Isaiah 1
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Isaiah 1
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| 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. | The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw about Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. |
| Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. | Give ear, O heavens, and you, O earth, to the word which the Lord has said: I have taken care of my children till they became men, but their hearts have been turned away from me. |
| The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; [but] Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. | Even the ox has knowledge of its owner, and the ass of the place where its master puts its food: but Israel has no knowledge, my people give no thought to me. |
| Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that deal corruptly! they have forsaken Jehovah, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are estranged [and gone] backward. | O nation full of sin, a people weighted down with crime, a generation of evil-doers, false-hearted children: they have gone away from the Lord, they have no respect for the Holy One of Israel, their hearts are turned back from him. |
| Why will ye be still stricken, that ye revolt more and more? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. | Why will you have more and more punishment? why keep on in your evil ways? Every head is tired and every heart is feeble. |
| From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; [but] wounds, and bruises, and fresh stripes: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with oil. | The body, from head to foot, is all diseased; it is a mass of open wounds, marks of blows, and broken flesh: the flow of blood has not been stopped, and no oil has been put on the wounds. |
| 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. | Your country has become waste; your towns are burned with fire; as for your land, it is overturned before your eyes, made waste and overcome by men from strange lands. |
| And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. | And the daughter of Zion has become like a tent in a vine-garden, like a watchman's house in a field of fruit, like a town shut in by armies. |
| Except Jehovah of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah. | If the Lord of armies had not kept some at least of us safe, we would have been like Sodom, and the fate of Gomorrah would have been ours. |
| Hear the word of Jehovah, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. | Give ear to the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; let your hearts be turned to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah. |
| What unto me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah: I have had enough 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. | What use to me is the number of the offerings which you give me? says the Lord; your burned offerings of sheep, and the best parts of fat cattle, are a weariness to me; I take no pleasure in the blood of oxen, or of lambs, or of he-goats. |
| When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts? | At whose request do you come before me, making my house unclean with your feet? |
| Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; new moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies,- I cannot away with iniquity and the solemn meeting. | Give me no more false offerings; the smoke of burning flesh is disgusting to me, so are your new moons and Sabbaths and your holy meetings. |
| Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth; they are a trouble unto me; I am weary of bearing them. | Your new moons and your regular feasts are a grief to my soul: they are a weight in my spirit; I am crushed under them. |
| 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. | And when your hands are stretched out to me, my eyes will be turned away from you: even though you go on making prayers, I will not give ear: your hands are full of blood. |
| Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; | Be washed, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; let there be an end of sinning; |
| learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. | Take pleasure in well-doing; let your ways be upright, keep down the cruel, give a right decision for the child who has no father, see to the cause of the widow. |
| Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. | Come now, and let us have an argument together, says the Lord: how may your sins which are red like blood be white as snow? how may their dark purple seem like wool? |
| If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: | If you will give ear to my word and do it, the good things of the land will be yours; |
| but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. | But if your hearts are turned against me, I will send destruction on you by the sword; so the Lord has said. |
| How is the faithful city become a harlot! she that was full of justice! righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. | The upright town has become untrue; there was a time when her judges gave right decisions, when righteousness had a resting-place in her, but now she is full of those who take men's lives. |
| Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water. | Your silver is no longer true metal, your wine is mixed with water. |
| Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. | Your chiefs have gone against the Lord, they have become friends of thieves; every one of them is looking for profit and going after rewards; they do not give right decisions for the child who has no father, and they do not let the cause of the widow come before them. |
| Therefore saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies; | For this reason the Lord, the Lord of armies, the Strong One of Israel, has said, I will put an end to my haters, and send punishment on those who are against me; |
| and I will turn my hand upon thee, and thoroughly purge away thy dross, and will take away all thy tin; | And my hand will again be on you, washing away what is unclean as with soap, and taking away all your false metal; |
| 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, a faithful town. | And I will give you judges again as at the first, and wise guides as in the past; then you will be named, The Town of Righteousness, the true town. |
| Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her converts with righteousness. | Upright acts will be the price of Zion's forgiveness, and by righteousness will men be living there. |
| But the destruction of transgressors and sinners shall be together, and they that forsake Jehovah shall be consumed. | But a common destruction will overtake sinners and evil-doers together, and those who have gone away from the Lord will be cut off. |
| For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. | For you will be put to shame because of the trees of your desire, and because of the gardens of your pleasure. |
| For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. | For you will be like a tree whose leaves have become dry, and like a garden without water. |
| And the strong shall be as tow, and his work as a spark; and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them. | And the strong will be as food for the fire, and his work as a flame; and they will be burned together, with no one to put out the fire. |
