[19] My soul hath wrestled with her, and in my doings I was exact: I stretched forth my hands to the heaven above, and bewailed my ignorances of her. [20] I directed my soul unto her, and I found her in pureness: I have had my heart joined with her from the beginning, therefore shall I not be forsaken. [21] My heart was troubled in seeking her: therefore have I gotten a good possession. [22] The Lord hath given me a tongue for my reward, and I will praise him therewith.
[23] Draw near unto me, ye unlearned, and dwell in the house of learning. [24] Wherefore are ye slow, and what say ye to these things, seeing your souls are very thirsty? [25] I opened my mouth, and said, Buy her for yourselves without money. [26] Put your neck under the yoke, and let your soul receive instruction: she is hard at hand to find. [27] Behold with your eyes, how that I have but little labour, and have gotten unto me much rest. [28] Get learning with a great sum of money, and get much gold by her.
[29] Let your soul rejoice in his mercy, and be not ashamed of his praise. [30] Work your work betimes, and in his time he will give you your reward.
Isaiah
Chapter 1
[1] The vision which Isaiah the son of Amos saw, which he saw against Juda, and against Jerusalem, in the reign of Ozias, and Joatham, and Achaz, and Ezekias, who reigned over Judea.
[2] Hear, O heaven, and hearken, O earth: for the Lord has spoken, saying, I have begotten and reared up children, but they have rebelled against me. [3] The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel does not know me, and the people has not regarded me.
[4] Ah sinful nation, a people full of sins, an evil seed, lawless children: ye have forsaken the Lord, and provoked the Holy One of Israel. [5] Why should ye be smitten any more, transgressing more and more? the whole head is pained, and the whole heart sad. [6] From the feet to the head, there is no soundness in them; neither wound, nor bruise, nor festering ulcer are healed: it is not possible to apply a plaister, nor oil, nor bandages. [7] Your land is desolate, your cities burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is made desolate, overthrown by strange nations. [8] The daughter of Sion shall be deserted as a tent in a vineyard, and as a storehouse of fruits in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. [9] And if the Lord of Sabaoth had not left us a seed, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been made like Gomorrha.
[10] Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodoma; attend to the law of God, thou people of Gomorrha. [11] Of what value to me is the abundance of your sacrifices? saith the Lord: I am full of whole-burnt-offerings of rams; and I delight not in the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats: [12] neither shall ye come with these to appear before me; for who has required these things at your hands? Ye shall no more tread my court. [13] Though ye bring fine flour, it is vain; incense is an abomination to me; I cannot bear your new moons, and your sabbaths, and the great day; [14] your fasting, and rest from work, your new moons also, and your feasts my soul hates: ye have become loathsome to me; I will no more pardon your sins. [15] When ye stretch forth your hands, I will turn away mine eyes from you: and though ye make many supplications, I will not hearken to you; for your hands are full of blood.
[16] Wash you, be clean; remove your iniquities from your souls before mine eyes; cease from your iniquities; [17] learn to do well; diligently seek judgement, deliver him that is suffering wrong, plead for the orphan, and obtain justice for the widow. [18] And come, let us reason together, saith the Lord: and though your sins be as purple, I will make them white as snow; and though they be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool. [19] And if ye be willing, and hearken to me, ye shall eat the good of the land: [20] but if ye be not willing, nor hearken to me, a sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this.
[21] How has the faithful city Sion, once full of judgement, become a harlot! wherein righteousness lodged, but now murderers. [22] Your silver is worthless, thy wine merchants mix the wine with water. [23] Thy princes are rebellious, companions of thieves, loving bribes, seeking after rewards; not pleading for orphans, and not heeding the cause of widows.
[24] Therefore thus saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, Woe to the mighty men of Israel; for my wrath shall not cease against mine adversaries, and I will execute judgement on mine enemies. [25] And I will bring my hand upon thee, and purge thee completely, and I will destroy the rebellious, and will take away from thee all transgressors. [26] And I will establish thy judges as before, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: and afterward thou shalt be called the city of righteousness, the faithful mother-city of Sion. [27] For her captives shall be saved with judgement, and with mercy. [28] And the transgressors and the sinners shall be crushed together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be utterly consumed. [29] For they shall be ashamed of their idols, which they delighted in, and they are made ashamed of the gardens which they coveted. [30] For they shall be as a turpentine tree that has cast its leaves, and as a garden that has no water. [31] And their strength shall be as a thread of tow, and their works as sparks, and the transgressors and the sinners shall be burnt up together, and there shall be none to quench them.
Chapter 2
[1] The word which came to Isaiah the son of Amos concerning Judea, and concerning Jerusalem.
[2] For in the last days the mountain of the Lord shall be glorious, and the house of God shall be on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall come to it. [3] And many nations shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will tell us his way, and we will walk in it: for out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. [4] And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears into sickles: and nation shall not take up sword against nation, neither shall they learn to war any more.
[5] And now, O house of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. [6] For he has forsaken his people the house of Israel, because their land is filled as at the beginning with divinations, as the land of the Philistines, and many strange children were born to them. [7] For their land is filled with silver and gold, and there was no number of their treasures; their land also is filled with horses, and there was no number of chariots. [8] And the land is filled with abominations, even the works of their hands; and they have worshipped the works which their fingers made. [9] And the mean man bowed down, and the great man was humbled: and I will not pardon them.
[10] Now therefore enter ye into the rocks, and hide yourselves in the earth, for fear of the Lord, and by reason of the glory of his might, when he shall arise to strike terribly the earth. [11] For the eyes of the Lord are high, but man is low; and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
[12] For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and haughty, and upon every one that is high and towering, and they shall be brought down; [13] and upon every cedar of Libanus, of them that are high and towering, and upon every oak of Basan, [14] and upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, [15] and upon every high tower, and upon every high wall, [16] and upon every ship of the sea, and upon every display of fine ships. [17] And every man shall be brought low, and the pride of men shall fall: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. [18] And they shall hide all idols made with hands, [19] having carried them into the caves, and into the clefts of the rocks, and into the caverns of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and by reason of the glory of his might, when he shall arise to strike terribly the earth. [20] For in that day a man shall cast forth his silver and gold abominations, which they made in order to worship vanities and bats; [21] to enter into the caverns of the solid rock, and into the clefts of the rocks, for fear of the Lord, and by reason of the glory of his might, when he shall arise to strike terribly the earth.
Chapter 3
[1] Behold now, t
he Lord, the Lord of hosts, will take away from Jerusalem and from Judea the mighty man and mighty woman, the strength of bread, and the strength of water, [2] the great and mighty man, the warrior and the judge, and the prophet, and the counsellor, and the elder, [3] the captain of fifty also, and the honourable counsellor, and the wise artificer, and the intelligent hearer. [4] And I will make youths their princes, and mockers shall have dominion over them. [5] And the people shall fall, man upon man, and every man upon his neighbor: the child shall insult the elder man, and the base the honourable. [6] For a man shall lay hold of his brother, as one of his father’s household, saying, Thou hast raiment, be thou our ruler, and let my meat be under thee. [7] And he shall answer in that day, and say, I will not be thy ruler; for I have no bread in my house, nor raiment: I will not be the ruler of this people. [8] For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judea has fallen, and their tongues have spoken with iniquity, disobedient as they are towards the Lord. [9] Wherefore now their glory has been brought low, and the shame of their countenance has withstood them, and they have proclaimed their sin as Sodom, and made it manifest. [10] Woe to their soul, for they have devised an evil counsel against themselves, saying against themselves, Let us bind the just, for he is burdensome to us: therefore shall they eat the fruits of their works. [11] Woe to the transgressor! evils shall happen to him according to the works of his hands. [12] O my people, your exactors strip you, and extortioners rule over you: O my people, they that pronounce you blesses lead you astray, and pervert the path of your feet.
[13] But now the Lord will stand up for judgement, and will enter into judgement with his people. [14] The Lord himself shall enter into judgement with the elders of the people, and with their rulers: but why have ye set my vineyard on fire, and why is the spoil of the poor in your houses? [15] Why do ye wrong my people, and shame the face of the poor?
[16] Thus saith the Lord, Because the daughters of Sion are haughty, and have walked with an outstretched neck, and with winking of the eyes, and motion of the feet, at the same time drawing their garments in trains, and at the same time sporting with their feet: [17] therefore the Lord will humble the chief daughters of Sion, and the Lord will expose their form in that day; [18] and the Lord will take away the glory of their raiment, the curls and the fringes, and the crescents, [19] and the chains, and the ornaments of their faces, [20] and the array of glorious ornaments, and the armlets, and the bracelets, and the wreathed work, and the finger-rings, and the ornaments for the right hand, [21] 22 [23] and the ear-rings, and the garments with scarlet borders, and the garments with purple grounds, and the shawls to be worn in the house, and the Spartan transparent dresses, and those made of fine linen, and the purple ones, and the scarlet ones, and the fine linen, interwoven with gold and purple, and the light coverings for couches. [24] And there shall be instead of a sweet smell, dust; and instead of a girdle, thou shalt gird thyself with a rope; and instead of a golden ornament for the head, thou shalt have baldness on account of thy works; and instead of a tunic with a scarlet ground, thou shalt gird thyself with sackcloth. [25] And thy most beautiful son whom thou lovest shall fall by the sword; and your mighty men shall fall by the sword, and shall be brought low. [26] And the stores of your ornaments shall mourn, and thou shalt be left alone, and shalt be levelled with the ground.
Chapter 4
[1] And seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own raiment: only let thy name be called upon us, and take away our reproach.
[2] And in that day God shall shine gloriously in counsel on the earth, to exalt and glorify the remnant of Israel. [3] And it shall be, that the remnant left in Sion, and the remnant left in Jerusalem, even all that are appointed to life in Jerusalem, shall be called holy. [4] For the Lord shall wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Sion, and shall purge out the blood from the midst of them, with the spirit of judgement, and the spirit of burning. [5] And he shall come, and it shall be with regard to every place of mount Sion, yea, all the region round about it shall a cloud overshadow by day, and there shall be as it were the smoke and light of fire burning by night: and upon all the glory shall be a defence. [6] And it shall be for a shadow from the heat, and as a shelter and a hiding place from inclemency of weather and from rain.
Chapter 5
[1] Now I will sing to my beloved a song of my beloved concerning my vineyard.
My beloved had a vineyard on a high hill in a fertile place. [2] And I made a hedge round it, and dug a trench, and planted a choice vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and dug a place for the wine-vat in it: and I waited for it to bring forth grapes, and it brought forth thorns. [3] And now, ye dwellers in Jerusalem, and every man of Juda, judge between me and my vineyard. [4] What shall I do any more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it? Whereas I expected it to bring forth grapes, but it has brought forth thorns. [5] And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be for a spoil; and I will pull down its walls, and it shall be left to be trodden down. [6] And I will forsake my vineyard; and it shall not be pruned, nor dug, and thorns shall come up upon it as on barren land; and I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it. [7] For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Juda his beloved plant: I expected it to bring forth judgement, and it brought forth iniquity; and not righteousness, but a cry.
[8] Woe to them that join house to house, and add field to field, that they may take away something of their neighbor’s: will ye dwell alone upon the land? [9] For these things have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts: for though many houses should be built, many and fair houses shall be desolate, and there shall be no inhabitants in them. [10] For where ten yoke of oxen plough the land shall yield one jar-full, and he that sows six homers shall produce three measures.
[11] Woe to them that rise up in the morning, and follow strong drink; who wait at it till evening: for the wine shall inflame them. [12] For they drink wine with harp, and psaltery, and drums, and pipes: but they regard not the works of the Lord, and consider not the works of his hands.
[13] Therefore my people have been taken captive, because they know not the Lord: and there has been a multitude of dead bodies, because of hunger and of thirst for water. [14] Therefore hell has enlarged its desire and opened its mouth without ceasing: and her glorious and great, and her rich and her pestilent men shall go down into it. [15] And the mean man shall be brought low, and the great man shall be disgraced, and the lofty eyes shall be brought low. [16] But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgement, and the holy God shall be glorified in righteousness. [17] And they that were spoiled shall be fed as bulls, and lambs shall feed on the waste places of them that are taken away.
[18] Woe to them that draw sins to them as with a long rope, and iniquities as with a thong of the heifer’s yoke: [19] who say, Let him speedily hasten what he will do, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know it. [20] Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; who make darkness light, and light darkness; who make bitter sweet, and sweet bitter. [21] Woe to them that are wise in their own conceit, and knowing in their own sight. [22] Woe to the strong ones of you that drink wine, and the mighty ones that mingle strong drink: [23] who justify the ungodly for rewards, and take away the righteousness of the righteous.
[24] Therefore as stubble shall be burnt by a coal of fire, and shall be consumed by a violent flame, their root shall be as chaff, and their flower shall go up as dust: for they rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and insulted the word of the Holy One of Israel. [25] Therefore the Lord of hosts was greatly angered against his people, and he reached forth his hand upon them, and smote them: and the mountains were troubled, and their carcasses were as dung in the midst of the way: yet for all this his anger has not been turned away, but his hand is yet raised.
[26] Therefore shall he lift up a signal to the nations that are afar, and shall hiss for t
hem from the end of the earth; and, behold, they are coming very quickly. [27] They shall not hunger nor be weary, neither shall they slumber nor sleep; neither shall they loose their girdles from their loins, neither shall their shoe-latchets be broken. [28] Whose arrows are sharp, and their bows bent; their horses’ hoofs are counted as solid rock: their chariot-wheels are as a storm. [29] They rage as lions, and draw nigh as a lion’s whelps: and he shall seize, and roar as a wild beast, and he shall cast them forth, and there shall be none to deliver them. [30] And he shall roar on account of them in that day, as the sound of the swelling sea; and they shall look to the land, and, behold, there shall be thick darkness in their perplexity.
Chapter 6
[1] And it came to pass in the year in which king Ozias died, that I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, and the house was full of his glory. [2] And seraphs stood round about him: each one had six wings: and with two they covered their face, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. [3] And one cried to the other, and they said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
[4] And the lintel shook at the voice they uttered, and the house was filled with smoke. [5] And I said, Woe is me, for I am pricked to the heart; for being a man, and having unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of a people having unclean lips; and I have seen with mine eyes the King, the Lord of hosts. [6] And there was sent to me one of the seraphs, and he had in his hand a coal, which he had taken off the altar with the tongs: [7] and he touched my mouth, and said, Behold, this has touched thy lips, and will take away thine iniquities, and will purge off thy sins.
[8] And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? And I said, behold, I am here, send me. And he said, Go, and say to this people, [9] Ye shall hear indeed, but ye shall not understand; and ye shall see indeed, but ye shall not perceive. [10] For the heart of this people has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. [11] And I said, How long, O Lord? And he said, Until cities be deserted by reason of their not being inhabited, and the houses by reason of there being no men, and the land shall be left desolate. [12] And after this God shall remove the men far off, and they that are left upon the land shall be multiplied. [13] And yet there shall be a tenth upon it, and again it shall be for a spoil, as a turpentine tree, and as an acorn when it falls out of its husk.
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