Isaiah 1 (ESV)

The Fullness and Fruit of Rebellion

1: 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.

2: Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the Lord has spoken:
“Children have I reared and brought 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,
a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the Lord,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
they are utterly estranged.

5: Why will you still be struck down?
Why will you continue to rebel?
The whole head is sick,
and the whole heart faint.

6: From the sole of the foot even to the head,
there is no soundness in it,
but bruises and sores
and raw wounds;
they are not pressed out or bound up
or softened with oil.

7: Your country lies desolate;
your cities are burned with fire;
in your very presence
foreigners devour your land;
it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.

8: And the daughter of Zion is left
like a booth in a vineyard,
like a lodge in a cucumber field,
like a besieged city.

9: If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors,
we should have been like Sodom,
and become like Gomorrah.

The Insufficiency of Sacrifice

10: Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom!
Give ear to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!

11: “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.

12: When you come to appear before me,
who has required of you
this trampling of my courts?

13: Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.

14: Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.

15: When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.

16: Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,

17: learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.

The Nature of Redemption

18: “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.

19: If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;

20: but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The Certainty of Vengeance

21: How the faithful city
has become a whore,
she who was full of justice!
Righteousness lodged in her,
but now murderers.

22: Your silver has become dross,
your best wine mixed with water.

23: Your princes are rebels
and companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe
and runs after gifts.
They do not bring justice to the fatherless,
and the widow’s cause does not come to them.

24: Therefore the Lord declares,
the Lord of hosts,
the Mighty One of Israel:
“Ah, I will get relief from my enemies
and avenge myself on my foes.

25: I will turn my hand against you
and will smelt away your dross as with lye
and remove all your alloy.

26: And I will restore your judges as at the first,
and your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you shall be called
the city of righteousness,
the faithful city.”

27: Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
and those in her who repent, by righteousness.

28: But rebels and sinners shall be broken together,
and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.

29: For they shall be ashamed of the oaks
that you desired;
and you shall blush for the gardens
that you have chosen.

30: For you shall be like an oak
whose leaf withers,
and like a garden without water.

31: And the strong shall become tinder,
and his work a spark,
and both of them shall burn together,
with none to quench them.