Sermon Central
Isaiah 1-3
1The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
A Rebellious Nation 2Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
3The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”
4Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD ; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
5Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted.
6From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness— only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with olive oil.
7Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
8Daughter Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a city under siege.
9Unless the LORD Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.
10Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
11“The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the LORD . “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?
13Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
15When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!
16Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.
17Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.
18“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD . “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
19If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land;
20but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
21See how the faithful city has become a prostitute! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her— but now murderers!
22Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water.
23Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.
24Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes and avenge myself on my enemies.
25I will turn my hand against you;
26I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.”
27Zion will be delivered with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.
28But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
29“You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen.
30You will be like an oak with fading leaves, like a garden without water. 31The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire.”
The Mountain of the LORD 1This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2In the last days the mountain of the LORD ’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
3Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
5Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD .
The Day of the LORD 6You, LORD, have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and embrace pagan customs.
7Their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots.
8Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.
9So people will be brought low and everyone humbled— do not forgive them.
10Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from the fearful presence of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty!
11The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
12The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled),
13for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan,
14for all the towering mountains and all the high hills,
15for every lofty tower and every fortified wall,
16for every trading ship
17The arrogance of man will be brought low and human pride humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
18and the idols will totally disappear.
19People will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from the fearful presence of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth.
20In that day people will throw away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and idols of gold, which they made to worship.
21They will flee to caverns in the rocks and to the overhanging crags from the fearful presence of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth. 22Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?
Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah 1See now, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: all supplies of food and all supplies of water,
2the hero and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder,
3the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor, skilled craftsman and clever enchanter.
4“I will make mere youths their officials; children will rule over them.”
5People will oppress each other— man against man, neighbor against neighbor. The young will rise up against the old, the nobody against the honored.
6A man will seize one of his brothers in his father’s house, and say, “You have a cloak, you be our leader; take charge of this heap of ruins!”
7But in that day he will cry out, “I have no remedy. I have no food or clothing in my house; do not make me the leader of the people.”
8Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence.
9The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.
10Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.
11Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done.
12Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. My people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path.
13The LORD takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people.
14The LORD enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: “It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses.
15What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
16The LORD says, “The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, strutting along with swaying hips, with ornaments jingling on their ankles.
17Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; the LORD will make their scalps bald.” 18In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, 19the earrings and bracelets and veils, 20the headdresses and anklets and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, 21the signet rings and nose rings, 22the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses
23and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls.
24Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-dressed hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding.
25Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in battle. 26The gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.