2 In the last days the mountain of Yahweh’s house
will be established as the highest of the mountains
and raised above the hills.
All the nations will stream to it.
3 Then many people will come and say,
“Let’s go to the mountain of Yahweh,
to the house of the Elohim of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways so that we may live by them.”
The teachings will go out from Zion.
The word of Yahweh will go out from Jerusalem.
4 Then he will judge disputes between nations
and settle arguments between many people.
They will hammer their swords into plowblades
and their spears into pruning shears.
Nations will never fight against each other,
and they will never train for war again.
5 Come, descendants of Jacob,
let’s live in the light of Yahweh.
Israel’s Sins
6 Yahweh, you have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob,
because they are filled with Eastern influences.
They are fortunetellers like the Philistines,
and they make deals with foreigners.
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.
8 Their land is filled with idols,
and they worship what their hands have shaped
and what their fingers have molded.
9 People will be brought down. Everyone will be humbled.
Do not forgive them.
10 Go in among the rocks and hide underground
because of Yahweh’s terrifying presence
and the honor of his majesty.
11 The eyes of arrogant people will be humbled.
High and mighty people will be brought down.
On that day Yahweh alone will be honored.
The Day of the Lord’s Judgment
12 Yahweh Tsebaoth will have his day
against all who are arrogant and conceited
and all who are proud of themselves (they will be humbled),
13 against all the towering and mighty cedars of Lebanon
and all the oaks of Bashan,
14 against all the high mountains
and all the lofty hills,
15 against every high tower
and every fortified wall,
16 against all the large ships of Tarshish
and all the beautiful boats.
17 Then arrogant people will be brought down,
and high and mighty people will be humbled.
On that day Yahweh alone will be honored.
18 Then idols will disappear completely.
19 People will go into caves in the rocks
and into holes in the ground
because of Yahweh’s terrifying presence
and the honor of his majesty
when he rises to terrify the earth.
20 On that day people will throw to the moles and the bats
the silver and gold idols that they made
for themselves to worship.
21 They will go into caves in the rocks
and into cracks in the cliffs
because of Yahweh’s terrifying presence
and the honor of his majesty
when he rises to terrify the earth.
22 Stop trusting people.
Their life is in their nostrils.
How can they be worth anything?
The Lord’s Judgment on Sinners in Zion
3 See now, Adonay, Yahweh Tsebaoth,
is going to take from Jerusalem and Judah
every kind of support
and their entire supply of food and water.
2 He will take their heroes and soldiers,
judges and prophets,
fortunetellers and statesmen,
3 military leaders and civilian leaders,
counselors, skilled workers, and experts in magic.
4 “I will make boys their leaders.
Children will govern them.”
5 People will oppress each other,
and everyone will oppress his neighbor.
The young will make fun of the old,
and common people will make fun of their superiors.
6 A person will grab one of his relatives
from his father’s family and say,
“You have a coat.
You’ll be our leader.
This pile of ruins will be under your control.”
7 When that day comes the relative will cry out,
“I’m not a doctor!
I don’t have any food or a coat in my home.
Don’t make me a leader of our family.”
8 Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen,
because what they say and what they do is against Yahweh.
They are defiant in his honored presence.
9 The look on their faces will be held against them.
They boast about their sins,
which are like those of the people of Sodom.
They don’t even bother to hide them.
How horrible it will be for these people,
because they have brought disaster on themselves.
10 Tell the righteous that blessings will come to them.
They will taste the fruit of their labor.
11 How horrible it will be for the wicked! Disaster will strike them.
What they have done will be done to them.
12 “Children will oppress my people.
Women will rule them.
My people, your guides mislead you,
and you don’t know which way to go.”
13 Yahweh takes his place in the courtroom.
He stands to judge his people.
14 Yahweh presents his case to the respected leaders
and the officials of his people:
“You have burned down the vineyard!
Your houses are filled with goods stolen from the poor.”
15 Adonay Yahweh Tsebaoth asks,
“How can you crush my people
and grind the faces of the poor into the ground?”
16 Yahweh adds,
“The women of Zion are arrogant.
They walk with their noses in the air,
making seductive glances,
taking short little steps,
jingling the ankle bracelets on their feet.”
17 Adonay will cause sores to appear
on the heads of the women of Zion,
and Yahweh will make their foreheads bare.
18 On that day Adonay will take away their fine things: jingling anklets, headbands, crescent-shaped necklaces, 19 pendants, bracelets, scarfs, 20 hats, ankle bracelets, blouses, perfume boxes, charms, 21 signet rings, nose rings, 22 fine robes, coats, shawls, purses, 23 mirrors, underwear, headdresses, and veils.
24 Instead of the smell of perfume, there will be the smell of decay.
They will wear ropes instead of belts.
They will have bald heads instead of beautiful hair.
They will wear sackcloth instead of expensive clothes.
Their beauty will be scarred.[a]
25 Women, your warriors will die in combat.
Your mighty men will die in battle.
26 The gates of Zion will cry and grieve,
and Zion will sit on the ground, exhausted.
4 When that day comes, seven women will grab one man and say,
“We’ll eat our own food and provide our own clothes.
Just let us marry you for your name.
Take away our disgrace.”
The Lord’s New Glory for Zion
2 When that day comes, the branch of Yahweh
will be beautiful and wonderful.
The fruit of the land
will be the pride and joy of Israel’s survivors.
3 Then whoever is left in Zion and whoever remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 4 Adonay will wash away the filth of Zion’s people.[b] He will clean bloodstains from Jerusalem with a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning. 5 Yahweh will create a cloud of smoke during the day and a glowing flame of fire during the night over the whole area of Mount Zion and over the assembly. His glory will cover everything. 6 It will be a shelter from the heat during the day as well as a refuge and hiding place from storms and rain.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.