The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s feeding trough,
but Israel does not know;
My people do not understand.”(A)

Oh sinful nation,
people weighed down with iniquity,(B)
brood of evildoers,(C)
depraved children![a]
They have abandoned(D) the Lord;
they have despised(E) the Holy One of Israel;(F)
they have turned their backs on Him.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 1:4 Or sons

Why have these people turned away?
Why is Jerusalem always turning away?
They take hold of deceit;(A)
they refuse to return.(B)
I have paid careful attention.
They do not speak what is right.
No one regrets his evil,
asking, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone has stayed his course
like a horse rushing into battle.(C)
Even the stork in the sky
knows her seasons.
The turtledove, swallow, and crane[a]
are aware of their migration,
but My people do not know
the requirements of the Lord.(D)

Punishment for Judah’s Leaders

“How can you claim, ‘We are wise;
the law of the Lord is with us’?
In fact, the lying pen of scribes(E)
has produced falsehood.
The wise will be put to shame;
they will be dismayed and snared.
They have rejected the word of the Lord,
so what wisdom do they really have?
10 Therefore, I will give(F) their wives to other men,
their fields to new occupants,
for from the least to the greatest,
everyone is making profit dishonestly.
From prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 8:7 Hb obscure

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