¹ Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalem that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz during the time when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah reigned over Judah.

² Listen, O heavens,

pay attention, O earth!

For the Lord speaks:

“I raised children, I brought them up,

but they have rebelled against me!

³ An ox recognizes its owner,

a donkey recognizes where its owner puts its food;

but Israel does not recognize me,

my people do not understand.”

⁴ Beware sinful nation,

the people weighed down by evil deeds.

They are offspring who do wrong,

children who do wicked things.

They have abandoned the Lord,

and rejected the Holy One of Israel.

They are alienated from him.

⁵ Why do you insist on being battered?

Why do you continue to rebel?

Your head has a massive wound,

your whole heart is sick.

⁶ From the soles of your feet to your head,

there is no spot that is unharmed.

There are only bruises, cuts,

and open wounds.

They have not been cleansed or bandaged,

nor have they been treated with olive oil.

⁷ Your land is devastated,

your cities burned with fire.

Right before your eyes your crops

are being destroyed by foreign invaders.

They leave behind devastation and destruction.

⁸ Daughter Zion is left isolated,

like a hut in a vineyard

or a shelter in a cucumber field;

she is a besieged city.

⁹ If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not left us a few survivors,

we would have quickly been like Sodom,

we would have become like Gomorrah.

¹⁰ Listen to the Lord’s message,

you leaders of Sodom!

Pay attention to our God’s rebuke,

people of Gomorrah!

¹¹ “Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?”

says the Lord.

“I have had my fill of burnt sacrifices,

of rams and the fat from steers.

The blood of bulls, lambs, and goats

I do not want.

¹² When you enter my presence,

do you actually think I want this—

animals trampling on my courtyards?

¹³ Do not bring any more meaningless offerings;

I consider your incense detestable!

You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations,

but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations!

¹⁴ I hate your new moon festivals and assemblies;

they are a burden

that I am tired of carrying.

¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I look the other way;

when you offer your many prayers,

I do not listen

because your hands are covered with blood.

¹⁶ Wash! Cleanse yourselves!

Remove your sinful deeds

from my sight.

Stop sinning.

¹⁷ Learn to do what is right.

Promote justice.

Give the oppressed reason to celebrate.

Take up the cause of the orphan.

Defend the rights of the widow.

¹⁸ “Come, let’s consider your options,” says the Lord.

“Though your sins have stained you like the color red,

you can become white like snow;

though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet,

you can become white like wool.

¹⁹ If you have a willing attitude and obey,

then you will again eat the good crops of the land.

²⁰ But if you refuse and rebel,

you will be devoured by the sword.”

Know for certain that the Lord has spoken.

²¹ How tragic that the once-faithful city

has become a prostitute!

She was once a center of justice;

fairness resided in her—

but now only murderers!

²² Your silver has become scum,

your beer is diluted with water.

²³ Your officials are rebels,

they associate with thieves.

All of them love bribery,

and look for payoffs.

They do not take up the cause of the orphan

or defend the rights of the widow.

²⁴ Therefore, the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies,

the Powerful One of Israel, says this:

“Ah, I will seek vengeance against my adversaries,

I will take revenge against my enemies.

²⁵ I will attack you;

I will purify your metal with flux.

I will remove all your slag.

²⁶ I will reestablish honest judges as in former times,

wise advisers as in earlier days.

Then you will be called, ‘The Just City,

Faithful Town.’”

²⁷ Zion will be freed by justice

and her returnees by righteousness.

²⁸ All rebellious sinners will be shattered,

those who abandon the Lord will perish.

²⁹ Indeed, they will be ashamed of the sacred trees

you find so desirable;

you will be embarrassed because of the sacred orchards

where you choose to worship.

³⁰ For you will be like a tree whose leaves wither,

like an orchard that is unwatered.

³¹ The powerful will be like a thread of yarn,

their deeds like a spark;

both will burn together,

and no one will put out the fire.

² Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalem that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz.

² In future days

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure

as the most important of mountains

and will be the most prominent of hills.

All the nations will stream to it;

³ many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain,

to the temple of the God of Jacob,

so he can teach us his requirements,

and we can follow his standards.”

For Zion will be the center for moral instruction;

the Lord’s message will issue from Jerusalem.

⁴ He will judge disputes between nations;

he will settle cases for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,

and they will no longer train for war.

⁵ O descendants of Jacob,

come, let us walk in the Lord’s guiding light.

⁶ Indeed, O Lord, you have abandoned your people,

the descendants of Jacob.

For diviners from the east are everywhere;

they consult omen readers like the Philistines do.

Plenty of foreigners are around.

⁷ Their land is full of gold and silver;

there is no end to their wealth.

Their land is full of horses;

there is no end to their chariots.

⁸ Their land is full of worthless idols;

they worship the product of their own hands,

what their own fingers have fashioned.

⁹ Men bow down to them in homage,

they lie flat on the ground in worship.

Don’t spare them!

¹⁰ Go up into the rocky cliffs,

hide in the ground.

Get away from the dreadful judgment of the Lord,

from his royal splendor!

¹¹ Proud men will be brought low,

arrogant men will be humiliated;

the Lord alone will be exalted

in that day.

¹² Indeed, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has planned a day of judgment

for all the high and mighty;

for all who are proud—they will be humiliated;

¹³ for all the cedars of Lebanon

that are so high and mighty,

for all the oaks of Bashan,

¹⁴ for all the tall mountains,

for all the high hills,

¹⁵ for every high tower,

for every fortified wall,

¹⁶ for all the large ships,

for all the impressive ships.

¹⁷ Proud men will be humiliated,

arrogant men will be brought low;

the Lord alone will be exalted

in that day.

¹⁸ The worthless idols will be completely eliminated.

¹⁹ They will go into caves in the rocky cliffs

and into holes in the ground

trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord

and his royal splendor,

when he rises up to terrify the earth.

²⁰ At that time men will throw

their silver and gold idols,

which they made for themselves to worship,

into the caves where rodents and bats live,

²¹ so they themselves can go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs

and the openings under the rocky overhangs,

trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord

and his royal splendor,

when he rises up to terrify the earth.

²² Stop trusting in human beings,

whose life’s breath is in their nostrils.

For why should they be given special consideration?

³ Look, the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies

is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah

every source of security, including

all the food and water,

² the mighty men and warriors,

judges and prophets,

omen readers and leaders,

³ captains of groups of 50,

the respected citizens,

advisers and those skilled in magical arts,

and those who know incantations.

⁴ The Lord says, “I will make youths their officials;

malicious young men will rule over them.

⁵ The people will treat each other harshly;

men will oppose each other;

neighbors will fight.

Youths will proudly defy the elderly

and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected.

⁶ Indeed, a man will grab his brother

right in his father’s house and say,

‘You own a coat—

you be our leader!

This heap of ruins will be under your control.’

⁷ At that time the brother will shout,

‘I am no doctor,

I have no food or coat in my house;

don’t make me a leader of the people!’”

⁸ Jerusalem certainly stumbles,

Judah falls,

for their words and their actions offend the Lord;

they rebel against his royal authority.

⁹ The look on their faces testifies to their guilt;

like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin.

Woe to them!

For they bring disaster on themselves.

¹⁰ Tell the innocent it will go well with them,

for they will be rewarded for what they have done.

¹¹ Woe to the wicked sinners!

For they will get exactly what they deserve.

¹² Oppressors treat my people cruelly;

creditors rule over them.

My people, your leaders mislead you;

they give you confusing directions.

¹³ The Lord takes his position to judge;

he stands up to pass sentence on his people.

¹⁴ The Lord comes to pronounce judgment

on the leaders of his people and their officials.

He says, “It is you who have ruined the vineyard!

You have stashed in your houses what you have stolen from the poor.

¹⁵ Why do you crush my people

and grind the faces of the poor?”

The Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies has spoken.

¹⁶ The Lord says,

“The women of Zion are proud.

They walk with their heads high

and flirt with their eyes.

They skip along

and the jewelry on their ankles jingles.

¹⁷ So the Lord will afflict the foreheads of Zion’s women with skin diseases;

the Lord will make the front of their heads bald.”

¹⁸ At that time the Lord will remove their beautiful ankle jewelry, neck ornaments, crescent-shaped ornaments, ¹⁹ earrings, bracelets, veils, ²⁰ headdresses, ankle ornaments, sashes, sachets, amulets, ²¹ rings, nose rings, ²² festive dresses, robes, shawls, purses, ²³ garments, vests, head coverings, and gowns.

²⁴ A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices,

a rope will replace a belt,

baldness will replace braided locks of hair,

a sackcloth garment will replace a fine robe,

and a prisoner’s brand will replace beauty.

²⁵ Your men will fall by the sword,

your strong men will die in battle.

²⁶ Her gates will mourn and lament;

deprived of her people, she will sit on the ground.

⁴ Seven women will grab hold of

one man at that time.

They will say, “We will provide our own food,

we will provide our own clothes;

but let us belong to you—

take away our shame!”

² At that time

the crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor;

the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight

to those who remain in Israel.

³ Those remaining in Zion, those left in Jerusalem,

will be called “holy,”

all in Jerusalem who are destined to live.

⁴ At that time the Lord will wash the excrement from Zion’s women,

he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst,

as he comes to judge

and to bring devastation.

⁵ Then the Lord will create

over all Mount Zion

and over its convocations

a cloud and smoke by day

and a bright flame of fire by night;

indeed a canopy will accompany the Lord’s glorious presence.

⁶ By day it will be a shelter to provide shade from the heat,

as well as safety and protection from the heavy downpour.

¹⁰⁹ For the music director, a psalm of David.

O God whom I praise, do not ignore me.

² For they say cruel and deceptive things to me;

they lie to me.

³ They surround me and say hateful things;

they attack me for no reason.

⁴ They repay my love with accusations,

but I continue to pray.

⁵ They repay me evil for good

and hate for love.

⁶ Appoint an evil man to testify against him.

May an accuser stand at his right side.

⁷ When he is judged, he will be found guilty.

Then his prayer will be regarded as sinful.

⁸ May his days be few.

May another take his job.

⁹ May his children be fatherless,

and his wife a widow.

¹⁰ May his children roam around begging,

asking for handouts as they leave their ruined home.

¹¹ May the creditor seize all he owns.

May strangers loot his property.

¹² May no one show him kindness.

May no one have compassion on his fatherless children.

¹³ May his descendants be cut off.

May the memory of them be wiped out by the time the next generation arrives.

¹⁴ May his ancestors’ sins be remembered by the Lord.

May his mother’s sin not be forgotten.

¹⁵ May the Lord be constantly aware of them

and cut off the memory of his children from the earth.

¹⁶ For he never bothered to show kindness;

he harassed the oppressed and needy

and killed the disheartened.

¹⁷ He loved to curse others, so those curses have come upon him.

He had no desire to bless anyone, so he has experienced no blessings.

¹⁸ He made cursing a way of life,

so curses poured into his stomach like water

and seeped into his bones like oil.

¹⁹ May a curse attach itself to him, like a garment one puts on,

or a belt one wears continually.

²⁰ May the Lord repay my accusers in this way,

those who say evil things about me.

²¹ O Sovereign Lord,

intervene on my behalf for the sake of your reputation.

Because your loyal love is good, deliver me.

²² For I am oppressed and needy,

and my heart beats violently within me.

²³ I am fading away like a shadow at the end of the day;

I am shaken off like a locust.

²⁴ I am so starved my knees shake;

I have turned into skin and bones.

²⁵ I am disdained by them.

When they see me, they shake their heads.

²⁶ Help me, O Lord my God.

Because you are faithful to me, deliver me.

²⁷ Then they will realize this is your work

and that you, Lord, have accomplished it.

²⁸ They curse, but you will bless.

When they attack, they will be humiliated,

but your servant will rejoice.

²⁹ My accusers will be covered with shame

and draped in humiliation as if it were a robe.

³⁰ I will thank the Lord profusely.

In the middle of a crowd I will praise him,

³¹ because he stands at the right hand of the needy

to deliver him from those who threaten his life.