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[1]A 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 hearken, O earth: for the Lord hath said, I have nourished and brought up children, but they have rebelled against me.
[3]The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known: my people hath not understand.
[4]Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity: a seed of the wicked, corrupt children: they have forsaken the Lord: they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger: they are gone backward.
[5]Wherefore should ye be smitten anymore? For ye fall away more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is heavy.
[6]From the sole of the foot unto the head, there is nothing whole therein , but wounds, and swelling, and sores full of corruption: they have not been wrapped, nor bound up, nor mollified with oil.
[7]Your land is waste: your cities are burned with fire: strangers devour your land in your presence, and it is desolate like the overthrow of strangers.
[8]And the daughter of Zion shall remain like a cottage in a vineyard, like a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and like a besieged city.
[9]Except the Lord of hosts had reserved unto us, even a small remnant: we should have been as Sodom , and should have been like unto Gomorrah.
[10]Hear the word of the Lord, O princes of Sodom: hearken unto the law of our God, O people of Gomorrah.
[11]What have I to do with the multitude of your sacrifices, saith the Lord? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and of the fat of fed beasts: and I desire not the blood of bullocks, nor of lambs, nor of goats.
[12]When ye come to appear before me, who required this of your hands to tread in my courts?
[13]Bring no more oblations, in vain: incense is an abomination unto me: I cannot suffer your new moons, nor Sabbaths, nor solemn days ( it is iniquity) nor solemn assemblies.
[14]My soul hateth your new moons and your appointed feasts: they are a burden unto me: I am weary to bear them.
[15]And when you shall stretch out your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: and though ye make many prayers, I will not hear: for your hands are full of blood.
[16]Wash you, make you clean: take away the evil of your works from before mine eyes: cease to do evil.
[17]Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed: judge the fatherless and defend the widow.
[18]Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins were as crimson, they shall be made white as snow: though they were red like scarlet, they shall be as wool.
[19]If ye consent and obey, ye shall eat the good things of the land.
[20]But if ye refuse and be rebellious, 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, and justice lodged therein, but now they are murderers.
[22]Thy silver is become dross: thy wine is 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 widow's cause come before them.
[24]Therefore saith the Lord God of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies.
[25]Then I will turn mine hand upon thee, and burn out thy dross, till it be pure, and take away all thy tin.
[26]And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counselors as at the beginning: afterward shalt thou be called a city of righteousness, and a faithful city.
[27]Zion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they that return in her, in justice.
[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 confounded for the oaks, which ye have desired, and ye shall be ashamed of 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 thereof, as a spark: and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
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