The Offering of Obedience – Isaiah 1:1-31
1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
(2) Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! for Jehovah has spoken. I have reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. (3) The ox knows his master, and the donkey knows its owner’s manger; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. (4) Ah, sinful nation! You are a people loaded down with iniquity, an offspring who are evildoers, children who deal in corruption. They have forsaken Jehovah, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned their backs on him. (5) Why will you continue to be beaten?—that is what is happening because you persist in your rebellion. Your whole head is injured, and your whole heart is afflicted. (6) From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness of body, only wounds and welts and open sores that have neither been cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil. (7) our country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your land in your very presence; it is left desolate, overrun by strangers. (8) The Daughter of Zion is left like a shack in a vineyard, like a hut in a field of melons, like a city under siege. (9) Unless Jehovah of hosts had left us a very small number of survivors, we would have been like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.
(10) Hear the word of Jehovah, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! (11) What does the multitude of your sacrifices mean to me? declares Jehovah. I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened beasts. I do not take pleasure in the blood of bulls or lambs or goats. (12) When you appear before me, who has asked this of you—this trampling of my courts? (13) Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. The observance of New Moons and Sabbaths and the calling of sacred assemblies—I cannot tolerate them! Do away with iniquity and the solemn assembly! (14 ) My soul hates your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts; they are a burden to me, I am tired of putting up with them. (15) When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood!
(16) Wash yourselves and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds and remove them from my sight. Stop doing evil. (17) Learn to do what is good. Seek justice, relieve the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. (18) Come now, and let us reason together, says Jehovah. Even though your sins are as dark as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Even though they are as red as crimson, they shall be like wool. (19) If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best that the land produces. (20) But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of Jehovah has spoken it.
(21) See how the faithful city has become a prostitute. She once was full of justice. Righteousness used to dwell in her—but now murderers! (22) Your silver has become dross. Your choice wine has been diluted with water. (23) Your princes are rebels and the companions of thieves. Everyone of them loves bribes and chases after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless, neither does the widow’s case come before them for a hearing. (24) Therefore, the Lord Jehovah of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, declares, Ah, I will relieve myself of my adversaries, and I will take vengeance on my enemies. (25) I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge your dross and remove all your impurities. (26) I will restore your judges so it will be as it was at first, and your counselors like it was at the beginning; then you will be called, The City of Righteousness, The Faithful City. (27) Zion will be redeemed by judgment, and those within her who repent will be redeemed by righteousness. (28) But the transgressors and sinners will both be destroyed together, and those who forsake Jehovah will be consumed. (29) They will be ashamed of the sacred oaks which you have desired; and you will be disgraced because of the sacred gardens that you have chosen. (30) You will be like an oak whose leaf fades, and like a garden without water. (31) The mighty man will become tinder and his work will be like a spark—both will burn together, and there will be no one to quench the fire.
A note on the Scripture text that accompanies each individual message: The American Standard Version and the New International Version, along with the original Greek and Hebrew, have been used in an effort to achieve the greatest degree of accuracy and clarity. Where words or phrases have been added to the original text in an effort to better express its meaning, those words or phrases have usually been indicated by means of italics.
Now proceed to the next section of this study, entitled, Exploring the Passage.
