BG - Old Testament

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

The people of Israel are apostate, rebellious, and corrupt; only a few remain faithful—The people’s sacrifices and feasts are rejected—They are called upon to repent and work righteousness—Zion will be redeemed in the day of restoration.

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.

1.

2.

Hear, 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.

2.

3. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s

crib: but Israel doth not

know, my people doth not consider.

3.

4. Ah

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.

4.

5. ¶Why should ye be

stricken any more? ye will

revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart

faint.

5.

6. From 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.

6.

7. 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.

7.

8. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a

vineyard, as

a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

8.

9. Except 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.

9.

10. ¶Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of

Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

10.

11. To 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.

11.

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

12.

13. Bring 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.

13.

14. Your new

moons and your appointed

feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am

weary to bear them.

14.

15. 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.

15.

16. ¶

Wash you, make you

clean; put away the

evil of your doings from before mine eyes;

cease to do evil;

16.

17.

Learn to do

well; seek

judgment,

relieve the oppressed,

judge the fatherless, plead for the

widow.

17.

18. Come 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.

19. If ye be

willing and

obedient, ye shall eat the

good of the land:

19.

20. But if ye refuse and

rebel, ye shall be

devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

20.

21. ¶How is the faithful city become an

harlot! it was full of

judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

21.

22. Thy silver is become

dross, thy wine mixed with water:

22.

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 cause of the widow come unto them.

23.

24. Therefore 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:

24.

25. ¶And I will

turn my hand upon thee, and purely

purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

25.

26. 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, the faithful city.

26.

27.

Zion shall be redeemed with

judgment, and her

converts with righteousness.

27.

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

28.

29. For they shall be ashamed of the

oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.

29.

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

30.

31. And 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.

31.