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The Prophets · Old Testament

Isaiah 1

Isaiah 1: the Lord's case against a rebellious nation

General context

The book opens as the vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of four named kings of Judah. The Lord summons heavens and earth to hear that the children he brought up have rebelled. An ox and an ass know their owner, but Israel does not know. The nation is described as a sick body with no soundness from foot to head, its country desolate and its cities burned, and the daughter of Zion left like a hut in a vineyard. Only a very small remnant keeps them from being as Sodom and Gomorrah. The rulers are then addressed as rulers of Sodom. The Lord says he is full of their sacrifices, cannot bear their new moons and assemblies, and will not hear their many prayers because their hands are full of blood. The demand is to wash, cease evil, seek judgment and plead for the widow. The Lord invites them to reason together, promising scarlet sins made white as snow, with a choice between eating the good of the land and being devoured by the sword. A lament follows over the faithful city become an harlot, her silver dross and her princes companions of thieves. The Lord says he will purge the dross, restore judges as at the first, and name her the city of righteousness. Zion will be redeemed with judgment while transgressors are consumed, ashamed of the oaks and gardens they chose, burning together like tow and a spark.

Cited passages: Isaiah 1:1, Isaiah 1:2, Isaiah 1:3, Isaiah 1:6, Isaiah 1:7, Isaiah 1:8, Isaiah 1:9, Isaiah 1:10, Isaiah 1:11, Isaiah 1:13, Isaiah 1:15, Isaiah 1:16, Isaiah 1:17, Isaiah 1:18, Isaiah 1:19, Isaiah 1:20, Isaiah 1:21, Isaiah 1:22, Isaiah 1:23, Isaiah 1:25, Isaiah 1:26, Isaiah 1:27, Isaiah 1:29, Isaiah 1:31

Isaiah 1 (KJV)

1The 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.

2Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

3The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

4Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

5Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

6From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

7Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

8And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

9Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

10Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

11To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

12When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

13Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

14Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

15And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

16Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

17Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

18Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

19If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

20But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

21How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

22Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:

23Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

24Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:

25And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

26And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.

27Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.

28And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.

29For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.

30For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.

31And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The opening verse is the only setting the chapter gives: a vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Nothing in the chapter ties any particular saying to one of those four reigns, and the burned cities and land devoured by strangers are not dated or attributed to a named enemy. The word is addressed to Judah and Jerusalem, yet the Lord speaks of Israel and my people; the chapter does not explain how the two names relate. The speaker shifts: the Lord speaks in the first person with the marker saith the Lord, while the plural us and we in the remnant verse is a voice speaking from within the people. Sodom and Gomorrah appear first as a comparison and then as a title for the rulers and people, without any retelling of that story. The oaks and gardens are named as things desired and chosen, but the text does not say what was done there. The chapter's title for God, the Holy One of Israel, recurs across the book. Paul later cites the remnant verse as Isaiah's: And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.

Cited passages: Isaiah 1:1, Isaiah 1:7, Isaiah 1:3, Isaiah 1:4, Isaiah 1:9, Isaiah 1:10, Isaiah 1:24, Isaiah 1:29, Romans 9:29

Literary context

The chapter is built as a hearing. Heavens and earth are called as listeners, and the first charge is the contrast between animals that know their owner and a people that does not consider. Two pictures of ruin follow, a body with wounds that have not been closed and a land whose cities are burned. Sodom and Gomorrah pivot the poem: a comparison the people barely escaped becomes the name the Lord uses to address their rulers. The middle section lists what the Lord rejects, sacrifices, oblations, incense, feasts and prayers, and then lists in short commands what he wants instead, ending with the widow and the fatherless. The invitation to reason together is framed by a paired condition, willing and obedient against refuse and rebel. A lament in the third person, How is the faithful city become an harlot, is answered at the close by a promise in the second person that she will again be called the faithful city, so the title that opens the complaint closes the restoration. Dross is the image on both sides of that turn, first as what the silver has become, then as what the Lord will purge away. The chapter ends with fire that none shall quench, and a fresh heading in the next chapter marks this unit as complete.

Cited passages: Isaiah 1:2, Isaiah 1:3, Isaiah 1:6, Isaiah 1:9, Isaiah 1:10, Isaiah 1:13, Isaiah 1:17, Isaiah 1:18, Isaiah 1:20, Isaiah 1:21, Isaiah 1:26, Isaiah 1:22, Isaiah 1:25, Isaiah 1:31

Key moments

  1. Heavens and earth summoned (Isaiah 1:2). The Lord calls heavens and earth to hear that his children have rebelled.
  2. A very small remnant (Isaiah 1:9). The speaker says only a remnant left by the Lord of hosts kept them from becoming Sodom.
  3. Sacrifices without justice (Isaiah 1:11). The Lord asks what purpose the multitude of sacrifices serves.
  4. Plead for the widow (Isaiah 1:17). The Lord commands them to learn to do well and defend the fatherless and widow.
  5. Reason together (Isaiah 1:18). The Lord invites them to reason together and promises scarlet sins made white as snow.
  6. The faithful city an harlot (Isaiah 1:21). A lament says the city once full of judgment is now full of murderers.
  7. Judges restored (Isaiah 1:26). The Lord promises to restore judges as at the first and rename the city.

For reflection

The Lord says he will not hear their many prayers and, five verses later, says Come now, and let us reason together. What in the chapter's own words changes between the refusal and the invitation?

People in this chapter

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