New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
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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.
2 Hear, O heavens, and 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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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.
3 The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.
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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.
4 Ah, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, offspring who do evil, children who deal corruptly, who have forsaken the Lord, who have despised the Holy One of Israel, who are utterly estranged!
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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.
5 Why do you seek further beatings? Why do you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
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Why will you have more and more punishment? why keep on in your evil ways? Every head is tired and every heart is feeble.
6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and bleeding wounds; they have not been drained, or bound up, or softened with oil.
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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.
7 Your country lies desolate, your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence aliens devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.
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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.
8 And daughter Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a shelter in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.
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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.
9 If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we would have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah.
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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.
10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
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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.
11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.
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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.
12 When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more;
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At whose request do you come before me, making my house unclean with your feet?
13 bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation— I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.
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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.
14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them.
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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.
15 When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
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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.
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
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Be washed, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; let there be an end of sinning;
17 learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
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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.
18 Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
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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?
19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;
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If you will give ear to my word and do it, the good things of the land will be yours;
20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
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But if your hearts are turned against me, I will send destruction on you by the sword; so the Lord has said.
21 How the faithful city has become a whore! She that was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her— but now murderers!
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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.
22 Your silver has become dross, your wine is mixed with water.
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Your silver is no longer true metal, your wine is mixed with water.
23 Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not defend the orphan, and the widow's cause does not come before them.
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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.
24 Therefore says the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah, I will pour out my wrath on my enemies, and avenge myself on my foes!
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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;
25 I will turn my hand against you; I will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.
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And my hand will again be on you, washing away what is unclean as with soap, and taking away all your false metal;
26 And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.
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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.
27 Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
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Upright acts will be the price of Zion's forgiveness, and by righteousness will men be living there.
28 But rebels and sinners shall be destroyed together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
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But a common destruction will overtake sinners and evil-doers together, and those who have gone away from the Lord will be cut off.
29 For you shall be ashamed of the oaks in which you delighted; and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen.
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For you will be put to shame because of the trees of your desire, and because of the gardens of your pleasure.
30 For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water.
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For you will be like a tree whose leaves have become dry, and like a garden without water.
31 The strong shall become like tinder, and their work like a spark; they and their work shall burn together, with no one to quench them.
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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.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.