Isaiah 1:1-2:4

New King James Version

Judah Called to Repentance

1 The ^(A)vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the ^(B)days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

The Wickedness of Judah

²^(C)Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
“I have nourished and brought up children,
And they have rebelled against Me;
³^(D)The ox knows its owner
And the donkey its master’s ^[a]crib;
But Israel ^(E)does not know,
My people do not ^[b]consider.”

⁴Alas, sinful nation,
A people ^[c]laden with iniquity,
^(F)A ^[d]brood of evildoers,
Children who are corrupters!
They have forsaken the Lord,
They have provoked to anger
The Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away backward.

⁵^(G)Why should you be stricken again?
You will revolt more and more.
The whole head is sick,
And the whole heart faints.
⁶From the sole of the foot even to the head,
There is no soundness in it,
But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;
They have not been closed or bound up,
Or soothed with ointment.

⁷^(H)Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
Strangers devour your land in your presence;
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
⁸So the daughter of Zion is left ^(I)as a ^[e]booth in a vineyard,
As a hut in a garden of cucumbers,
^(J)As a besieged city.
⁹^(K)Unless the Lord of hosts
Had left to us a very small remnant,
We would have become like ^(L)Sodom,
We would have been made like Gomorrah.

¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord,
You rulers ^(M)of Sodom;
Give ear to the law of our God,
You people of Gomorrah:
¹¹“To what purpose is the multitude of your ^(N)sacrifices to Me?”
Says the Lord.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.

¹²“When you come ^(O)to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
¹³Bring no more ^(P)futile^[f] sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and ^(Q)the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
¹⁴Your ^(R)New Moons and your ^(S)appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵^(T)When you ^[g]spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
^(U)Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of ^[h]blood.

¹⁶“Wash^(V) yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
^(W)Cease to do evil,
¹⁷Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke ^[i]the oppressor;
^[j]Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.

¹⁸“Come now, and let us ^(X)reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
^(Y)They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
¹⁹If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
²⁰But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
^(Z)For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The Degenerate City

²¹^(AA)How the faithful city has become a ^[k]harlot!
It was full of justice;
Righteousness lodged in it,
But now ^(AB)murderers.
²²^(AC)Your silver has become dross,
Your wine mixed with water.
²³^(AD)Your princes are rebellious,
And ^(AE)companions of thieves;
^(AF)Everyone loves bribes,
And follows after rewards.
They ^(AG)do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.

²⁴Therefore the Lord says,
The Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel,
“Ah, ^(AH)I will ^[l]rid Myself of My adversaries,
And ^[m]take vengeance on My enemies.
²⁵I will turn My hand against you,
And ^(AI)thoroughly^[n] purge away your dross,
And take away all your alloy.
²⁶I will restore your judges ^(AJ)as at the first,
And your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward ^(AK)you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”

²⁷Zion shall be redeemed with justice,
And her ^[o]penitents with righteousness.
²⁸The ^(AL)destruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together,
And those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
²⁹For ^[p]they shall be ashamed of the ^[q]terebinth trees
Which you have desired;
And you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens
Which you have chosen.
³⁰For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades,
And as a garden that has no water.
³¹^(AM)The strong shall be as tinder,
And the work of it as a spark;
Both will burn together,
And no one shall ^(AN)quench them.

The Future House of God^(AO)

2 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

²Now ^(AP)it shall come to pass ^(AQ)in the latter days
^(AR)That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
³Many people shall come and say,
^(AS)“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
^(AT)For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning ^[r]hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.