Bible-Reading.comIsaiah 3
1For the Lord, the Lord of armies, is about to take away from Jerusalem and from Judah all their support; their store of bread and of water;
2The strong man and the man of war; the judge and the prophet; the man who has knowledge of secret arts, and the man who is wise because of his years;
3The captain of fifty, and the man of high position, and the wise guide, and the wonder-worker, and he who makes use of secret powers.
4And I will make children their chiefs, and foolish ones will have rule over them.
5And the people will be crushed, every one by his neighbour; the young will be full of pride against the old, and those of low position will be lifted up against the noble.
6When one man puts his hand on another in his father's house, and says, You have clothing, be our ruler and be responsible for us in our sad condition:
7Then he will say with an oath, I will not be a helper, for in my house there is no bread or clothing: I will not let you make me a ruler of the people.
8For Jerusalem has become feeble, and destruction has come on Judah, because their words and their acts are against the Lord, moving the eyes of his glory to wrath.
9Their respect for a man's position is a witness against them; and their sin is open to the view of all; like that of Sodom, it is not covered. A curse on their soul! for the measure of their sin is full.
10Happy is the upright man! for he will have joy of the fruit of his ways.
11Unhappy is the sinner! for the reward of his evil doings will come on him.
12As for my people, their ruler is acting like a child, and those who have authority over them are women. O my people, your guides are the cause of your wandering, turning your footsteps out of the right way.
13The Lord is ready to take up his cause against his people, and is about to come forward as their judge.
14The Lord comes to be the judge of their responsible men and of their rulers: it is you who have made waste the vine-garden, and in your houses is the property of the poor which you have taken by force.
15By what right are you crushing my people, and putting a bitter yoke on the necks of the poor? This is the word of the Lord, the Lord of armies.
16Again, the Lord has said, Because the daughters of Zion are full of pride, and go with outstretched necks and wandering eyes, with their foot-chains sounding when they go:
17The Lord will send disease on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will let their secret parts be seen.
18In that day the Lord will take away the glory of their foot-rings, and their sun-jewels, and their moon-ornaments,
19The ear-rings, and the chains, and the delicate clothing,
20The head-bands, and the arm-chains, and the worked bands, and the perfume-boxes, and the jewels with secret powers,
21The rings, and the nose-jewels,
22The feast-day dresses, and the robes, and the wide skirts, and the handbags,
23The looking-glasses, and the fair linen, and the high head-dresses, and the veils.
24And in the place of sweet spices will be an evil smell, and for a fair band a thick cord; for a well-dressed head there will be the cutting-off of the hair, and for a beautiful robe there will be the clothing of sorrow; the mark of the prisoner in place of the ornaments of the free.
25Your men will be put to the sword, and your men of war will come to destruction in the fight.
26And in the public places of her towns will be sorrow and weeping; and she will be seated on the earth, waste and uncovered.
Isaiah 4
1And in that day seven women will put their hands on one man, saying, There will be no need for you to give us food or clothing, only let us go under your name, so that our shame may be taken away.
2In that day will the young growth of the Lord be beautiful in glory, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride of those who are still living in Israel.
3And it will come about that the rest of the living in Zion, and of those who have been kept from destruction in Jerusalem, will be named holy, even everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem:
4When Zion has been washed from her sin by the Lord, and Jerusalem made clean from her blood by a judging and a burning wind.
5And over every living-place on Mount Zion, all over all her meetings, the Lord will make a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night, for over all, the glory of the Lord will be a cover and a tent;
6And a shade in the daytime from the heat, and a safe cover from storm and from rain.
Isaiah 5
1Let me make a song about my loved one, a song of love for his vine-garden. My loved one had a vine-garden on a fertile hill:
2And after working the earth of it with a spade, he took away its stones, and put in it a very special vine; and he put up a watchtower in the middle of it, hollowing out in the rock a place for the grape-crushing; and he was hoping that it would give the best grapes, but it gave common grapes.
3And now, you people of Jerusalem and you men of Judah, be the judges between me and my vine-garden.
4Is there anything which might have been done for my vine-garden which I have not done? why then, when I was hoping for the best grapes did it give me common grapes?
5And now, this is what I will do to my vine-garden: I will take away the circle of thorns round it, and it will be burned up; its wall will be broken down and the beasts of the field will go through it;
6And I will make it waste; its branches will not be touched with the knife, or the earth worked with the spade; but blackberries and thorns will come up in it: and I will give orders to the clouds not to send rain on it.
7For the vine-garden of the Lord of armies is the people of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of his delight: and he was looking for upright judging, and there was blood; for righteousness, and there was a cry for help.
8Cursed are those who are joining house to house, and putting field to field, till there is no more living-space for any but themselves in all the land!
9The Lord of armies has said to me secretly, Truly, numbers of great and fair houses will be waste, with no one living in them.
10For ten fields of vines will only give one measure of wine, and a great amount of seed will only give a small measure of grain.
11Cursed are those who get up early in the morning to give themselves up to strong drink; who keep on drinking far into the night till they are heated with wine!
12And corded instruments and wind-instruments and wine are in their feasts: but they give no thought to the work of the Lord, and they are not interested in what his hands are doing.
13For this cause my people are taken away as prisoners into strange countries for need of knowledge: and their rulers are wasted for need of food, and their loud-voiced feasters are dry for need of water.
14For this cause the underworld has made wide its throat, opening its mouth without limit: and her glory, and the noise of her masses, and her loud-voiced feasters, will go down into it.
15And the poor man's head is bent, and the great man goes down on his face, and the eyes of pride are put to shame:
16But the Lord of armies is lifted up as judge, and the Holy God is seen to be holy in righteousness.
17Then the lambs will get food as in their grass-lands, and the fat cattle will be feasting in the waste places.
18Cursed are those who make use of ox-cords for pulling the evil thing, and the bands of a young ox for their sin!
19Who say, Let him do his work quickly, let him make it sudden, so that we may see it: let the design of the Holy One of Israel come near, so that it may be clear to us.
20Cursed are those who give the name of good to evil, and of evil to what is good: who make light dark, and dark light: who make bitter sweet, and sweet bitter!
21Cursed are those who seem wise to themselves, and who take pride in their knowledge!
22Cursed are those who are strong to take wine, and great in making mixed drinks!
23Who for a reward give support to the cause of the sinner, and who take away the righteousness of the upright from him.
24For this cause, as the waste of the grain is burned up by tongues of fire, and as the dry grass goes down before the flame, so their root will be like the dry stems of grain, and their flower will go up in dust: because they have gone against the law of the Lord of armies, and have given no honour to the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25For this reason the wrath of the Lord has been burning against his people, and his hand has been stretched out against them in punishment, and the hills were shaking, and their dead bodies were like waste in the open places of the town.
26And he will let a flag be lifted up as a sign to a far-off nation, whistling to them from the ends of the earth: and they will come quickly and suddenly.
27There is no weariness among them, and no man is feeble-footed: they come without resting or sleeping, and the cord of their shoes is not broken.
28Their arrows are sharp, and every bow is bent: the feet of their horses are like rock, and their wheels are like a rushing storm.
29The sound of their armies will be like the voice of a lion, and their war-cry like the noise of young lions: with loud cries they will come down on their food and will take it away safely, and there will be no one to take it out of their hands.
30And his voice will be loud over him in that day like the sounding of the sea: and if a man's eyes are turned to the earth, it is all dark and full of trouble; and the light is made dark by thick clouds.