1 This is the vision* of Isaiah son of Amoz. God showed Isaiah things that would happen to Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah saw these things during the time Uzziah,* Jotham,* Ahaz,* and Hezekiah* were kings of Judah.

God’s Case Against His People

²Heaven and Earth, listen to the Lord! The Lord says, “I raised my children. I helped my children grow. But my children turned against me. ³A cow knows its master. And a donkey knows the place where its owner feeds it. But the people of Israel don’t know me. My people don’t understand.” ⁴The nation of Israel is full of guilt. This guilt is like a heavy weight the people have to carry. Those people are like bad children from evil families. They left the Lord. They insulted the Holy One (God) of Israel. They left him and treated him like a stranger. ⁵{God says,} “Why should I continue to punish you people? {I punished you, but you did not change.} You continue to rebel against me. Now every head and every heart is sick. ⁶From the bottom of your feet to the top of your head, every part of your body has wounds, hurts, and open sores. You have not cared for your sores. Your wounds are not cleaned and covered. ⁷“Your land is ruined. Your cities have been burned with fire. Your enemies have taken your land. Your land is ruined like a country destroyed by armies. ⁸The Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem) is now like an empty tent left in a field of grapes. It is like an old house left in a field of cucumbers. It is like a city that has been defeated by enemies.” ⁹{This is true,} but the Lord All-Powerful did allow a few people to continue living. We were not completely destroyed like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.*

God Wants True Service

¹⁰You leaders of Sodom, listen to the Lord’s message! You people of Gomorrah, listen to God’s teachings! ¹¹{God says,} “Why do you continue giving me all these sacrifices?* I have had enough of your sacrifices of goats and fat from bulls, sheep, and goats. ¹²“When you people come to meet with me, you trample (walk on) everything in my yard. Who told you to do this? ¹³“Don’t continue bringing worthless sacrifices to me. I hate the incense* you give me. I can’t bear your feasts for the New Moon,* the Sabbath,* and your holidays. I hate the evil you do during your holy meetings. ¹⁴With my whole self I hate your monthly meetings and councils. These meetings have become like heavy weights to me. And I am tired of carrying those weights. ¹⁵“You people will raise your arms to pray to me—but I will refuse to look at you. You people will say more and more prayers—but I will refuse to listen to you. Why? Because your hands are covered with blood. ¹⁶“Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean. Stop doing the bad things you do. I don’t want to see those bad things. Stop doing wrong! ¹⁷Learn to do good things. Be fair with other people. Punish the people that hurt others. Help the children that have no parents. Help the women whose husbands are dead.” ¹⁸The Lord says, “Come, let’s discuss these things. Your sins are red like scarlet,* but they can be {washed away and you will be} white like snow. Your sins are bright red, but you can become white like wool. ¹⁹“If you listen to the things I say, then you will have the good things from this land. ²⁰But if you refuse to listen, you are against me. And your enemies will destroy you.” The Lord himself said those things.

Jerusalem Is Not Loyal to God

²¹{God says,} “Look at Jerusalem. She was a city that trusted and followed me. What caused her to become like a prostitute?* She does not follow me now. Jerusalem should be filled with fairness. People living in Jerusalem should live the way God wants. But now, murderers live there. ²²“Goodness is like silver. But your silver has become worthless. Your wine (goodness) has been mixed with water—it is now weak. ²³Your rulers are rebels and friends of thieves. All of your rulers demand bribes—they accept money for doing wrong things. All of your rulers take pay for cheating people. Your rulers don’t try to help the children that have no parents. And your rulers don’t listen to the needs of the women whose husbands are dead.” ²⁴Because of all these things, the Master, the Lord All-Powerful, the Mighty One of Israel, says, “I will punish you, my enemies. You will not cause me any more trouble. ²⁵People use lye* to clean silver. {In the same way,} I will clean all your wrongs away. I will take all the worthless things out from you. ²⁶I will bring back the kind of judges you had in the beginning. Your counselors will be like the counselors you had long ago. Then you will be called ‘The Good and Faithful City.’” ²⁷{God is} good and does the things that are right. So he will rescue Zion* and the people that come back to him. ²⁸But all criminals and sinners will be destroyed. (They are the people that don’t follow the Lord.) ²⁹{In the future,} people will be ashamed of the oak trees* and special gardens* you choose to worship. ³⁰This will happen because you people will be like oak trees with leaves that are dying. You people will be like a garden dying without water. ³¹Powerful people will be like small dry pieces of wood. And the things those people do will be like sparks {that start a fire}—the powerful people and the things they do will begin to burn. And no person will be able to stop that fire.

vision Like a dream. God gave messages to his special people by letting them see and hear things in visions. Uzziah A king of Judah. He ruled about 767–740 B.C. Jotham A king of Judah. He ruled about 740–735 B.C. Ahaz A king of Judah. He ruled about 735–727 B.C. Hezekiah A king of Judah. He ruled about 727–687 B.C. Sodom, Gomorrah Two cities that God destroyed because the people were so evil. sacrifices Gifts to God. Sometimes these were special kinds of animals that were killed and burned on an altar. incense A kind of spice that smells good when it is burned. It was burned as a gift to God. New Moon The first day of the Jewish month. This was a special day of worship. Sabbath Saturday, a special day of rest and worship for Jews. scarlet An expensive, bright red dye or piece cloth. prostitute A woman that sells her body for sex. Sometimes this also means a person that stops following God. lye A chemical used like soap. Zion The southeast part of the mountain Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the people of God living in Jerusalem. oak trees These trees were like idols that people worshiped. special gardens Gardens where people worshiped false gods.

2 Isaiah son of Amoz saw this message about Judah and Jerusalem. ²In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s temple* will be on the highest of the mountains. It will be raised higher than all the hills. There will be a steady stream of people from all nations going there. ³Many people will go there. They will say, “Come! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain. Let’s go up to the temple of the God of Jacob. Then God will teach us his way of living. And we will follow him.” The teachings from God—the Lord’s message—will begin in Jerusalem on the mountain of Zion* and go out to all the world. ⁴Then God will be a judge for the people of all nations. God will end the arguments for many people. Those people will stop using their weapons for fighting. They will make plows from their swords. And they will use their spears as tools for cutting plants. People will stop fighting against other people. People will never again train for war.⁵Family of Jacob, you should follow the Lord. ⁶{I say this to you} because you have left your people. Your people have become filled with the wrong ideas of the people in the east. Your people try to tell the future like the Philistines.* Your people have completely accepted those strange ideas. ⁷Your land has been filled with silver and gold from other places. There are many, many treasures there. Your land has been filled with horses. There are many, many chariots* there. ⁸Your land is full of statues that people worship. The people made those idols* and the people worship them. ⁹People have become worse and worse. People have become very low. God, surely you will not forgive them, will you?*

God’s Enemies Will Be Afraid

¹⁰Go hide in the dirt and behind the rocks! You should be afraid of the Lord and you should hide from his great power! ¹¹Proud people will stop being proud. Those proud people will bow down to the ground with shame. At that time, only the Lord will still stand high. ¹²The Lord has a special day planned. On that day, the Lord will punish the proud and boastful people. Then those proud people will be made not important. ¹³{Those proud people are like} tall cedar trees from Lebanon.* {They are like} great oak trees from Bashan.* {But God will punish those people}. ¹⁴{Those proud people are like} tall mountains and high hills. ¹⁵{Those proud people are like} tall towers and high, very strong walls. {But God will punish those people}. ¹⁶Those proud people are like great ships from Tarshish.* (These ships are full of important things.) {But God will punish those proud people.} ¹⁷At that time, people will stop being proud. The people that are now proud will bow low to the ground. And at that time, only the Lord will stand high. ¹⁸All the idols (false gods) will be gone. ¹⁹People will hide behind rocks and in cracks in the ground. People will be afraid of the Lord and his great power. This will happen when the Lord stands to make the earth shake. ²⁰At that time, people will throw away their gold and silver idols. (The people made those statues so the people could worship them.) The people will throw those statues into holes in the ground where bats and moles* live. ²¹Then the people will hide in cracks in the rocks. They will do this because they will be afraid of the Lord and his great power. This will happen when the Lord stands to make the earth shake.

Israel Should Trust God

²²You should stop trusting other people to save you. They are only people—and people die. {So, you should not think they are strong like God.}

temple A special building for worshiping God. God commanded the Jews to worship him at the temple in Jerusalem. Philistines People living on the coast of Palestine. They were one of Israel’s enemies. chariots Small wagons used for war. idols Statues of false gods that people worshiped. God … will you Literally, “Surely you will not raise them up.” Lebanon A country north of Israel. It was famous for its great cedar and pine trees. Bashan An area northeast of Israel. ships from Tarshish This is probably a special type of cargo ship. bats and moles Small animals that live in caves and holes in the ground.