Category: Isaiah

God Reprimands His People (ISA 1:2-20)

[1:2] The Lord said, “Earth and sky, listen to what I am saying! The children I brought up have rebelled against me.

[1:3] Cattle know who owns them, and donkeys know where their master feeds them. But that is more than my people Israel know. They don't understand at all.”

[1:4] You are doomed, you sinful nation, you corrupt and evil people! Your sins drag you down! You have rejected the Lord, the holy God of Israel, and have turned your backs on him.

[1:5] Why do you keep on rebelling? Do you want to be punished even more? Israel, your head is already covered with wounds, and your heart and mind are sick.

[1:6] From head to foot there is not a healthy spot on your body. You are covered with bruises and sores and open wounds. Your wounds have not been cleaned or bandaged. No medicine has been put on them.

[1:7] Your country has been devastated, and your cities have been burned to the ground. While you look on, foreigners take over your land and bring everything to ruin.

[1:8] Jerusalem alone is left, a city under siege—as defenseless as a guard's hut in a vineyard or a shed in a cucumber field.

[1:9] If the Lord Almighty had not let some of the people survive, Jerusalem would have been totally destroyed, just as Sodom and Gomorrah were.

[1:10] Jerusalem, your rulers and your people are like those of Sodom and Gomorrah. Listen to what the Lord is saying to you. Pay attention to what our God is teaching you.

[1:11] He says, “Do you think I want all these sacrifices you keep offering to me? I have had more than enough of the sheep you burn as sacrifices and of the fat of your fine animals. I am tired of the blood of bulls and sheep and goats.

[1:12] Who asked you to bring me all this when you come to worship me? Who asked you to do all this tramping around in my Temple?

[1:13] It's useless to bring your offerings. I am disgusted with the smell of the incense you burn. I cannot stand your New Moon Festivals, your Sabbaths, and your religious gatherings; they are all corrupted by your sins.

[1:14] I hate your New Moon Festivals and holy days; they are a burden that I am tired of bearing.

[1:15] “When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood.

[1:16] Wash yourselves clean. Stop all this evil that I see you doing. Yes, stop doing evil

[1:17] and learn to do right. See that justice is done—help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows.”

[1:18] The Lord says, “Now, let's settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool.

[1:19] If you will only obey me, you will eat the good things the land produces.

[1:20] But if you defy me, you are doomed to die. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

The Sinful City (ISA 1:21-31)

[1:21] The city that once was faithful is behaving like a whore! At one time it was filled with righteous people, but now only murderers remain.

[1:22] Jerusalem, you were once like silver, but now you are worthless; you were like good wine, but now you are only water.

[1:23] Your leaders are rebels and friends of thieves; they are always accepting gifts and bribes. They never defend orphans in court or listen when widows present their case.

[1:24] So now, listen to what the Lord Almighty, Israel's powerful God, is saying: “I will take revenge on you, my enemies, and you will cause me no more trouble.

[1:25] I will take action against you. I will purify you the way metal is refined, and will remove all your impurity.

[1:26] I will give you rulers and advisers like those you had long ago. Then Jerusalem will be called the righteous, faithful city.”

[1:27] Because the Lord is righteous, he will save Jerusalem and everyone there who repents.

[1:28] But he will crush everyone who sins and rebels against him; he will kill everyone who forsakes him.

[1:29] You will be sorry that you ever worshiped trees and planted sacred gardens.

[1:30] You will wither like a dying oak, like a garden that no one waters.

[1:31] Just as straw is set on fire by a spark, so powerful people will be destroyed by their own evil deeds, and no one will be able to stop the destruction.

Everlasting Peace (ISA 2:1-5)

[2:1] Here is the message which God gave to Isaiah son of Amoz about Judah and Jerusalem:

[2:2] In days to come the mountain where the Temple stands will be the highest one of all, towering above all the hills. Many nations will come streaming to it,

[2:3] and their people will say, “Let us go up the hill of the Lord, to the Temple of Israel's God. He will teach us what he wants us to do; we will walk in the paths he has chosen. For the Lord's teaching comes from Jerusalem; from Zion he speaks to his people.”

[2:4] He will settle disputes among great nations. They will hammer their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again.

[2:5] Now, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light which the Lord gives us!

Arrogance Will Be Destroyed (ISA 2:6-22)

[2:6] O God, you have forsaken your people, the descendants of Jacob! The land is full of magic practices from the East and from Philistia. The people follow foreign customs.

[2:7] Their land is full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses, and there is no end to their chariots.

[2:8] Their land is full of idols, and they worship objects that they have made with their own hands.

[2:9] Everyone will be humiliated and disgraced. Do not forgive them, Lord!

[2:10] They will hide in caves in the rocky hills or dig holes in the ground to try to escape from the Lord's anger and to hide from his power and glory!

[2:11] A day is coming when human pride will be ended and human arrogance destroyed. Then the Lord alone will be exalted.

[2:12] On that day the Lord Almighty will humble everyone who is powerful, everyone who is proud and conceited.

[2:13] He will destroy the tall cedars of Lebanon and all the oaks in the land of Bashan.

[2:14] He will level the high mountains and hills,

[2:15] every high tower, and the walls of every fortress.

[2:16] He will sink even the largest and most beautiful ships.

[2:19] People will hide in caves in the rocky hills or dig holes in the ground to try to escape from the Lord's anger and to hide from his power and glory, when he comes to shake the earth.

[2:20] When that day comes, they will throw away the gold and silver idols they have made, and abandon them to the moles and the bats.

[2:21] When the Lord comes to shake the earth, people will hide in holes and caves in the rocky hills to try to escape from his anger and to hide from his power and glory.

[2:22] Put no more confidence in mortals. What are they worth?

Chaos in Jerusalem (ISA 3:1-12)

[3:1] Now the Lord, the Almighty Lord, is about to take away from Jerusalem and Judah everything and everyone that the people depend on. He is going to take away their food and their water,

[3:2] their heroes and their soldiers, their judges and their prophets, their fortunetellers and their statesmen,

[3:3] their military and civilian leaders, their politicians and everyone who uses magic to control events.

[3:4] The Lord will let the people be governed by immature boys.

[3:5] Everyone will take advantage of everyone else. Young people will not respect their elders, and worthless people will not respect their superiors.

[3:6] A time will come when the members of a clan will choose one of their number and say to him, “You at least have something to wear, so be our leader in this time of trouble.”

[3:7] But he will answer, “Not me! I can't help you. I don't have any food or clothes either. Don't make me your leader!”

[3:8] Yes, Jerusalem is doomed! Judah is collapsing! Everything they say and do is against the Lord; they openly insult God himself.

[3:9] Their prejudices will be held against them. They sin as openly as the people of Sodom did. They are doomed, and they have brought it on themselves.

[3:10] The righteous will be happy, and things will go well for them. They will get to enjoy what they have worked for.

[3:11] But evil people are doomed; what they have done to others will now be done to them.

[3:12] Moneylenders oppress my people, and their creditors cheat them. My people, your leaders are misleading you, so that you do not know which way to turn.

The Lord Judges His People (ISA 3:13-15)

[3:13] The Lord is ready to state his case; he is ready to judge his people.

[3:14] The Lord is bringing the elders and leaders of his people to judgment. He makes this accusation: “You have plundered vineyards, and your houses are full of what you have taken from the poor.

[3:15] You have no right to crush my people and take advantage of the poor. I, the Sovereign Lord Almighty, have spoken.”

A Warning to the Women of Jerusalem (ISA 3:16-4:1)

[3:16] The Lord said, “Look how proud the women of Jerusalem are! They walk along with their noses in the air. They are always flirting. They take dainty little steps, and the bracelets on their ankles jingle.

[3:17] But I will punish them—I will shave their heads and leave them bald.”

[3:18] A day is coming when the Lord will take away from the women of Jerusalem everything they are so proud of—the ornaments they wear on their ankles, on their heads, on their necks,

[3:19] and on their wrists. He will take away their veils

[3:20] and their hats; the magic charms they wear on their arms and at their waists;

[3:21] the rings they wear on their fingers and in their noses;

[3:22] all their fine robes, gowns, cloaks, and purses;

[3:23] their revealing garments, their linen handkerchiefs, and the scarves and long veils they wear on their heads.

[3:24] Instead of using perfumes, they will stink; instead of fine belts, they will wear coarse ropes; instead of having beautiful hair, they will be bald; instead of fine clothes, they will be dressed in rags; their beauty will be turned to shame!

[3:25] The men of the city, yes, even the strongest men, will be killed in war.

[3:26] The city gates will mourn and cry, and the city itself will be like a woman sitting on the ground, stripped naked.

[4:1] When that time comes, seven women will grab hold of one man and say, “We can feed and clothe ourselves, but please let us say you are our husband, so that we won't have to endure the shame of being unmarried.”

Jerusalem Will Be Restored (ISA 4:2-6)

[4:2] The time is coming when the Lord will make every plant and tree in the land grow large and beautiful. All the people of Israel who survive will take delight and pride in the crops that the land produces.

[4:3] Everyone who is left in Jerusalem, whom God has chosen for survival, will be called holy.

[4:4] By his power the Lord will judge and purify the nation and wash away the guilt of Jerusalem and the blood that has been shed there.

[4:5] Then over Mount Zion and over all who are gathered there, the Lord will send a cloud in the daytime and smoke and a bright flame at night. God's glory will cover and protect the whole city.

[4:6] His glory will shade the city from the heat of the day and make it a place of safety, sheltered from the rain and storm.

The Song of the Vineyard (ISA 5:1-7)

[5:1] Listen while I sing you this song, a song of my friend and his vineyard: My friend had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.

[5:2] He dug the soil and cleared it of stones; he planted the finest vines. He built a tower to guard them, dug a pit for treading the grapes. He waited for the grapes to ripen, but every grape was sour.

[5:3] So now my friend says, “You people who live in Jerusalem and Judah, judge between my vineyard and me.

[5:4] Is there anything I failed to do for it? Then why did it produce sour grapes and not the good grapes I expected?

[5:5] “Here is what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge around it, break down the wall that protects it, and let wild animals eat it and trample it down.

[5:6] I will let it be overgrown with weeds. I will not trim the vines or hoe the ground; instead, I will let briers and thorns cover it. I will even forbid the clouds to let rain fall on it.”

[5:7] Israel is the vineyard of the Lord Almighty; the people of Judah are the vines he planted. He expected them to do what was good, but instead they committed murder. He expected them to do what was right, but their victims cried out for justice.