Isaiah

2 Isaiah reproveth the Jews of their ingratitude and stubbornness, that neither for benefits nor punishments would amend. 11 He showed why their sacrifices are rejected, and wherein God’s true service standeth. 24 He prophesieth of the destruction of Jerusalem, 25 and of the restitution thereof.

A [a]vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw [b]concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of [c]Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah Kings of Judah.

Hear, O [d]heavens, and hearken, O earth: for the Lord hath said, I have nourished and brought up [e]children, but they have rebelled against me.

The [f]ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel hath not known: my people hath not understood.

Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity: a [g]seed of the wicked, corrupt children: they have forsaken the Lord: they have provoked the [h]Holy one of Israel to anger: they are gone backward.

Wherefore should ye be [i]smitten anymore? for ye fall away more and more: the whole [j]head is sick, and the whole heart is heavy.

From the [k]sole of the foot unto the head, there is nothing whole therein, but wounds and swelling, and sores full of corruption: they have not been wrapped, [l]nor bound up nor mollified with oil.

Your land is waste: your cities are burnt with fire: strangers devour your land in your presence, and it is desolate like the overthrow of [m]strangers.

And the daughter of [n]Zion shall remain like a cottage in a vineyard, like a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and like a besieged city.

Except the Lord of hosts [o]had reserved unto us even a small remnant, we should have been [p]as Sodom, and should have been like unto Gomorrah.

10 Hear the word of the Lord, O [q]princes of Sodom: hearken unto the Law of our God, O people of Gomorrah.

11 What have I to do with the multitude of your sacrifices, saith the Lord? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and of the fat of fed beasts: and I [r]desire not the blood of bullocks, nor of lambs, nor of goats.

12 When ye come to appear before me, who required this of your hands to tread in my courts?

13 Bring no more oblations, [s]in vain: incense is an abomination unto me: I cannot suffer your new moons, nor Sabbath, nor solemn days (it is iniquity) nor solemn assemblies.

14 My soul hateth your [t]new moons and your appointed feasts: they are a burden unto me: I am weary to bear them.

15 And when you shall stretch out your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: and though ye make many prayers, I will not hear: for your hands are full [u]of blood.

16 [v]Wash you, make you clean, take away the evil of your works from before mine eyes: cease to do evil.

17 Learn to [w]do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed: judge the fatherless, and defend the widow.

18 Come now, [x]and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins were as crimson, they shall be made [y]white as snow: though they were red like scarlet, they shall be as wool,

19 If ye [z]consent and obey, ye shall eat the good things of the land.

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

21 How is the [aa]faithful city become an harlot? it was full of judgment, and justice lodged therein, but now [ab]they are murderers.

22 Thy [ac]silver is become dross: thy wine is mixed with water.

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

24 Therefore saith the Lord God of hosts, the [ae]Mighty one of Israel, Ah, I will [af]ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies.

25 Then I will turn mine hand upon thee, and burn out thy dross, till it [ag]be pure, and take away all thy tin.

26 [ah]And I will restore thy Judges as at the first, and thy counselors as at the beginning: afterward shalt thou be called a city of righteousness, and a faithful city.

27 Zion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they that return in her, in [ai]justice.

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

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

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

31 And the strong shall be as [al]tow, and the maker thereof as a spark: and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 1:1 That is, a revelation or prophecy, which was one of the two means whereby God declared himself to his servants in old time, as Num. 12:6, and therefore the Prophets were called Seers, 1 Sam. 9:9.
  2. Isaiah 1:1 Isaiah was chiefly sent to Judah and Jerusalem, but not only: for in this book are prophecies concerning other nations also.
  3. Isaiah 1:1 Called also Azariah, 2 Kings 15:1, of these Kings, read 2 Kings 14–21, and 2 Chron. 25–33.
  4. Isaiah 1:2 Because men were obstinate and insensible, he calleth to the dumb creatures, which were more prompt to obey God’s word, as Deut. 32:1.
  5. Isaiah 1:2 He declareth his great mercy toward the Jews forasmuch as he chose them above all other nations to be his people and children, as Deut. 10:15.
  6. Isaiah 1:3 The most dull and brute beasts do more acknowledge their duty toward their masters, than my people do toward me, of whom they have received benefits without comparison.
  7. Isaiah 1:4 They were not only wicked as were their fathers, but utterly corrupt, and by their evil example infected others.
  8. Isaiah 1:4 That is, him that sanctifieth Israel.
  9. Isaiah 1:5 What availeth it to seek to amend you by punishment, seeing the more I correct you, the more ye rebel?
  10. Isaiah 1:5 By naming the chief parts of the body, he signifieth that there was no part of the whole body of the Jews free from his rods.
  11. Isaiah 1:6 Every part of the body as well the least as the chiefest, was plagued.
  12. Isaiah 1:6 Their plagues were so grievous, that they were incurable, and yet they would not repent.
  13. Isaiah 1:7 Meaning, of them that dwell far off, which because they look for no advantage of that which remaineth destroy all before them.
  14. Isaiah 1:8 That is, Jerusalem.
  15. Isaiah 1:9 Because that he will ever have a Church to call upon his Name.
  16. Isaiah 1:9 That is, all destroyed.
  17. Isaiah 1:10 Ye that for your vices deserved all to be destroyed, as they of Sodom, save that God of his mercy reserved a little number, Lam. 3:22.
  18. Isaiah 1:11 Although God commanded these sacrifices for a time, as aids and exercises of their faith: yet because the people had not faith nor repentance, God detesteth them, Ps. 50:13; Jer. 6:20; Amos 5:22; Mic. 6:7.
  19. Isaiah 1:13 Without faith and repentance.
  20. Isaiah 1:14 Your sacrifices offered in the new moons and feasts: he condemneth hereby hypocrites, which think to please God with ceremonies, and they themselves are void of faith and mercy.
  21. Isaiah 1:15 He showeth that where men be given to avarice, deceit, cruelty and extortion, which is meant by blood, there God will show his anger, and not accept them, though they seem never so holy, as Isa. 59:3.
  22. Isaiah 1:16 By this outward washing, he meaneth the spiritual: exhorting the Jews to repent and amend their lives.
  23. Isaiah 1:17 This kind of reasoning by the second Table, the Scriptures use in many places against the hypocrites, who pretend most holiness and religion in word, but when the charity and love toward their brethren should appear, they declare that they have neither faith nor religion.
  24. Isaiah 1:18 To know if I do accuse you without cause.
  25. Isaiah 1:18 Lest sinners should pretend any rigor on God’s part, he only willeth them to be pure in heart, and he will forgive all their sins, were they never so many or great.
  26. Isaiah 1:19 He showeth that whatsoever adversity man endureth, it ought to be attributed to his own incredulity and disobedience.
  27. Isaiah 1:21 That is, Jerusalem, which had promised fidelity unto me, as a wife to her husband.
  28. Isaiah 1:21 Given to covetousness and extortion, which he signified before by blood, verse 15.
  29. Isaiah 1:22 Whatsoever was pure in thee before, is now corrupt, though thou have an outward show.
  30. Isaiah 1:23 That is, they maintain the wicked and the extortioners: and not only do not punish them, but are themselves such.
  31. Isaiah 1:24 When God will show himself merciful to his Church, he calleth himself, The Holy one of Israel, but when he hath to do with his enemies, he is called Mighty, as against whom no power is able to resist.
  32. Isaiah 1:24 I will take vengeance of mine adversaries the Jews, and so satisfy my desire by punishing them. Which thing yet he doeth with a grief, because of his Covenant.
  33. Isaiah 1:25 Lest the faithful among them should be overcome with his threatening, he addeth this consolation.
  34. Isaiah 1:26 It is only the work of God to purify the heart of man, which thing he doeth because of his promise, made concerning the salvation of his Church.
  35. Isaiah 1:27 By justice is meant God’s faithful promise, which is the cause of the deliverance of his Church.
  36. Isaiah 1:28 The wicked shall not be partakers of God’s promise, Ps. 92:9.
  37. Isaiah 1:29 That is, the trees and pleasant places, where ye commit idolatry, which was forbidden, Deut. 16:22.
  38. Isaiah 1:31 The false god, wherein ye put your confidence, shall be consumed as easily as a piece of tow.

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