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New International Version (NIV) |
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1 The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw about Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
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1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
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2 Give ear, O heavens, and you, O earth, to the word which the Lord has said: I have taken care of my children till they became men, but their hearts have been turned away from me.
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2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: "I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
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3 Even the ox has knowledge of its owner, and the ass of the place where its master puts its food: but Israel has no knowledge, my people give no thought to me.
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3 The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand."
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4 O nation full of sin, a people weighted down with crime, a generation of evil-doers, false-hearted children: they have gone away from the Lord, they have no respect for the Holy One of Israel, their hearts are turned back from him.
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4 Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
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5 Why will you have more and more punishment? why keep on in your evil ways? Every head is tired and every heart is feeble.
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5 Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted.
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6 The body, from head to foot, is all diseased; it is a mass of open wounds, marks of blows, and broken flesh: the flow of blood has not been stopped, and no oil has been put on the wounds.
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6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness-- only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil.
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7 Your country has become waste; your towns are burned with fire; as for your land, it is overturned before your eyes, made waste and overcome by men from strange lands.
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7 Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
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8 And the daughter of Zion has become like a tent in a vine-garden, like a watchman's house in a field of fruit, like a town shut in by armies.
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8 The Daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a field of melons, like a city under siege.
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9 If the Lord of armies had not kept some at least of us safe, we would have been like Sodom, and the fate of Gomorrah would have been ours.
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9 Unless the LORD Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.
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10 Give ear to the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; let your hearts be turned to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.
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10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
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11 What use to me is the number of the offerings which you give me? says the Lord; your burned offerings of sheep, and the best parts of fat cattle, are a weariness to me; I take no pleasure in the blood of oxen, or of lambs, or of he-goats.
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11 "The multitude of your sacrifices-- what are they to me?" says the LORD. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
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12 At whose request do you come before me, making my house unclean with your feet?
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12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?
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13 Give me no more false offerings; the smoke of burning flesh is disgusting to me, so are your new moons and Sabbaths and your holy meetings.
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13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations-- I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
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14 Your new moons and your regular feasts are a grief to my soul: they are a weight in my spirit; I am crushed under them.
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14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
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15 And when your hands are stretched out to me, my eyes will be turned away from you: even though you go on making prayers, I will not give ear: your hands are full of blood.
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15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;
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16 Be washed, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; let there be an end of sinning;
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16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,
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17 Take pleasure in well-doing; let your ways be upright, keep down the cruel, give a right decision for the child who has no father, see to the cause of the widow.
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17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
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18 Come now, and let us have an argument together, says the Lord: how may your sins which are red like blood be white as snow? how may their dark purple seem like wool?
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18 "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
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19 If you will give ear to my word and do it, the good things of the land will be yours;
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19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
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20 But if your hearts are turned against me, I will send destruction on you by the sword; so the Lord has said.
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20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
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21 The upright town has become untrue; there was a time when her judges gave right decisions, when righteousness had a resting-place in her, but now she is full of those who take men's lives.
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21 See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her-- but now murderers!
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22 Your silver is no longer true metal, your wine is mixed with water.
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22 Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water.
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23 Your chiefs have gone against the Lord, they have become friends of thieves; every one of them is looking for profit and going after rewards; they do not give right decisions for the child who has no father, and they do not let the cause of the widow come before them.
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23 Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow's case does not come before them.
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24 For this reason the Lord, the Lord of armies, the Strong One of Israel, has said, I will put an end to my haters, and send punishment on those who are against me;
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24 Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: "Ah, I will get relief from my foes and avenge myself on my enemies.
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25 And my hand will again be on you, washing away what is unclean as with soap, and taking away all your false metal;
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25 I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities.
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26 And I will give you judges again as at the first, and wise guides as in the past; then you will be named, The Town of Righteousness, the true town.
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26 I will restore your judges as in days of old, your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City."
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27 Upright acts will be the price of Zion's forgiveness, and by righteousness will men be living there.
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27 Zion will be redeemed with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.
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28 But a common destruction will overtake sinners and evil-doers together, and those who have gone away from the Lord will be cut off.
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28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
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29 For you will be put to shame because of the trees of your desire, and because of the gardens of your pleasure.
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29 "You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen.
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30 For you will be like a tree whose leaves have become dry, and like a garden without water.
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30 You will be like an oak with fading leaves, like a garden without water.
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31 And the strong will be as food for the fire, and his work as a flame; and they will be burned together, with no one to put out the fire.
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31 The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire."
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| The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain. (The Bible in Basic English Version Online) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
