Beginning
God’s Message in Troubled Times
1 This is the vision Isaiah son of Amoz saw. God showed Isaiah what would happen to Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah saw these things while Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.
God Finds Fault with His People
2 Heaven and earth, listen,
because the Lord is speaking:
“I raised my children and helped them grow.
But they have turned against me.
3 An ox knows its master.
And a donkey knows where its owner feeds it.
But the people of Israel do not know me.
My people do not understand.”
4 Terrible times are coming for Israel, a nation of sin.
The people are loaded down with guilt.
They are like a group of children doing evil.
They are full of evil.
They have left the Lord.
They hate God, the Holy One of Israel.
They have turned away from him.
5 Why should you continue to be punished?
Why do you continue to turn against him?
Your whole head is hurt.
And your whole heart is sick.
6 There is no healthy spot
from the bottom of your foot to the top of your head.
You are covered with wounds, hurts and open sores.
Your wounds are not cleaned and covered.
No medicine takes away the pain.
7 Your land is ruined.
Your cities have been burned with fire.
While you watch,
your enemies are stealing everything from your land.
Your land is ruined like a country destroyed by enemies.
8 Jerusalem is left alone
like an empty shelter in a vineyard.
It is like a hut left in a field of melons.
It is like a city surrounded by enemies.
9 The Lord of heaven’s armies
allowed a few of our people to live.
Otherwise we would have been completely destroyed
like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
10 Jerusalem, your rulers are like those of Sodom.
Your people are like those of Gomorrah.
Hear the word of the Lord.
Listen to the teachings of our God!
11 The Lord says,
“I do not want all these sacrifices you give me.
I have had enough of your sacrifices
of male sheep and fat from fine animals.
I am not pleased
by the blood of bulls, sheep and goats.
12 You come to meet with me.
But who asked you to do
all this running in and out?
13 Don’t continue bringing me worthless sacrifices!
I hate the incense you burn.
I can’t stand your New Moons, Sabbaths and other feast days.
I can’t stand the evil you do in holding your holy meetings.
14 I hate your New Moon feasts
and your other yearly feasts.
They have become like heavy weights on me.
I am tired of carrying them.
15 You will raise your arms in prayer to me.
But I will refuse to look at you.
Even if you say many prayers,
I will not listen to you.
It’s because your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash yourselves and make yourselves clean.
Stop doing the evil things I see you do.
Stop doing wrong!
17 Learn to do good.
Be fair to other people.
Punish those who hurt others.
Help the orphans.
Stand up for the rights of widows.”
18 The Lord says,
“Come, we will talk these things over.
Your sins are red like deep red cloth.
But they can be as white as snow.
Your sins are bright red.
But you can be white like wool.
19 If you will obey me,
you will eat good crops from the land.
20 But if you refuse to obey and if you turn against me,
you will be destroyed by your enemies’ swords.”
The Lord himself said these things.
Jerusalem Is Not Loyal to God
21 The city of Jerusalem once followed the Lord.
But she is no longer loyal to the Lord.
She used to be filled with fairness.
People there lived the way God wanted.
But now, murderers live there.
22 Jerusalem, you have become like the scum left when silver is purified.
You are like wine mixed with water.
23 Your rulers are rebels.
They are friends of thieves.
They all accept money for doing wrong things.
They are paid to cheat people.
They don’t try to help the orphans.
And they don’t listen to the widows’ needs.
24 The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies,
the Mighty One of Israel, says:
“You, my enemies, will not cause me any more trouble.
I will pay you back for what you did.
25 I will turn against you.
I will clean away all your wrongs as if with soap.
I will take all the worthless things out of you.
26 I will bring back judges as you had long ago.
Your counselors will be like the ones you had in the beginning.
Then you will be called the City That Is Right with God.
You will be called the Loyal City.”
27 Because the Lord does what is fair,
he will rescue Jerusalem.
Because the Lord does what is right,
he will save her people who come back to him.
28 But sinners and those who turn against him will be destroyed.
Those who have left the Lord will die.
29 “You will be ashamed
because you have worshiped false gods under the oak trees.
You will be disgraced
because you have worshiped idols in your gardens.
30 You will be like an oak whose leaves are dying.
You will be like a garden without water.
31 Powerful people will be like small, dry pieces of wood.
And what they do will be like sparks.
The people and what they do will burn together.
And no one will be able to stop that fire.”
The Message About Jerusalem
2 Isaiah son of Amoz saw this message about Judah and Jerusalem.
2 In the last days
the mountain on which the Lord’s Temple stands
will become the most important of all mountains.
It will be raised above the hills.
And people from all nations will come streaming to it.
3 Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.
Let us go to the Temple of the God of Jacob.
Then God will teach us his ways.
And we will obey his teachings.”
The Lord’s teachings will go out from Jerusalem.
The Lord’s message will go out from Jerusalem.
4 Then the Lord will settle arguments among many nations.
He will make decisions for strong nations that are far away.
Then the nations will make their swords into plows.
They will make their spears into hooks for trimming trees.
Nations will no longer fight other nations.
They will not even train for war anymore.
5 Come, family of Jacob.
We should follow the way of the Lord.
A Terrible Day Is Coming
6 Lord, you have left your people,
the family of Jacob.
They have become filled with wrong ideas from people in the East.
Your people try to tell the future like the Philistines.
They have completely accepted those foreign ideas.
7 Their land has been filled with silver and gold.
There are a great many treasures there.
Their land has been filled with horses.
There are many chariots there.
8 Their land is full of idols.
The people worship these idols that they made with their own hands.
They worship statues shaped by their fingers.
9 People will not be proud any longer.
They will bow low with shame.
God, do not forgive them.
10 Go into the caves of the cliffs.
Dig holes and hide in the ground.
Hide from the anger of the Lord
and from his great power!
11 Proud people will stop being proud.
They will bow low with shame.
At that time only the Lord will still be praised.
12 The Lord of heaven’s armies has a certain day planned.
On that day he will punish the proud and those who brag.
They will no longer be important.
13 He will bring down the tall cedar trees from Lebanon.
He will destroy the great oak trees of Bashan.
14 He will destroy all the tall mountains
and the high hills.
15 He will knock down every tall tower
and every high, strong wall.
16 He will sink all the trading ships.
And he will destroy the beautiful ships.
17 At that time proud people will stop being proud.
They will bow low with shame.
And at that time only the Lord will be praised.
18 But all the idols will be gone.
19 People will run to caves in the rocky cliffs.
They will dig holes and hide in the ground.
They will hide from the anger of the Lord
and his great power.
They will do this when the Lord stands to shake the earth.
20 At that time people will throw away
their gold and silver idols.
They made these idols for themselves to worship.
But they will throw them away to the bats and moles.
21 Then the people will hide in caves
and cracks in the rocks.
They will hide from the anger of the Lord
and his great power.
They will do this when the Lord stands to shake the earth.
22 You should stop trusting in people to save you.
People are only human.
They aren’t able to help you.
God Will Punish Judah and Jerusalem
3 Understand what I am telling you.
The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies,
will take away everything Judah and Jerusalem need.
He will take away all the food and water.
2 He will take away all the heroes and great soldiers.
He will take away all the judges, prophets,
people who do magic and elders.
3 He will take away the military leaders and government leaders.
He will take away the counselors, the skilled craftsmen and those who try to tell the future.
4 The Lord says, “I will cause young boys to be your leaders.
Foolish children will rule over you.
5 Everyone will be against everyone else.
Young people will not respect older people.
Common people will not respect important people.”
6 At that time a man will grab one of his brothers
from his own family and say,
“You have a coat. So you will be our leader.
You will be the leader over all these ruins.”
7 But that brother will stand up and say,
“I cannot help you.
I do not have food or clothes in my house.
You will not make me your leader.”
8 This will happen because Jerusalem has stumbled
and Judah has fallen.
The things they say and do are against the Lord.
They sin openly against the Lord.
9 The look on their faces shows they are guilty of doing wrong.
Like the people of Sodom, they are proud of their sin.
They don’t care who sees it.
How terrible it will be for them!
They have brought much trouble to themselves.
10 Tell the good people that good things will happen to them.
They will receive a reward for the good they do.
11 But how terrible it will be for wicked people!
They will be punished for all the wrong they have done.
12 Children treat my people cruelly.
Women rule over them.
My people, your guides lead you in the wrong way.
They turn you away from what is right.
13 The Lord takes his place in court.
He stands to judge the people.
14 The Lord presents his case
against the elders and other leaders of his people.
He says, “You have burned my vineyard.
Your houses are full of what you took from the poor.
15 What gives you the right to crush my people?
How can you grind the faces of the poor into the dirt?”
The Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies, said this.
A Warning to Women of Jerusalem
16 The Lord says,
“The women of Jerusalem are proud.
They walk around with their heads held high.
They flirt with their eyes.
They take quick, short steps,
making noise with their ankle bracelets.”
17 So the Lord will put sores on the heads of those women in Jerusalem.
He will make them lose all their hair.
18 At that time the Lord will take away everything that makes them proud. He will take away their beautiful ankle bracelets, their headbands and their necklaces shaped like the moon. 19 He will take away their earrings, bracelets and veils. 20 He will take away their scarves, ankle chains, the cloth belts worn around their waists, their bottles of perfume and charms. 21 He will take away their signet rings, nose rings, 22 their fine robes, capes, shawls and purses. 23 And he will take away their mirrors, linen dresses, turbans and long shawls.
24 Instead of having sweet-smelling perfume, they will stink.
Instead of fine cloth belts, they will have ropes of captives to wear.
Instead of having their hair fixed in fancy ways, they will be bald.
Instead of fine clothes, they will have rough clothes of sadness.
Instead of having beauty, they will have the brand of a captive.
25 At that time your men will be killed with swords.
Your heroes will die in war.
26 There will be crying and sadness in the meeting places near the city gates.
Jerusalem will be like a woman who has lost everything and sits on the ground.
4 At that time seven women
will grab one man.
They will say, “We will make our own bread.
And we will make our own clothes.
But please marry us!
Please, take away our shame.”
The Branch of the Lord
2 At that time the Lord’s branch will be very beautiful and great. The people still living in Israel will be proud of what the land grows. 3 All the people who are still living in Jerusalem will be called holy. This will be all the people whose names are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 4 The Lord will wash away the filth from the women of Jerusalem. He will wash the bloodstains out of Jerusalem. He will clean Jerusalem with the spirit of fairness and the spirit of fire. 5 As he did when Israel left Egypt, the Lord will cover them with a cloud of smoke during the day. And he will cover them with a bright, flaming fire at night. These proofs will be over Mount Zion. They will be over every meeting of the people there. There will be a covering over every person. 6 This covering will be a place of safety. It will protect the people from the heat of the sun. It will be a safe place to hide from the storm and rain.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.