Isaiah 1-2
Every descent into ruin begins with forgetting who we are.
NARRATOR
The vision that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
JEHOVAH
Hear, O heavens, and pay attention, O earth,
For Jehovah has spoken:
“Sons I have brought up and raised,
But they have revolted against m
A bull well knows its buyer,
And a donkey the manger of its owner;
But Israel does not know me,
My own people do not behave with understanding.
Woe to the sinful nation,
The people weighed down with error,
A brood of wicked men, corrupt children!
They have abandoned Jehovah;
They have treated the Holy One of Israel with disrespect;
They have turned their backs on him.
Where will you be struck next as you add to your rebellion?
The whole head is sick,
And the whole heart is diseased.
From the sole of the foot to the head, nothing is healthy.
There are wounds and bruises and open sores—
They have not been treated or bound up or softened with oil.
Your land is desolate.
Your cities are burned with fire.
Foreigners devour your land right in front of you.
It is like a wasteland overthrown by foreigners.
The daughter of Zion has been left like a shelter in a vineyard,
Like a hut in a cucumber field,
Like a city under siege.
Unless Jehovah of armies had left us a few survivors,
We should have become like Sodom,
And we should have resembled Gomorrah.
Hear the word of Jehovah, you dictators of Sodom.
Pay attention to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.
Of what benefit to me are your many sacrifices?” says Jehovah.
“I have had enough of your burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of well-fed animals,
And I have no delight in the blood of young bulls and lambs and goats.
When you come to appear before me,
Who has required this from you,
This trampling of my courtyards?
Stop bringing in any more worthless grain offerings.
Your incense is detestable to me.
New moons, sabbaths, the calling of conventions—
I cannot put up with the use of magical power along with your solemn assembly.
I have hated your new moons and your festivals.
They have become a burden to me;
I am tired of bearing them.
And when you spread out your palms,
I hide my eyes from you.
Although you offer many prayers,
I am not listening;
Your hands are filled with blood.
Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Remove your evil deeds from my sight;
Stop doing bad.
Learn to do good, seek justice,
Correct the oppressor,
Defend the rights of the fatherless child,
And plead the cause of the widow.
Come, now, and let us set matters straight between us,” says Jehovah.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They will be made as white as snow;
Though they are as red as crimson cloth,
They will become like wool.
If you show willingness and listen,
You will eat the good things of the land.
But if you refuse and rebel,
You will be devoured by the sword,
For the mouth of Jehovah has spoken it.”
NARRATOR
How the faithful city has become a prostitute!
She was full of justice;
Righteousness used to lodge in her,
But now murderers.
Your silver has become dross,
And your beer is diluted with water.
Your princes are stubborn and partners with thieves.
Every one of them loves a bribe and chases after gifts.
They do not grant justice to the fatherless,
And the legal case of the widow never reaches them.
JEHOVAH
“Ah! I will rid myself of my adversaries,
And I will take revenge on my enemies.
I will turn my hand against you,
I will smelt away your dross as with lye,
And I will remove all your impurities.
I will restore your judges as in the beginning
And your advisers as at the start.
After this you will be called
City of Righteousness, Faithful Town.
With justice Zion will be redeemed,
And her people who return, with righteousness.
The rebels and the sinners will be broken together,
And those leaving Jehovah will come to their finish.
For they will be ashamed of the mighty trees that you desired,
And you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you chose.
For you will become like a big tree with withering leaves,
And like a garden without water.
The strong man will become tow,
And his work a spark;
Both of them will go up in flames together,
With no one to extinguish them.”
NARRATOR
This is what Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
In the final part of the days,
The mountain of the house of Jehovah
Will become firmly established above the top of the mountains,
And it will be raised up above the hills,
And to it all the nations will stream.
And many peoples will go and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah,
To the house of the God of Jacob.
He will instruct us about his ways,
And we will walk in his paths.”
For law will go out of Zion,
And the word of Jehovah out of Jerusalem.
He will render judgment among the nations
And set matters straight respecting many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning shears.
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
Nor will they learn war anymore.
O house of Jacob, come,
Let us walk in the light of Jehovah.
For you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob,
Because they have become full of things from the East;
They practice magic like the Philistines,
And they abound with the children of foreigners.
Their land is filled with silver and gold,
And there is no limit to their treasures.
Their land is filled with horses,
And there is no limit to their chariots.
Their land is filled with worthless gods.
They bow down to the work of their own hands,
To what their own fingers have made.
So man bows down—he becomes low—
And you cannot possibly pardon them.
Enter into the rock and hide yourself in the dust
Because of the terrifying presence of Jehovah
And his majestic splendor.
The haughty eyes of man will be brought low,
And the arrogance of men will bow down.
Jehovah alone will be exalted in that day.
For it is the day belonging to Jehovah of armies.
It is coming upon everyone who is haughty and lofty,
Upon everyone, whether exalted or lowly,
Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and exalted
And upon all the oaks of Bashan,
Upon all the lofty mountains
And upon all the high hills,
Upon every high tower and every fortified wall,
Upon all the ships of Tarshish
And upon all desirable boats.
Man’s haughtiness will be brought down,
And the arrogance of men will bow low.
Jehovah alone will be exalted in that day.
The worthless gods will completely disappear.
And people will enter into the caves of the rocks
And into the holes in the ground
Because of the terrifying presence of Jehovah
And his majestic splendor
When he arises to make the earth tremble in terror.
In that day men will take their worthless gods of silver and of gold
That they had made for themselves to bow down to
And throw them away to the shrewmice and to the bats,
In order to enter into the holes in the rocks
And into the clefts of the crags
Because of the terrifying presence of Jehovah
And his majestic splendor
When he arises to make the earth tremble in terror.
For your own sakes, quit trusting in mere man,
Who is only the breath in his nostrils.
Why should he be taken into account?
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