I. 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, Ο heavens, and give ear, Ο earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up sons, and they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his ’s crib: Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
4 Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, sons that deal corruptly; they have forsaken the LORD, they have scorned the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backward.
5 Why will ye be still stricken, (that) ye revolt more and more? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head (there is) no soundness in it; wound, and weal, and putrefying sore: they have not been pressed out, neither bound up, neither is it mollified with oil.
7 Your country is a desolation, your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is a desolation, like an overthrow of strangers.
8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a ’tent in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
9 Except the LORD of Hosts had left us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ye ear unto the law of our God, people of Gomorrah.
11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am sated with 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.
12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts?
13 Bring no more vain (meal-) offerings; incense is an abomination unto me; new moons and sabbaths, callings of assemblies; I cannot away with iniquity and the solemn meetings.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a cumbrance unto me: I am weary of bearing.
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye multiply prayer, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash you, make you clean; remove the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, correct the oppressore judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us confer 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.
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be eaten (by) the sword for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! she (that) was full of judgment, righteousness lodged in her; but now murderers:
22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine impaired with water:
23 Thy princes (are) rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one of them loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, ’doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
24 Therefore thus 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.
25 And I will bring back mine hand upon thee, and purge away as (with) lye thy dross, and take away all thine alloy:
26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called Citadel of righteousness, faithful city.
27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.
28 And (there shall be) a shattering of the rebels and of the sinners together, and they that forsake the LORD shall come to an end.
29 For they shall be ashamed of the terebinths which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
30 For ye shall be as a terebinth whose leaf withereth, and as a garden that hath no water.
31 And the strong shall become as tow, and his work as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
Isaias. . ed. Richard Rusden Ottley. Germany. 2016.
Sponsored by University of Leipzig.
Funding provided by European Social Fund Saxony.