Isaiah

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.

1This is what Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw. God showed it to him. It was about Judah and its city Jerusalem. This was when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.

2Hear, 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.

2Listen, heavens! Listen, earth! The LORD has spoken. He says, "I fed my children and raised them. But they have turned against me."

3The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

3An ox knows who owns it. A donkey knows the box where its master feeds it. But Israel does not know me. My people do not think about me.

4Ah 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.

4What a sinful nation! These people are loaded down with wrong. They come from people who do evil, and they do evil too. They have walked away from the LORD. They have made the Holy One of Israel angry. They have turned their backs on him.

5Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

5Why do you want to be beaten again? You keep on rebelling. Your whole head is hurt. Your whole heart is weak.

6From 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.

6From your feet to the top of your head, nothing is well. There are only cuts, bruises, and sores full of pus. No one has cleaned them or wrapped them or rubbed them with soothing oil.

7Your 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.

7Your country is empty and ruined. Your towns are burned down. Strangers eat up your fields while you watch. Your land is wrecked, torn down by strangers.

8And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

8The city of Zion is left all alone. She is like a small hut in a grape field. She is like a little shack in a cucumber patch. She is like a city with enemies all around it.

9Except 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.

9The LORD who commands armies let a few of us live. If he had not, we would be just like Sodom. We would be like Gomorrah.

NoteSodom and Gomorrah were two towns destroyed long before Isaiah's time. Their names had become a way of saying total ruin.

10Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

10You rulers, listen to what the LORD says! You people, listen to God's teaching! You act just like Sodom and Gomorrah.

11To 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.

11The LORD says, "Why do you bring me so many animal gifts? I have had enough of rams burned on the altar. I have had enough fat from well-fed cattle. I do not want the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats.

12When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

12You come to stand before me. But who asked you to walk around in my temple yard?

13Bring 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.

13Stop bringing me gifts that mean nothing. Your sweet-smelling smoke disgusts me. Your new moon days, your rest days, your big meetings: I cannot stand them. You do wrong and still hold a holy meeting.

NoteNew moon days and rest days were regular worship days. The KJV phrase "I cannot away with" simply means "I cannot stand."

14Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

14I hate your new moon days and your special feasts. They have become a heavy load to me. I am tired of carrying them.

15And 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.

15When you lift up your hands to pray, I will look away. Even if you pray again and again, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

16Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

16Wash yourselves. Get clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight. Stop doing evil!

17Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

17Learn to do good. Look for what is fair. Help people who are being crushed. Stand up for children with no father. Speak up for the woman whose husband has died."

18Come 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.

18"Come, let us talk this over," says the LORD. "Your sins are deep red like blood. But they will turn as white as snow. They are bright red. But they will be white like clean wool.

19If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

19If you are willing to listen and obey, you will eat the best food the land grows.

20But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

20But if you say no and fight against me, swords will destroy you." The LORD himself has said this.

21How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

21Look at the city that was once true to God! Now she has become unfaithful. She used to be full of fair judges. People did right there. But now she is full of killers.

NoteThe KJV calls the city a "harlot," an old word for a woman who sells her body. Here it pictures a city that has left God.

22Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:

22Your silver has turned into worthless scraps. Your good wine has been watered down.

23Thy 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.

23Your leaders will not obey. They are friends with thieves. Every one of them loves money paid in secret. They all chase after presents. They do not help children with no father. They will not listen to a woman whose husband has died.

24Therefore 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:

24So the Lord GOD says this. He commands armies. He is the Mighty One of Israel. He says, "I will get relief from the ones who fight me. I will pay back my enemies.

25And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

25I will turn my hand against you. I will melt away all your worthless scraps. I will take out everything that does not belong.

26And 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.

26I will give you good judges again, like you had at the start. I will give you wise helpers, like you had long ago. Then you will be called the City Where People Do Right. You will be called the Faithful City."

27Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.

27God will set Zion free by doing what is fair. He will save the ones who turn back to him by doing what is right.

28And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.

28But those who break God's rules and those who sin will be crushed together. People who walk away from the LORD will come to an end.

29For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.

29You will feel ashamed of the oak trees you loved so much. You will be embarrassed about the gardens you chose.

30For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.

30You will be like an oak tree with dried-up leaves. You will be like a garden with no water at all.

31And 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.

31The strong man will be like dry straw. What he made will be like a spark. The two will burn up together. No one will put the fire out.

NoteThe KJV word "tow" means dry, loose bits of flax plant. It catches fire fast and burns up quickly.