JPS - Isaiah - 1

1:1  THE VISION of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for HaShem hath spoken: Children I have reared, and brought up, and they have rebelled against Me.

1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider.

1:4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that deal corruptly; they have forsaken HaShem, they have contemned the Holy One of Israel, they are turned away backward.

1:5  On what part will ye yet be stricken, seeing ye stray away more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint;

1:6  From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and festering sores: they have not been pressed, neither bound up, neither mollified with oil.

1:7  Your country is desolate; your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by floods.

1:8  And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

1:9  Except HaShem of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

1:10  Hear the word of HaShem, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our G-d, ye people of Gomorrah.

1:11  To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith HaShem; I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.

1:12  When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample My courts?

1:13  Bring no more vain oblations; it is an offering of abomination unto Me; new moon and sabbath, the holding of convocations-- I cannot endure iniquity along with the solemn assembly.

1:14  Your new moons and your appointed seasons My soul hateth; they are a burden unto Me; I am weary to bear them.

1:15  And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.

1:16  Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil;

1:17  Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith HaShem; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

1:19  If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land;

1:20  But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of HaShem hath spoken.

1:21  How is the faithful city become a harlot! She that was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.

1:22  Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water.

1:23  Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards; they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

1:24  Therefore saith the L-rd, HaShem of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah, I will ease Me of Mine adversaries, and avenge Me of Mine enemies;

1:25  And I will turn My hand upon thee, and purge away thy dross as with lye, and will take away all thine alloy;

1:26  And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning; afterward thou shalt be called The city of righteousness, the faithful city.

1:27  Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and they that return of her with righteousness.

1:28  But the destruction of the transgressors and the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake HaShem shall be consumed.

1:29  For they shall be ashamed of the terebinths which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.

1:30  For ye shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.

1:31  And the strong shall be as tow, and his work as a spark; and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.