Isaiah 1; Isaiah 2; Isaiah 3; Isaiah 4

Isaiah 1

1 This is the vision Isaiah son of Amoz saw about what would happen to Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah saw these things while Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.

2 Heaven and earth, listen, because the Lord is speaking: "I raised my children and helped them grow up, but they have turned against me.

3 An ox knows its master, and a donkey knows where its owner feeds it, but the people of Israel do not know me; my people do not understand."

4 How terrible! Israel is a nation of sin, a people loaded down with guilt, a group of children doing evil, children who are full of evil. They have left the Lord; they hate God, the Holy One of Israel, and have turned away from him as if he were a stranger.

5 Why should you continue to be punished? Why do you continue to turn against him? Your whole head is hurt, and your whole heart is sick.

6 There is no healthy spot from the bottom of your foot to the top of your head; you are covered with wounds, hurts, and open sores that are not cleaned and covered, and no medicine takes away the pain.

7 Your land is ruined; your cities have been burned with fire. While you watch, your enemies are stealing everything from your land; it is ruined like a country destroyed by enemies.

8 Jerusalem is left alone like an empty shelter in a vineyard, like a hut left in a field of melons, like a city surrounded by enemies.

9 The Lord All-Powerful allowed a few of our people to live. Otherwise we would have been completely destroyed like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

10 Jerusalem, your rulers are like those of Sodom, and your people are like those of Gomorrah. Hear the word of the Lord; listen to the teaching of our God!

11 The Lord says, "I do not want all these sacrifices. I have had enough of your burnt sacrifices of male sheep and fat from fine animals. I am not pleased by the blood of bulls, lambs, and goats.

12 You come to meet with me, but who asked you to do all this running in and out of my Temple's rooms?

13 Don't continue bringing me worthless sacrifices! I hate the incense you burn. I can't stand your New Moons, Sabbaths, and other feast days; I can't stand the evil you do in your holy meetings.

14 I hate your New Moon feasts and your other yearly feasts. They have become a heavy weight on me, and I am tired of carrying it.

15 When you raise your arms to me in prayer, I will refuse to look at you. Even if you say many prayers, I will not listen to you, because your hands are full of 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. Seek justice. Punish those who hurt others. Help the orphans. Stand up for the rights of widows."

18 The Lord says, "Come, let us talk about these things. Though your sins are like scarlet, they can be as white as snow. Though your sins are deep red, they can be white like wool.

19 If you become willing and obey me, you will eat good crops from the land.

20 But if you refuse to obey and if you turn against me, you will be destroyed by your enemies' swords." The Lord himself said these things.

21 The city of Jerusalem once followed the Lord, but she is no longer loyal to him. She used to be filled with fairness; people there lived the way God wanted. But now, murderers live there.

22 Jerusalem, you have become like the scum left when silver is purified; you are like wine mixed with water.

23 Your rulers are rebels and friends of thieves. They all accept money for doing wrong, and they are paid to cheat people. They don't seek justice for the orphans or listen to the widows' needs.

24 So the Lord God All-Powerful, the Mighty One of Israel, says: "You, my enemies, will not cause me any more trouble. I will pay you back for what you did.

25 I will turn against you and clean away all your wrongs as if with soap; I will take all the worthless things out of you.

26 I will bring back judges as you had long ago; your counselors will be like those you had in the beginning. with God, the Loyal City."

27 By doing what is fair, Jerusalem will be free again. By doing what is right, her people who come back to the Lord will have freedom.

28 But sinners and those who turn against him will be destroyed; those who have left the Lord will die.

29 "You will be ashamed, because you have worshiped gods under the oak trees. You will be disgraced, because you have worshiped idols in your gardens.

30 You will be like an oak whose leaves are dying or like a garden without water.

31 Powerful people will be like small, dry pieces of wood, and their works will be like sparks. They will burn together, and no one will be able to put out that fire."

Isaiah 2

1 Isaiah son of Amoz saw this message about Judah and Jerusalem:

2 In the last days the mountain on which the Lord's Temple stands will become the most important of all mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and people from all nations will come streaming to it.

3 Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Jacob. Then God will teach us his ways, and we will obey his teachings." His teachings will go out from Jerusalem; the message of the Lord will go out from Jerusalem.

4 He will settle arguments among the nations and will make decisions for many nations. Then they will make their swords into plows and their spears into hooks for trimming trees. Nations will no longer fight other nations, nor will they train for war anymore.

5 Come, family of Jacob, and let us follow the way of the Lord.

6 Lord, you have left your people, the family of Jacob, because they have become filled with wrong ideas from people in the East. They try to tell the future like the Philistines, and they have completely accepted those foreign ideas.

7 Their land has been filled with silver and gold; there are a great many treasures there. Their land has been filled with horses; there are many chariots there.

8 Their land is full of idols. The people worship these idols they made with their own hands and shaped with their own fingers.

9 People will not be proud any longer but will bow low with shame. God, do not forgive them.

10 Go into the caves of the cliffs; dig holes and hide in the ground from the anger of the Lord and from his great power!

11 Proud people will be made humble, and they will bow low with shame. At that time only the Lord will still be praised.

12 The Lord All-Powerful has a certain day planned when he will punish the proud and those who brag, and they will no longer be important.

13 He will bring down the tall cedar trees from Lebanon and the great oak trees of Bashan,

14 all the tall mountains and the high hills,

15 every tall tower and every high, strong wall,

16 all the trading ships and the beautiful ships.

17 At that time proud people will be made humble, and they will bow low with shame. At that time only the Lord will be praised,

18 but all the idols will be gone.

19 People will run to caves in the rocky cliffs and will dig holes and hide in the ground from the anger of the Lord and his great power, when he stands to shake the earth.

20 At that time people will throw away their gold and silver idols, which they made for themselves to worship; they will throw them away to the bats and moles.

21 Then the people will hide in caves and cracks in the rocks from the anger of the Lord and his great power, when he stands to shake the earth.

22 You should stop trusting in people to save you, because people are only human; they aren't able to help you.

Isaiah 3

1 Understand this: The Lord God All-Powerful will take away everything Judah and Jerusalem need -- all the food and water,

2 the heroes and great soldiers, the judges and prophets, people who do magic and older leaders,

3 the military leaders and government leaders, the counselors, the skilled craftsmen, and those who try to tell the future.

4 The Lord says, "I will cause young boys to be your leaders, and foolish children will rule over you.

5 People will be against each other; everyone will be against his neighbor. Young people will not respect older people, and common people will not respect important people."

6 At that time a man will grab one of his brothers from his own family and say, "You have a coat, so you will be our leader. These ruins will be under your control."

7 But that brother will stand up and say, "I cannot help you, because I do not have food or clothes in my house. You will not make me your leader."

8 This will happen because Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen. The things they say and do are against the Lord; they turn against him.

9 The look on their faces shows they are guilty; like the people of Sodom, they are proud of their sin. They don't care who sees it. How terrible it will be for them, because they have brought much trouble on themselves.

10 Tell those who do what is right that things will go well for them, because they will receive a reward for what they do.

11 But how terrible it will be for the wicked! They will be punished for all the wrong they have done.

12 Children treat my people cruelly, and women rule over them. My people, your guides lead you in the wrong way and turn you away from what is right.

13 The Lord takes his place in court and stands to judge the people.

14 The Lord presents his case against the older leaders and other leaders of his people: "You have burned the vineyard. Your houses are full of what you took from the poor.

15 What gives you the right to crush my people and grind the faces of the poor into the dirt?" The Lord God All-Powerful says this.

16 The Lord says, "The women of Jerusalem are proud. They walk around with their heads held high, and they flirt with their eyes. They take quick, short steps, making noise with their ankle bracelets."

17 So the Lord will put sores on the heads of those women in Jerusalem, and he will make them lose their hair.

18 At that time the Lord will take away everything that makes them proud: their beautiful ankle bracelets, their headbands, their necklaces shaped like the moon,

19 their earrings, bracelets, and veils,

20 their scarves, ankle chains, the cloth belts worn around their waists, their bottles of perfume, and charms,

21 their signet rings, nose rings,

22 their fine robes, capes, shawls, and purses,

23 their mirrors, linen dresses, turbans, and long shawls.

24 Instead of wearing sweet-smelling perfume, they will stink. Instead of fine cloth belts, they will wear the ropes of captives. Instead of having their hair fixed in fancy ways, they will be bald. Instead of fine clothes, they will wear clothes of sadness. Instead of being beautiful, they will wear the brand of a captive.

25 At that time your men will be killed with swords, and your heroes will die in war.

26 There will be crying and sadness near the city gates. Jerusalem will be like a woman who has lost everything and sits on the ground.

Isaiah 4

1 At that time seven women will grab one man and say, "We will eat our own bread and make our own clothes, but please marry us! Please, take away our shame."

2 At that time the Lord's branch will be very beautiful and great. The people still living in Israel will be proud of what the land grows.

3 Those who are still living in Jerusalem will be called holy; their names are recorded among the living in Jerusalem.

4 The Lord will wash away the filth from the women of Jerusalem. He will wash the bloodstains out of Jerusalem and clean the city with the spirit of fairness and the spirit of fire.

5 Then the Lord will cover Mount Zion and the people who meet there with a cloud of smoke during the day and with a bright, flaming fire at night. There will be a covering over every person.

6 This covering will protect the people from the heat of the sun and will provide a safe place to hide from the storm and rain. Israel, the Lord's Vineyard