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This is the vision of Isaiah son of Amoz. God showed Isaiah what would happen to Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah saw this during the time when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.

God’s Case Against Israel

Heaven and earth, listen! This is what the Lord says:

“I raised my children and helped them grow up,
    but they have turned against me.
A bull knows its master,
    and a donkey knows where its owner feeds it.
But Israel does not know me.
    My people do not understand.”

Oh, what a sinful nation! Their guilt is like a heavy weight that they must carry. They are evil, destructive children.[a] They left the Lord and insulted the Holy One of Israel. They turned away and treated him like a stranger.

What good will it do to keep punishing you? You will continue to rebel. Your whole head and heart are already sick and aching.[b] From the bottom of your feet to the top of your head, every part of your body has wounds, cuts, and open sores. You have not taken care of them. Your wounds have not been cleaned and bandaged.

Your land is in ruins, and your cities are in flames. Your enemies have taken your land, and foreigners are taking what it produces. It looks like some foreigners destroyed it.[c]

Warnings for Jerusalem

The city of Jerusalem[d] is now like an empty shed left in a vineyard. It is like an old straw hut abandoned in a field of cucumbers or like a city surrounded by enemies. If the Lord All-Powerful had not allowed a few people to live, we would have been destroyed completely like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And that almost happened!

10 You officers of Sodom, listen to the Lord’s message. You people of Gomorrah,[e] listen to God’s teaching. 11 The Lord says, “Why do you continue giving me all these sacrifices? I have had enough of your sacrifices of rams and the fat from well-fed animals. I don’t want the blood of those bulls, sheep, and goats. 12 When you people come to meet with me, you trample everything in my yard. Who told you to do this?

13 “Don’t keep bringing me those worthless sacrifices. I hate the incense you give me. I cannot stand your festivals for the New Moon, the Sabbath, and other special meeting days. I hate the evil you do during those holy times together. 14 I hate your monthly meetings and councils. They have become like heavy weights to me, and I am tired of carrying them.

15 “When you raise your arms to pray to me, I will refuse to look at you. You will say more and more prayers, but I will refuse to listen because your hands are covered with blood.

16 “Wash yourselves and make yourselves clean. Stop doing the evil things I see you do. Stop doing wrong. 17 Learn to do good. Treat people fairly. Punish those who hurt others. Speak up for the widows and orphans. Argue their cases for them in court.

18 “I, the Lord, am the one speaking to you. Come, let’s discuss this. Even if your sins are as dark as red dye, that stain can be removed and you will be as pure as wool that is as white as snow.

19 “If you listen to what I say, you will get the good things from this land. 20 But if you refuse to listen and rebel against me, your enemies will destroy you.”

The Lord himself said this.

Unfaithful Jerusalem

21 Look at Jerusalem. She was a faithful city. What made her become like a prostitute? In the past, Jerusalem was filled with justice, and goodness should live there now. Instead, there are murderers.

22 Once you were like pure silver, but now you are like the impurities that people throw away when the silver is purified. You are like good wine that has been weakened with water. 23 Your rulers are rebels and friends of thieves. They demand bribes and accept money for doing wrong. They take money to cheat people, and they don’t speak up for widows and orphans. They will not even listen to their cries for help.

24 Because of this, the Lord God All-Powerful, the Mighty One of Israel, says, “Look, I will get relief from my enemies. You will not cause me any more trouble. 25 People use lye to clean silver. In the same way, I will clean away all your wrongs. I will remove all the impurities from you. 26 I will bring back the kind of judges you had in the beginning. Your counselors will be like those you had long ago. Then you will be called ‘The Good and Faithful City.’”

27 God is good and does what is right, so he will rescue Zion and the people who come back to him. 28 But all the criminals and sinners will be destroyed. Those who stopped following the Lord will be removed.

29 In the future, you will be ashamed of the oak trees and special gardens[f] you chose to worship, 30 because you will be like an oak tree whose leaves are dying. You will be like a garden dying without water. 31 Powerful people will be like small, dry pieces of wood, and what they did will be like the sparks that start a fire. These people and their works will both burn up, and no one will be able to put out that fire.

God’s Message to Judah and Jerusalem

Isaiah son of Amoz received this message about Judah and Jerusalem.

In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s Temple
    will be the highest of all mountains.
It will be raised higher than the hills.
    There will be a steady stream of people from all nations going there.
People from many places will go there and say,
    “Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the Temple of the God of Jacob.
Then God will teach us his way of living,
    and we will follow him.”

His teaching, the Lord’s message, will begin in Jerusalem on Mount Zion
    and will go out to all the world.
Then God will act as judge to end arguments between nations.
    He will decide what is right for people from many lands.
They will stop using their weapons for war.
    They will hammer their swords into plows
    and use their spears to make tools for harvesting.
All fighting between nations will end.
    They will never again train for war.

Family of Jacob, let us follow the Lord.

Family of Jacob, you have abandoned your people. This is clear because they have been filled with bad influences from the East,[g] and now your people try to tell the future like the Philistines. They have completely accepted those strange ideas. Jacob’s land has been filled with silver and gold from other places. There are many treasures there. His land has been filled with horses and many chariots. His land is full of gods that the people bow down to worship. They made those idols themselves. The people have become worse and worse. They have become very low, and you leaders did nothing to lift them up![h]

10 You should be afraid of the Lord! Go hide in the dirt and behind the rocks. Hide from his glorious power!

11 Proud people will stop being proud. They will bow down to the ground with shame, and only the Lord will still stand high.

12 The Lord All-Powerful has a special day planned when he will punish the proud and boastful people. They will be brought down. 13 They might be like the tall cedar trees from Lebanon or the great oak trees from Bashan, but they will be cut down. 14 They might be like the tall mountains and high hills 15 or like the tall towers and high walls, but they will be brought down. 16 They might be like great ships from Tarshish,[i] filled with such wonderful cargo, but they will be brought down.

17 At that time those proud people will fall. They will bow low to the ground, and only the Lord will stand high. 18 All the idols will be gone. 19 People will go into the holes in the ground and the cracks in the rocks because they fear the Lord and his great power as he stands to shake the earth.

20 At that time people will throw away their idols they made from gold and silver. They made these statues to worship, but they will throw them into holes in the ground where bats and moles live. 21 They will go down into cracks in the rocks and boulders because they are afraid of the Lord and his glorious power as he stands to shake the earth.

22 Stop trusting other people to save you. Do not think too highly of them; they are only humans who have not stopped breathing yet.

Understand what I am telling you: The Lord God All-Powerful will take away everything Judah and Jerusalem depend on. He will take away all the food and water. He will take away all the heroes and soldiers. He will take away all the judges, the prophets, the fortunetellers, and the elders. He will take away the army officers and important officials. He will take away the skilled counselors, the magicians, and those who try to tell the future.

He says, “I will put young boys in charge of you. They will be your leaders. The people will turn against each other. Young people will not respect those who are older. The common people will not respect important leaders.”

At that time a man will grab one of his brothers from his own family and tell him, “You have a coat,[j] so you will be our leader. You will be the leader over all these ruins.”

But the brother will refuse and say, “I cannot help you. I don’t have enough food or clothes for my own family. You will not make me your leader.”

This will happen because Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen. They turned against the Lord. They said and did things against him, right in front of his glorious eyes.

The look on their faces shows that they are guilty. They are like the people of Sodom; they don’t care who sees their sin. But it will be very bad for them. They will get what they deserve.

10 Tell the good people who do what is right that good things will happen to them. They will receive a reward for what they do. 11 But it will be very bad for wicked people, because they, too, will get what they deserve. They will get what they did to others. 12 Even children will defeat my people, and women will rule over them.

My people, your guides lead you the wrong way, and they destroy the path you should follow.

God’s Decision About His People

13 Look, the Lord is standing to judge his people. 14 The Lord is ready to present his case against the elders and leaders of his people.

He says, “You people have burned the vineyard,[k] and what you stole from the poor is still in your houses. 15 What gives you the right to hurt my people? What gives you the right to push the faces of the poor into the dirt?” The Lord God All-Powerful said this.

16 The Lord says, “The women in Zion have become very proud. They walk around with their heads in the air, acting like they are better than other people. They flirt with their eyes and make tinkling sounds with their ankle bracelets as they take their quick little steps.”

17 The Lord will put sores on the heads of those women in Zion. The Lord will make their heads bald. 18 Then the Lord will take away everything they are proud of: the beautiful ankle bracelets, the necklaces that look like the sun and the moon, 19 the earrings, bracelets, and veils, 20 the scarves, the ankle chains, the cloth belts worn around their waists, the bottles of perfume, the charms,[l] 21 the signet rings, and the nose rings, 22 the fine dresses, robes, veils, and purses, 23 the mirrors, linen dresses, turbans, and long shawls.

24 Those women now have sweet-smelling perfume, but it will get moldy and stink. Now they wear belts, but then they will have only ropes to wear. Now they have their hair fixed in fancy ways, but then their heads will be shaved—they will have no hair.[m] Now they have party dresses, but then they will have only mourning clothes. They have beauty marks on their faces now, but then they will have another mark. It will be a mark burned into their skin to show that they are slaves.

25 Your men will be killed with swords. Your heroes will die in war. 26 There will be crying and sadness in the meeting places by the city gates. Jerusalem will sit there empty, like a woman who has lost everything to thieves and robbers and now just sits on the ground and cries.

At that time seven women will grab one man and say, “Please marry us! We will supply our own food and make our own clothes. You won’t have to do anything else if you let us wear your name and take away our shame.”

At that time the Lord’s plant[n] will be very beautiful and glorious. The people in Israel who survived will be very proud of what the land grows. And all those who are left in Zion and Jerusalem will be called holy. Their names were on the list of people in Jerusalem who were allowed to live.

The Lord will wash away the filth[o] from the daughters of Zion.[p] He will wash away the blood from Jerusalem. With a spirit of judgment that burns like fire, he will make everything pure. Then the Lord will create a cloud of smoke in the day and a bright flame of fire[q] at night over every building and over every meeting of the people on the mountain of Zion. And there will be a covering over everyone[r] for protection. It will be a shelter to protect the people from the heat of the sun and from all kinds of storms and rain.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 1:4 They … children Or “They are destructive children of evil parents.”
  2. Isaiah 1:5 Your whole … aching Or “Every head and heart is already sick and aching.”
  3. Isaiah 1:7 It looks … destroyed it Or “It looks like the land of the foreigners that was destroyed.” This might refer to civil war in Israel or to some time when God destroyed foreign nations, such as Sodom and Gomorrah.
  4. Isaiah 1:8 city of Jerusalem Literally, “daughter Zion.” See “Zion” in the Word List.
  5. Isaiah 1:10 officers of Sodom … Gomorrah Here, this refers to leaders and people from Judah.
  6. Isaiah 1:29 special gardens Gardens where people worshiped false gods.
  7. Isaiah 2:6 East This usually refers to the area around Babylon.
  8. Isaiah 2:9 They … up Or “The people have become very low. Surely you will not forgive them!”
  9. Isaiah 2:16 ships from Tarshish This is probably a special type of cargo ship.
  10. Isaiah 3:6 coat Or “robe.” This showed that a person was a leader of the people.
  11. Isaiah 3:14 vineyard A garden for growing grapes. Here, this probably means Judah.
  12. Isaiah 3:20 charms Things people wore on bracelets and necklaces. People thought these things would protect them from evil or danger.
  13. Isaiah 3:24 they will have no hair This means that they will become slaves.
  14. Isaiah 4:2 the Lord’s plant This might refer to the country of Judah or to the future king or Messiah. See Isa. 5:7.
  15. Isaiah 4:4 wash away the filth This is like a special ceremony for washing away the blood after a menstrual period. After this a man and wife could have sexual relations.
  16. Isaiah 4:4 daughters of Zion This can refer either to the small towns around Jerusalem or to the women living there.
  17. Isaiah 4:5 cloud of smoke … fire The signs God used to show that he was with his people.
  18. Isaiah 4:5 everyone Literally, “glory,” but this can also mean “soul” or “person.” See Ps. 16:9.

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