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Isaiah 1:1-9
1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he had concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 Hear, O heavens; listen, O earth!
The Lord has spoken:
I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master's crib;
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.
4 Ah, sinful nation,
people weighed down with sin,
offspring who do evil,
corrupt children!
They have forsaken the Lord,
they have despised Israel’s Holy One;
they are utterly estranged!
5 Why return to be beaten again?
Why continue to rebel?
The whole head is sick,
and the whole heart is weak.
6 From the sole of the foot to the head,
there is no soundness in it,
only bruises and sores
and bleeding wounds;
they have not been drained, bound up,
or soothed with oil.
7 Your country lies waste,
your cities are burned with fire;
in your very presence
foreigners strip your land;
it is deserted, overthrown by strangers.
8 And daughter Zion is left
like a hut in a vineyard,
like a hut in a cucumber field,
like a city under siege.
9 Unless the Lord of hosts
had left us a few survivors,
we would have been like Sodom,
and become like Gomorrah.
Isaiah 1:10-17
10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom!
Pay attention to the Law of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
11 What do your many sacrifices mean to me?
says the Lord;
I have had my fill of the burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of sacrificial animals;
I take no delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who requires this from your hand?
Trample through my courts no more;
13 Stop bringing any more futile offerings;
incense is repugnant to me.
‘New Moon’ and ‘Sabbath’
and the calling of special meetings -
I cannot abide the iniquity
of your sacred gatherings.
14 Your ‘New Moon’ and your festivals
I hate them with all my being.
They have become a burden to me,
And I am tired of their weight.
15 When you spread out your hands,
I will close my eyes to you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash and make yourselves clean;
Take your evil deeds away
And out of my sight!
Stop doing evil,
17 learn to do good;
seek justice,
challenge the ruthless,
give the orphan justice,
and fight on behalf of widows.
Isaiah 1:18-21
18 Come now, let us set things straight,
says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they will be like snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they will be like wool.
19 If you consent and are obedient,
you will eat the best of the land;
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
21 How has the faithful city
come to be a prostitute!
She was once full of justice,
righteousness used to live in her;
but now, murderers!
22 Your silver has become dross,
your best wine is mixed with water.
23 Your rulers are rebels
and comrades of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe
and chases after gifts.
They do not bring justice to orphans,
and the widow's cause
does not come before them.
24 Therefore the Lord declares,
the Lord of hosts,
the Mighty One of Israel:
Now, I will get relief from my enemies,
and take vengeance on my foes!
25 I will turn my hand against you;
I will completely refine your dross
and remove all your impurities.
26 I will restore your judges as at first,
and your counsellors from the beginning.
After this you will be called
the city of righteousness, the faithful city.
27 Zion will be redeemed with justice,
and her repentant ones by righteousness.
28 But rebels and sinners alike will be crushed,
and those who forsake the Lord will perish.
29 You will be ashamed of the oaks you prized;
and blush for the gardens you chose.
30 For you will be like an oak whose leaf withers
and like a garden without water.
31 The strong will be like tinder,
and his work, a spark;
they and their work will burn together,
with no one to quench them.
Isaiah 2:1-4
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 In days which are to come
the mountain of the Lord's house
will be set up as the highest mountain peak,
and will be raised above the hills.
All the nations shall flow to it,
3 and many people will come and say,
"Come let us go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
so that He may teach us His ways
and we may walk in His paths."
For the Law will go out of from Zion,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations,
and will decide the future of many peoples;
they will beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation will not lift up sword against nation,
and they will never again train for war.
Isaiah 2:5-22
5 O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord!
6 For You have abandoned Your people,
the house of Jacob,
because they are full of eastern practices
and they do divination like the Philistines,
and clasp hands with foreigners.
7 Their land is filled with silver and gold,
and their treasures are never ending;
their land is filled with horses,
and their chariots are without number.
8 Their land is filled with idols;
they worship the work of their hands,
to what their fingers have made.
9 And so people are humbled,
and each one is brought low;
do not raise them high!
10 Take cover in the rocks,
and hide in the dust
from the terror of the Lord,
and from the glory of his majesty.
11 Those who look down on others
will be humiliated,
and everyone’s pride will be humbled;
but the Lord alone
will be lifted up on that day!
12 For the Lord of hosts will have His day
against all that is proud and arrogant,
against all that is exalted and it will fall;
13 against all the cedars of Lebanon,
which are high and lofty;
against all the oaks of Bashan;
14 against all the high mountains,
against all the lofty hills;
15 against every high tower,
against every fortified wall;
16 against all the ships of Tarshish,
against all the stately vessels.
17 Those who disdain others will be shamed,
and everyone’s pride will be brought low;
and the Lord alone
will be lifted up on that day.
18 The idols shall utterly pass away.
19 They will take cover in rocks
and caves in the earth
from the terror of the Lord,
and from the glory of his majesty,
when he rises up
to make the earth tremble!
20 On that day people will discard
to rodents and bats
the idols of silver and gold,
which they made for worship,
21 as they flee to the caverns of the rocks
and the crevices in the crags,
from the terror of the Lord,
and from the glory of his majesty,
when he rises up
to make the earth tremble!
22 Stop paying attention to people,
who only have breath in their nostrils,
for what is he worth?
Isaiah 3:1-12
1 For now the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
will remove from Jerusalem and Judah
provisions and stores;
all supplies of bread and water.
2 Warrior and soldier,
judge and prophet,
diviner and elder,
3 Captain of fifty and nobleman,
counsellor and skilful magician
and expert enchanter.
4 I will make youths as their rulers,
and babies will have authority over them.
5 People will oppress each other,
each one against his friend;
The youth will be arrogant to the elder,
and the rogue to the one who is worthy.
6 For a man will even seize a brother,
One of his father’s house, and say,
‘You have clothes;
you will be our leader,
And this heap of ruins
will be under your authority.’
7 But he will answer on the same day,
‘I cannot sort this out;
If there is no food or clothing in my house;
do not make me the people’s leader.’
8 For Jerusalem is stumbling
and Judah is falling
Because what they say and do
is against the Lord,
a provocation in the sight of His glory.
9 Their expression is evidence against them;
they parade their sin like Sodom,
they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
for they have brought evil on themselves.
10 Tell the righteous,
things will be all right for them,
and they will eat the fruit of their work.
11 Woe to the wicked!
Things will not go well for them,
for what their hands have done
will be done to them.
12 This is my people
their taskmasters are infants,
and women rule over them.
O my people, your leaders have mislead you,
And confused the paths you should follow.
Isaiah 3:13-4:1
13 The Lord rises to argue His case;
standing to judge the peoples.
14 The Lord enters into judgment
with the elders and princes of His people:
It is you who have ruined the vineyard;
the plunder of the poor is in your houses!
15 What do you mean by crushing my people,
by grinding down the poor?
says the Lord God of hosts.
16 The Lord said:
Because the daughters of Zion are puffed-up
walking with outstretched necks,
fluttering their eyes at others,
mincing along as they go,
tinkling ornaments on their feet!
17 the Lord will afflict with scabs
the heads of the daughters of Zion,
and the Lord will uncover
their private parts.
18 In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery; the bangles, the headbands, and necklaces, 19 the pendants, the bracelets, and scarves; 20 the headdresses, the bracelets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the charms; 21 the signet rings and nose rings; 22 the festal clothing, the wraps, the cloaks, and the handbags; 23 the mirrors, the fine linen, the turbans, and the veils.
24 So it will be:
instead of perfume, a stench;
instead of a sash, a rope;
instead of coiffure, baldness;
instead of rich robes, sackcloth;
and instead of beauty, shame.
25 Your men shall fall by the sword
and your mighty men in battle.
26 The gates of Zion will lament and mourn;
she will sit destitute on the ground.
4:1 On that day, seven women
will grab one man and say,
‘We will provide our own food and clothing;
only let us have your name;
put an end to our disgrace!
Isaiah 4:2-6
2 On that day the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel, 3 and those who are left in Zion and remain in Jerusalem, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem, will be called holy.
4 When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains from the midst of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgement and by a spirit of burning, 5 then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and those who gather there a cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Indeed over all the glory there will be a covering, 6 and it will serve as a shelter for shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and cover from storm and rain.
Isaiah 5:1-7
1 Let me sing for the One I love
my love-song about His vineyard:
The One I love had a vineyard
on the side of a fertile hill.
2 He dug it, cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
He built a watchtower within it,
and carved out a wine vat in it;
He expected a good crop of grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes!
3 So now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah:
Judge, if you please,
between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could I do for my vineyard
that I have not done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
5 So I will now tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it will be eaten up;
I will break down its wall,
and it will be trampled down.
6 I will set it aside for destruction;
it will not be pruned or hoed,
and it will be overgrown
with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
so that they do not rain on it.
7 The vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are plants in which he delights;
he expected justice, but saw bloodshed;
righteousness, but heard a cry!
Isaiah 5:8-17
8 Woe to you who join house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
and you are made to live alone
in the midst of the land!
9 The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
Many houses will be in ruins,
Large and fine houses,
with no one to live in them.
10 Ten acres of vineyard will yield but one bath,
a homer of seed will yield a mere ephah.
11 Woe to you who rise early in the morning
To run after strong drink,
who stay up late in the evening
to be inflamed by wine;
12 who have at their feasts lyre and harp,
tambourine and flute and wine,
but who pay no attention to the Lord‘s deeds,
or consider the work of His hands!
13 Therefore my people go into exile
without knowledge;
their nobles are dying of hunger,
and their crowds are parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
and opened its mouth without limit;
the nobility and the crowds go down,
all the hordes and revellers in Jerusalem.
15 People are humbled, all are brought low,
and the eyes of the haughty are lowered.
16 The Lord of hosts is exalted by His justice,
God shows Himself holy in righteousness.
17 Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture,
Strangers will eat in the ruins of the rich.
Isaiah 5:18-25
18 Woe to you who tug at guilt
with cords of deceit,
and at sin as if with cart ropes,
19 Who say, ‘Let God hurry,
let him speed up his work
so that we may see it;
let the plan of Israel’s Holy One happen,
so that we may know it!’
20 Woe to you who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
and clever in their own sight!
22 Woe to you who are heroes in drinking wine
and champions at mixing liquor,
23 to those who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of justice!
24 Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up stubble,
and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,
so their root will become rotten,
and their flowers scatter like dust;
for they have rejected the law
of the Lord of hosts,
reviling the word of Israel’s Holy One.
25 Therefore the anger of the Lord
burned against His people,
and He stretched out His hand
against them and struck them;
the mountains quaked,
their corpses became refuse in the streets
For all this His anger has not turned back,
And his hand is stretched out still!
Isaiah 5:26-30
26 He will lift up a signal
to a nation far away,
and whistle for them
from the ends of the earth;
look, they are coming
swiftly and speedily!
27 None of them is weary or stumbles,
none slumbers or sleeps,
not a girdle is loose,
not a sandal-thong broken;
28 their arrows are sharp,
all their bows bent,
their horses' hoofs sound hard like flint,
and their chariot-wheels like the wind.
29 Their roaring is like a lion,
like young lions they roar;
they growl and seize the prey,
they carry it off, and no one can rescue it.
30 They will roar over it on that day,
like the roaring of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
Look, only darkness and distress;
And the light is darkened with clouds.
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