# Isaiah 1 (New King James Version)
Judah Called to Repentance

##### Chapter 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.The Wickedness of Judah

###### 2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!  
For the Lord has spoken:  
"I have nourished and brought up children,  
And they have rebelled against Me;  

###### 3 The ox knows its owner  
And the donkey its master's crib;  
_But_ Israel does not know,  
My people do not consider."

###### 4 Alas, sinful nation,  
A people laden with iniquity,  
A brood of evildoers,  
Children who are corrupters!  
They have forsaken the Lord,  
They have provoked to anger  
The Holy One of Israel,  
They have turned away backward.

###### 5 Why should you be stricken again?  
You will revolt more and more.  
The whole head is sick,  
And the whole heart faints.  

###### 6 From the sole of the foot even to the head,  
_There is_ no soundness in it,  
_But_ wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;  
They have not been closed or bound up,  
Or soothed with ointment.

###### 7 Your country _is_ desolate,  
Your cities _are_ burned with fire;  
Strangers devour your land in your presence;  
And _it is_ desolate, as overthrown by strangers.  

###### 8 So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard,  
As a hut in a garden of cucumbers,  
As a besieged city.  

###### 9 Unless the Lord of hosts  
Had left to us a very small remnant,  
We would have become like Sodom,  
We would have been made like Gomorrah.

###### 10 Hear the word of the Lord,  
You rulers of Sodom;  
Give ear to the law of our God,  
You people of Gomorrah:  

###### 11 "To what purpose _is_ the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?"  
Says the Lord.  
"I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams  
And the fat of fed cattle.  
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,  
Or of lambs or goats.

###### 12 "When you come to appear before Me,  
Who has required this from your hand,  
To trample My courts?  

###### 13 Bring no more futile sacrifices;  
Incense is an abomination to Me.  
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies--  
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.  

###### 14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts  
My soul hates;  
They are a trouble to Me,  
I am weary of bearing _them._  

###### 15 When you spread out your hands,  
I will hide My eyes from you;  
Even though you make many prayers,  
I will not hear.  
Your hands are full of blood.

###### 16 "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;  
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.  
Cease to do evil,  

###### 17 Learn to do good;  
Seek justice,  
Rebuke the oppressor;  
Defend the fatherless,  
Plead for the widow.

###### 18 "Come now, and let us reason together,"  
Says the Lord,  
"Though your sins are like scarlet,  
They shall be as white as snow;  
Though they are red like crimson,  
They shall be as wool.  

###### 19 If you are willing and obedient,  
You shall eat the good of the land;  

###### 20 But if you refuse and rebel,  
You shall be devoured by the sword";  
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.The Degenerate City

###### 21 How the faithful city has become a harlot!  
It was full of justice;  
Righteousness lodged in it,  
But now murderers.  

###### 22 Your silver has become dross,  
Your wine mixed with water.  

###### 23 Your princes _are_ rebellious,  
And companions of thieves;  
Everyone loves bribes,  
And follows after rewards.  
They do not defend the fatherless,  
Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.

###### 24 Therefore the Lord says,  
The Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel,  
"Ah, I will rid Myself of My adversaries,  
And take vengeance on My enemies.  

###### 25 I will turn My hand against you,  
And thoroughly purge away your dross,  
And take away all your alloy.  

###### 26 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."

###### 27 Zion shall be redeemed with justice,  
And her penitents with righteousness.  

###### 28 The destruction of transgressors and of sinners _shall be_ together,  
And those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.  

###### 29 For they shall be ashamed of the terebinth trees  
Which you have desired;  
And you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens  
Which you have chosen.  

###### 30 For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades,  
And as a garden that has no water.  

###### 31 The strong shall be as tinder,  
And the work of it as a spark;  
Both will burn together,  
And no one shall quench _them._