“The ox [instinctively] knows its owner,
And the donkey its master’s feeding trough,
But Israel does not know [Me as Lord],
My people do not understand.”

Your rulers are rebels
And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves bribes
And chases after gifts.
They do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the widow’s cause come before them [instead they delay or turn a deaf ear].

For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, does take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stock and the store, the whole supply of bread, and the whole supply of water.

The look on their countenance does witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have brought evil unto themselves.

So the Lord is furious with his people; he lifts his hand and strikes them. The mountains shake, and corpses lie like manure in the middle of the streets. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again.

Ephraim's leader is Samaria, and Samaria's leader is the son of Remaliah. If your faith does not remain firm, then you will not remain secure."

Syria from the east, and the Philistines from the west, they gobbled up Israelite territory. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again.

Therefore the Lord does not rejoice
over Israel’s young men
and has no compassion
on its fatherless and widows,
for everyone is a godless evildoer,
and every mouth speaks folly.
In all this, His anger is not removed,
and His hand is still raised to strike.

Manasseh fought against Ephraim, and Ephraim against Manasseh; together they fought against Judah. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again.

You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners, or to fall among those who have been killed. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again.

Yet it is not Assyria’s intention [to do My will],
Nor does it plan so in its heart,
But instead it is its purpose to destroy
And to cut off many nations.

Does the ax boast against the one who cuts with it, or the saw magnify itself against [the] one who moves it to and fro? {As if a rod should move the one who lifts it}! {As if a staff should lift up that which is not wood}!

Indeed the stars in the sky and their constellations no longer give out their light; the sun is darkened as soon as it rises, and the moon does not shine.

Therefore I moan like the sound of a lyre for Moab,
as does my innermost being for Kir-heres.

The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of confusion.
The leaders have made Egypt stagger in all she does,
as a drunkard staggers in his vomit.

What doest thou here? and whom has thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out here a sepulchre? hewing him out a sepulchre on high, graving a habitation for himself in the rock!

[The] earth staggers to and fro like the drunkard, and it sways like hut, and its transgression is heavy upon it, and it falls and does not rise again.

[Though the] wicked person is shown compassion, he does not learn righteousness; he acts unjustly in [the] land [of] uprightness, and he does not see the majesty of Yahweh.

Does he strike him {as he struck down those who struck him}? Or is he killed {as those who killed him were killed}?

Does the farmer plow all day to plant seed?
Does he continually dig furrows and harrow his ground [after it is prepared]?

When he has leveled its surface,
Does he not sow [the seed of] dill and scatter cumin,
And plant wheat in rows,
And barley in its [intended] place and rye within its border?

For his God does instruct him aright, and does teach him.

Bread grain is crushed fine,
Indeed, the farmer does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.

And [if] the document is given to [one] who does not {know how to read}, saying, "{Read} this now!" he says, "I do not {know how to read}."

You have turned things around,
as if the potter were the same as the clay.
How can what is made say about its maker,
“He didn’t make me”?
How can what is formed
say about the one who formed it,
“He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”?

For Tophet was ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he has made it deep and large: its pyre is fire with much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, does kindle it.

Yet He is also wise and will bring disaster,
And does not retract His words,
But will arise against the house of evildoers
And against the helpers of those who do evil.

For Yahweh said this to me: "As which lion growls and young lion over its prey when {a full group} of shepherds is called against him, it is not terrified by their voice, and to their noise it does not respond, so Yahweh of hosts will come down to fight upon Mount Zion and upon its hill.

For a fool speaks folly, and his {mind} does iniquity: to {behave wickedly}, and to speak error concerning Yahweh, to leave [the] throat of [the] hungry empty, and he deprives [the] thirsty [of] drink.

Wherefore woe be unto thee, O robber: shalt not thou be robbed also? And unto thee that layest wait: as who say there should no wait be laid for thee? Woe unto thee which doest hurt: even so shalt thou be hurt also. And as thou layest wait, so shall wait be laid for thee also.

Highways are deserted; [the] traveler [on the] road ceases. One breaks a treaty, he rejects [the] cities, he does not hold man in high regard.

The one who lives uprightly and speaks honestly; the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures and rejects a bribe; the one who does not plot violent crimes and does not seek to harm others --

Look at Zion, the city of our festival times.
Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander;
its tent pegs will not be pulled up
nor will any of its cords be loosened.

Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him!

Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the power of the king of Assyria?

Indeed Sheol does not give you thanks; death does not praise you. Those who descend into the pit do not anticipate your faithfulness.

From whom does he receive directions? Who teaches him the correct way to do things, or imparts knowledge to him, or instructs him in skillful design?

To one who shapes a pedestal,
choosing wood that does not rot?
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.

Scarcely have they been planted,
Scarcely have they been sown,
Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they wither,
And a strong wind carries them away like stubble.

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become tired or grow weary;
There is no searching of His understanding.

He pursues them [and] passes on [in] peace; he does not enter [the] path with his feet.

Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar does inhabit: let the inhabitants of Sela sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.

You see many [things], but you do not observe. [His] ears are open, but he does not hear.

All who make idols are nothing,
and what they treasure does not profit.
Their witnesses do not see or know anything,
so they will be put to shame.

[The] {ironsmith} works in the coals [with his] tool and forms it with hammers. And he makes it with {his strong arm}; indeed, he becomes hungry, and {he lacks} strength; he does not drink water, and he is faint.

He hews himself down cedars, and takes the cypress and the oak, which he secures for himself among the trees of the forest: he plants a pine, and the rain does nourish it.

He feeds on ashes; his deceived mind misleads him. He cannot rescue himself, nor does he say, 'Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?'

The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing peace and creating disaster;
I am the Lord who does all these things.

Woe [to the] one who strives with his {maker}, a potsherd among potsherds of earth! Does [the] clay say to the one who fashions it, 'What are you making?' and 'Your work has no hands'?

They carry it on [their] shoulder; they support it and they set it [in] its place, and it stands in position. It cannot be removed from its place; even [when] he cries out to it, it does not answer. It does not save him from his trouble.

I am bringing my deliverance near, it is not far away; I am bringing my salvation near, it does not wait. I will save Zion; I will adorn Israel with my splendor."

“Take millstones [as a female slave does] and grind meal;
Remove your veil, strip off the skirt,
Uncover the leg, cross the rivers [at the command of your captors].

“Lift up your eyes and look around [at the returning exiles];
All these gather together and they come to you [to rebuild you].
As I live,” declares the Lord,
“You [Zion] will indeed clothe yourself with all of them as jewels and tie them on as a bride.

Why does no one challenge me when I come? Why does no one respond when I call? Is my hand too weak to deliver you? Do I lack the power to rescue you? Look, with a mere shout I can dry up the sea; I can turn streams into a desert, so the fish rot away and die from lack of water.

Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore [they shall know] in that day that I am he who does speak; behold, it is I."

Watch! If anyone does attack you, it will not be from me; whoever may attack you will fall because of you.

“Why do you spend money for that which is not bread,
And your earnings for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight in abundance.

Look! You shall call a nation [that] you do not know, and a nation [that] does not know you shall run to you, because of Yahweh your God, and the holy one of Israel, for he has glorified you."

For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn't return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

In the same way, the promise that I make does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. No, it is realized as I desire and is fulfilled as I intend."

“Blessed (happy, fortunate) is the man who does this,
And the son of man who takes hold of it,
Who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

They seek Me day after day
and delight to know My ways,
like a nation that does what is right
and does not abandon the justice of their God.
They ask Me for righteous judgments;
they delight in the nearness of God.”

“Is a fast such as this what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself [with sorrow in his soul]?
Is it only to bow down his head like a reed
And to make sackcloth and ashes as a bed [pretending to have a repentant heart]?
Do you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord?

And Yahweh will lead you continually, and satisfy your soul in a barren land, and he will strengthen your bones, and you shall be like a well-watered garden, and like a spring of water whose water does not fail.

But your iniquities have built barriers
between you and your God,
and your sins have made Him hide His face from you
so that He does not listen.

None calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth: they trust in empty words, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.

They do not know the way of peace,
And there is no justice in their tracks.
They have made them into crooked paths;
Whoever walks on them does not know peace.

Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We wait for light, but look! [there is] darkness; for brightness, [but] we walk in darkness.

For Zion’s sake I (Isaiah) will not be silent,
And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet,
Until her righteousness and vindication go forth as brightness,
And her salvation goes forth like a burning torch.

For [most certainly] You are our Father, even though Abraham [our ancestor] does not know us
And Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, O Lord, are [still] our Father,
Our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name.

For since the beginning of the world there was none except thou, O God, that heard or perceived; neither hath any eye seen what thou doest, for them that put their trust in thee.

You meet with the one who rejoices, one who does righteousness. In your ways they remember you. Look! You were angry and we sinned against them [in] ancient [times] and we were saved.

There will no longer be a nursing infant {who lives only a few} days, or an old man who does not fill his days, for the boy will die {a hundred years old}, and the one who {fails to reach} {a hundred years} will be {considered} accursed.

Therefore I, too, will choose harsh treatment for them, and will bring upon them what they dread. For when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they didn't listen; but they did what I consider to be evil, and chose what doesn't please me."