THE vision of
Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days
of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 Hear, O
heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and
brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knoweth
his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my
people doth not consider.
4 Ah sinful
nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are
corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of
Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
5 Why should ye
be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and
the whole heart faint.
6 From the sole
of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but
wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither
bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
7 Your country is
desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour
it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8 And the
daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of
cucumbers, as a besieged city.
9 Except the LORD
of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and
we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word
of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of
Gomorrah.
11 To what purpose
is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full
of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in
the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12 When ye come to
appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
13 Bring no more
vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths,
the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the
solemn meeting.
14 Your new moons
and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am
weary to bear them.
15 And when ye
spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many
prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash you, make
you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do
evil;
17 Learn to do
well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the
widow.
18 Come now, and
let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as
wool.
19 If ye be
willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20 But if ye
refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the
LORD hath spoken it.
21 How is the
faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged
in it; but now murderers.
22 Thy silver is
become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
23 Thy princes are
rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth
after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the
widow come unto them.
24 Therefore saith
the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of
mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
25 And I will turn
my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
26 And I will
restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning:
afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
27 Zion shall be
redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.
28 And the destruction
of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that
forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
29 For they shall
be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for
the gardens that ye have chosen.
30 For ye shall be
as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.
31 And the strong
shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn
together, and none shall quench them.