Ésaïe 1

Children who rebelled

¹The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz: what he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. ²Listen, heavens; earth, open your ears, \q for the LORD has spoken: \q I raised children and made them great, \q but they have rebelled against me.^{a 3}An ox recognizes its owner, \q a donkey the feeding trough of its master; \q but Israel does not know, \q my people give it no thought. ⁴Woe to a nation that sins, a people loaded down with guilt, \q the offspring of wrongdoers, children bent on corruption! \q They have left the LORD, they have scorned the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away from him and gone backward.^{b 5}Where else can you be struck, as you go on rebelling? \q The head is sick all over; the heart is weak through and through.^{c 6}There is no healthy spot from the bottom of the foot up to the head: \q bruises, stripes, wounds still raw. \q No one has squeezed them clean, no one has bound them, \q no one has eased them with oil. ⁷Your country lies in ruins, \q your towns are burned down; \q foreigners eat up your fields while you watch, \q and it is ruined like a land that foreigners have torn down.^{d 8}Daughter Zion is left like a shelter among the vines, \q like a hut in a cucumber patch, like a town shut in by siege. ⁹Had the LORD of Armies not let a few of us survive, \q we would have shared the fate of Sodom; \q Gomorrah’s end would have been ours.^ef

Sacrifices that give no pleasure

¹⁰Rulers of Sodom, hear the word of the LORD! \q People of Gomorrah, open your ears to the instruction of our God! ¹¹What use to me are all your sacrifices? says the LORD. \q I have had all I want of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened beasts; \q the blood of bulls and lambs and goats gives me no pleasure. ¹²You come to stand in my presence; \q but who told you to do this, to tread down my courtyards?^{g 13}Bring no more empty gifts; \q to me the smoke of incense is loathsome. \q New moon, Sabbath, the call to assemble: \q wrongdoing and holy gatherings together are more than I can bear.^{h 14}Your new moons and your fixed feasts are hateful to me, to the depths of my soul; \q they lie on me like a heavy load, \q and I am tired of carrying it. ¹⁵Spread out your palms, and I will hide my eyes from you; \q pile up prayer upon prayer, and I will not be listening. \q Blood fills your hands. ¹⁶Wash, and be clean again! \q Clear your wicked deeds away from before my eyes. \q Put an end to evil. ¹⁷Learn to do good. Go after justice. Set the oppressor straight. \q Give the fatherless child a fair hearing; stand up for the widow in court.ⁱ

¹⁸Come, let us take this matter to court together, says the LORD. \q Your sins may be scarlet, yet they will turn white as snow; \q though they are as red as crimson dye, they will be like undyed wool.^{j 19}If you consent and listen to me, \q you will eat the rich produce of the land. ²⁰But if you say no and rebel, \q the sword will eat you up; \q for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

The faithful town gone astray

²¹How the faithful town has turned prostitute! \q Justice filled her once; righteousness made its home in her. Now it is murderers. ²²Your silver has turned to slag; \q your wine is cut with water. ²³Your leaders are in revolt and keep company with thieves. \q All of them love a bribe and go hunting for payoffs. \q The fatherless get no justice from them; \q the widow’s lawsuit is never heard in their court.

²⁴So the Lord GOD of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: \q Woe to my foes! I will be rid of them at last; \q I will pay back my enemies. ²⁵I will turn my hand against you; \q I will melt away your slag as with lye and clear out all your impure metal.^{k 26}I will give you back judges like those you had at first, \q and counselors like those at the start. \q Then you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful Town. ²⁷Justice will set Zion free, \q and righteousness will free those of her people who turn back.^{l 28}Rebels and sinners alike will be crushed, \q and all who walk away from the LORD will be finished. ²⁹Yes, the oaks you set your heart on will bring you shame; \q the gardens you chose will make you blush. ³⁰You yourselves will be like an oak whose leaves are drying up, \q like a garden left without water. ³¹Whoever is strong will become tinder, and what he has made will be the spark; \q the two will burn together, and there will be no one to put out the flames.^m