3 Understand these things I am telling you. The Master, the Lord All-Powerful, will take away all the things Judah and Jerusalem depend on. God will take away all the food and all the water. ²God will take away all the heroes and great soldiers. God will take away all the judges,* the prophets,* the people that do magic, and the elders.* ³God will take away the military leaders and the government leaders. God will take away the skilled counselors and the wise men that do magic and try to tell the future. ⁴{God says,} “I will cause young boys to be your leaders. ⁵Every person will be against every other person. Young people will not respect older people. Common people will not respect the important people.” ⁶At that time, a person will grab one of his brothers from his own family. That person will tell the brother, “You have a coat,* so you will be our leader. You will be the leader over all these ruins.” ⁷But that brother will stand and say, “I can’t help you. I don’t have enough food or clothes in my house. You will not make me your leader.” ⁸This will happen because Jerusalem has stumbled {and has done wrong}. Judah has fallen {and has stopped following God}. The things they say and do are against the Lord. The Lord’s glorious eyes clearly see all these things. ⁹The faces of the people show that they are guilty of doing wrong. And they are proud of their sin. They are like the people of Sodom* —they don’t care who sees their sin. It will be very bad for them. They have brought much trouble to themselves. ¹⁰Tell the good people that good things will happen to them. They will receive a reward for the good things they do. ¹¹But it will be very bad for the evil people. Much trouble will come to them. They will be punished for all the wrong things they have done. ¹²Children will defeat my people. Women will rule over my people. My people, your guides lead you in the wrong way. They turn you away from the right way.

God’s Decision About His People

¹³The Lord will stand to judge the people. ¹⁴The Lord will give his judgment against the elders* and leaders for the things they have done. The Lord says, “You people have burned the field of grapes (Judah). You took things from poor people, and those things are still in your houses. ¹⁵What gives you the right to hurt my people? What gives you the right to push the faces of the poor people into the dirt?” My Master, the Lord All-Powerful said these things. ¹⁶The Lord says, “The women in Zion* have become very proud. They walk around with their heads in the air, acting like they are better than other people. Those women flirt with their eyes. And they dance around making noise with their ankle bracelets.” ¹⁷My Master will make sores on the heads of those women in Zion.* The Lord will make the women lose all their hair. ¹⁸At that time, the Lord will take away all the things they are proud of: the beautiful ankle bracelets, the necklaces that look like the sun and the moon, ¹⁹the earrings, bracelets, and veils (face coverings), ²⁰the scarves, the ankle chains, the sashes worn around their waists, the bottles of perfume, and the charms,* ²¹the signet rings,* and the nose-rings, ²²the fine robes, capes, shawls, and purses, ²³the mirrors, linen dresses, turbans, and long shawls. ²⁴{Those women now have} sweet smelling perfume, but {at that time, their perfume will become} moldy and rotten. {Now they wear} belts. But {at that time, they will have only} ropes to wear. Now they have their hair fixed fancy ways. But {at that time}, their heads will be shaved—they will have no hair.* {Now they have} party dresses. {But at that time, they will have} only clothes to show sadness. They have beauty marks on their faces now. {But at that time, they will have another mark.} It will be a mark burned into their skin. ²⁵At that time, your men will be killed with swords. Your heroes will die in war. ²⁶There will be crying and sadness in the meeting places near the city gates. Jerusalem will sit there empty like a woman that has lost everything to thieves and robbers. She will sit on the ground {and cry}.

judges In Israel, judges were people that judged, led, and protected the people. prophets A true prophet was a person called by God to be a special servant. God used dreams and visions to show them things to teach the people. elders Older men that were city leaders; they helped make decisions for the people. coat Or, “robe.” This showed a person was a leader of the people. Sodom A city God destroyed because its people were so evil. elders Older men that were city leaders; they helped make decisions for the people. Zion The southeast part of the mountain Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the people of God living in Jerusalem. charms Things people wore on bracelets and necklaces. People thought these things would protect them from evil or danger. signet rings Rings with special shapes that could be used like a rubber stamp. When pressed into wet clay, they left a mark. This mark was like a signature. they will have no hair This shows that those people will become slaves.

4 At that time, seven women will grab one man. The women will say, “We will make our own bread to eat. And we will make our own clothes to wear. We will do all these things for ourselves if you will only {marry us}. Let us have your name. Please, take away our shame.” ²At that time, the Lord’s plant (Judah) will be very beautiful and great. The people still living in Israel will be very proud of the things the land grows. ³At that time, all the people that are still living in Zion* and Jerusalem will be called holy (special) people. This will happen to all the people that have their names on a special list; the list of people that will be allowed to continue living. ⁴The Lord will wash away the blood* from the women of Zion.* The Lord will wash all the blood out of Jerusalem. God will use the spirit of justice {and judge fairly}. And he will use the spirit of burning, {and make everything pure}. ⁵{At that time, God will prove that he is with his people.} During the day, God will make a cloud of smoke. And during the night, God will make a bright flaming fire.* These proofs will be in the sky over every building and over every meeting of the people on the mountain of Zion.* There will be a covering over every person* for protection. ⁶This covering will be a place of safety. The covering will protect the people from the heat of the sun. The covering will be a safe place to hide from all kinds of floods and rain.

Zion The southeast part of the mountain Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the people of God living in Jerusalem. wash away the blood This is like a special ceremony for washing the blood after a menstrual period. After this a man and wife could be together and show their love for each other. cloud of smoke … fire These were signs that God used to show he was with his people. person Literally, “glory,” but this also means “soul,” “person” (see Psalm 16:9).

Israel, God’s Special Garden

5 Now, I will sing a song for my friend (God). This song is about the love my friend has for his field of grapes (Israel). My friend had a vineyard* in a very rich field. ²My friend dug and cleared the field. He planted the best grapevines there. He built a tower in the middle of the field. He hoped for good grapes to grow there. But there were only bad grapes. ³{So God said}: “You people living in Jerusalem, and you, man of Judah,* think about me and my vineyard.* ⁴What more could I do for my field of grapes? I did everything I could. I hoped for good grapes to grow. But there were only bad grapes. Why did that happen? ⁵Now, I will tell you what I will do to my field of grapes: I will pull up the thorn bushes {that are protecting the field}, and I will burn them. I will break down the stone wall, and the stones will be walked on. ⁶I will make my vineyard* an empty field. No person will care for the plants. No person will work in the field. Weeds and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on the field.” ⁷The field of grapes that belongs to the Lord All-Powerful is the nation of Israel. The grapevine—the plant the Lord loves—is the man of Judah.* The Lord hoped for justice, but there was only killing. The Lord hoped for fairness, but there were only cries {from people being treated badly}. ⁸You people live very close together. You build houses until there is no place for anything else. But {the Lord will punish you, and} you will be made to live alone. You will be the only people in the whole land!* ⁹The Lord All-Powerful said this to me, and I heard him, “There are many houses now. But I promise that all the houses will be destroyed. There are nice, big houses now. But those houses will be empty. ¹⁰At that time, a ten-acre field of grapes will make only a little wine.* And many sacks of seed will grow only a little grain.*” ¹¹You people rise early in the morning and go looking for beer to drink. You stay awake late at night, becoming drunk with wine. ¹²You party with your wine, harps,* drums, flutes, and other musical instruments. And you don’t see the things the Lord has done. The Lord’s hands have made many, many things—but you don’t notice those things. So, it will be very bad for you people. ¹³{The Lord says,} “My people will be captured and taken away. Why? Because they don’t really know {me}. Some of the people living in Israel are important now. They are happy with their easy lives. But all those great people will become very thirsty and very hungry. ¹⁴Then {they will die and} Sheol,* {the place of death}, will get more and more people. That {place of death} will open her mouth with no limit. And all those people will go down into Sheol.” ¹⁵Those people will be humbled. Those great people will bow their heads and look at the ground. ¹⁶The Lord All-Powerful will judge fairly, and people will know he is great. The Holy God will do the things that are right, and the people will respect him. ¹⁷{God will make the people of Israel leave their country; the land will be empty.} Sheep will go any place they want. Lambs will walk on the land that rich people once owned. ¹⁸Look at those people! They pull their guilt and sins behind them like people pull wagons with ropes.* ¹⁹Those people say, “We wish God would hurry and do the things he plans to do. Then we would know what will happen. We wish the Lord’s plan would happen soon. Then we would know what his plan is.” ²⁰Those people say that good things are bad, and bad things are good. Those people think light is darkness, and darkness is light. Those people think sour is sweet, and sweet is sour. ²¹Those people think they are very smart. They think they are very intelligent. ²²Those people are famous for drinking wine. They are champions at mixing drinks. ²³And if you pay those people money, they will forgive a criminal. But they don’t allow good people to be judged fairly. ²⁴{Bad things will happen to those people}. Their descendants* will be completely destroyed—like straw and leaves are burned by fire. Their descendants will be destroyed like a root {that dies and} becomes dust. Their descendants will be destroyed like a fire destroys a flower—the ashes blow away in the wind. Those people have refused to obey the teachings* of the Lord All-Powerful. Those people hated the message from the Holy One (God) of Israel. ²⁵So the Lord has become very angry with his people. And the Lord will raise his hand and punish them. Even the mountains will be frightened. Dead bodies will lie in the streets like garbage. But God will still be angry. His hand will still be raised {to punish the people}.

God Will Bring Armies to Punish Israel

²⁶{Look!} God is giving a sign to the nations in a faraway land. God is raising a flag, and he is whistling to call those people. The enemy is coming from a faraway land. The enemy will soon enter the country. They are moving very quickly. ²⁷The enemy never becomes tired or falls down. They never become sleepy and fall asleep. Their weapon belts are always ready. Their shoestrings never break. ²⁸The enemy’s arrows are sharp. All of their bows are ready to shoot. The horses’ feet are hard like rock. Clouds of dust rise from behind their chariots.* ²⁹The enemy shouts, and their shout is like a lion’s roar. It is loud like a young lion. The enemy growls and grabs the people it is fighting against. The people struggle and try to escape. But there is no person to save them. ³⁰So, the “lion” roars loud like the waves of the sea. And the captured people look at the ground, and then there is only darkness. All light becomes dark in this thick cloud.

vineyard A garden for growing grapes. You people … man of Judah Or “Rulers of Jerusalem and leader of Judah…” man of Judah This could mean either, “the king of Judah” or simply, “people of Judah.” You people … in the whole land Or, “You join houses to houses and fields to fields until there is no room (for other people), until you are left living alone in the land.” only a little wine Literally, “one bath.” A bath is a measure that equals about 6 gallons. only a little grain Literally, “A homer of seed will grow only an ephah of grain.” A homer equals about 6 bushels. An ephah equals about one-half bushel. harps Musical instruments with several strings. Sheol This is the place where all people go when they die. Usually this means the grave, but it can mean the place where our spirits go. ropes Literally, “useless ropes.” The Hebrew words for useless ropes are like the words meaning “useless things—idols.” descendants A person’s children, and all the people born from those children. teachings This can also mean “laws.” Sometimes this means the laws God gave Moses to teach to the people of Israel. chariots Small wagons used for war.

God Calls Isaiah to Be a Prophet

6 In the year that King Uzziah* died,* I saw my Master. He was sitting on a very high and wonderful throne.* His long robe filled the temple.* ²Seraph angels* stood around the Lord. Each Seraph angel had six wings. The angels used two of their wings to cover their faces. The angels used two of their wings to cover their feet. And the angels used two of their wings for flying. ³Each angel was calling to the other angels. The angels said, “Holy, holy, holy, the Lord All-Powerful {is very holy}. His Glory* fills the whole earth.” The angels’ voices were very loud. ⁴Their voices caused the frame around the door to shake. Then the temple* began filling with smoke.* ⁵I became very scared. I said, “Oh, no! I will be destroyed. I am not pure (good) enough to speak to God. And I live among people that are not pure enough to speak to God.* Yet I have seen the King, the Lord All-Powerful.” ⁶{There was a fire on the altar.*} One of the Seraph angels* used a pair of tongs* to take a hot coal from the fire. The angel flew to me with the hot coal in his hand. ⁷The Seraph angel touched my mouth with the hot coal. Then the angel said, “Look! Because this hot coal touched your lips the wrong things you have done are gone from you. Your sins are now erased.” ⁸Then I heard my Lord’s voice. The Lord said, “Who can I send? Who will go for us?” So I said, “Here I am. Send me!” ⁹Then the Lord said, “Go and tell this to the people: ‘Listen closely, but don’t understand! Look closely, but don’t learn!’ ¹⁰Confuse the people. Make the people not able to understand the things they hear and see. If you don’t do this, then people might really understand the things they hear with their ears. The people might really understand in their minds. If they did this, then the people might come back to me and be healed (forgiven)!” ¹¹Then I asked, “Master, how long should I do this?” The Lord answered, “Do this until the cities are destroyed, and the people are gone. Do this until there are no people left living in the houses. Do this until the land is destroyed and left empty.” ¹²The Lord will make the people go far away. There will be large areas of empty land in the country. ¹³But a tenth of the people will be allowed to stay in the land. These people will return {to the Lord} even though they were to be destroyed. These people will be like an oak tree. When the tree is chopped down, a stump is left. This stump (the people remaining) is a very special seed.

Uzziah A king of Judah. He ruled from about 767–740 B.C. year … died This was probably 740 B.C. throne A special chair a king or queen sits on. temple A special building for worshiping God. God commanded the Jews to worship him at the temple in Jerusalem. Seraph angels Special angels God used as messengers. The name might mean they were bright like fire. His Glory The “Glory of the Lord,” one of the forms God used when he appeared to people. It was like a bright shining light. smoke This showed that God was in the temple. See Ex. 40:34–35. people … God Literally, “people that do not have pure lips.” altar A stone table used for burning sacrifices as gifts to God. tongs A “U-shaped” tool for holding hot things.