1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD has spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

3 The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel does not know, my people does not consider.

4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, they are gone away backward.

5 Why should you be stricken any more? you will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

6 From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

9 Except the LORD of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like to Gomorrah.

10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.

11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? said the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

12 When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination to me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble to me; I am weary to bear them.

15 And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you: yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil;

17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

18 Come now, and let us reason together, said the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

19 If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land:

20 But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.

21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

22 Your silver is become dross, your wine mixed with water:

23 Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loves gifts, and follows after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come to them.

24 Therefore said the LORD, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of my adversaries, and avenge me of my enemies:

25 And I will turn my hand on you, and purely purge away your dross, and take away all your tin:

26 And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counsellors as at the beginning: afterward you shall be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.

27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.

28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.

29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, and you shall be confounded for the gardens that you have chosen.

30 For you shall be as an oak whose leaf fades, and as a garden that has no water.

31 And the strong shall be as wick, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.

The vision of Isaiah. This is the title of the whole book.

he saw = he saw in vision. Hebrew. chaza, to gaze on, as in Isa 2:1; Isa 13:1. Not the same word as in Isa 6:1, Isa 6:6; Isa 21:6, Isa 21:7; but Jehovah was the speaker. Isaiah’s voice and pen, but Jehovah’s words ( Isa 1:2).

concerning Judah and Jerusalem. This is the subject of the book. It is not concerning the or the: nor to other nations, except as they come in contact with "Judah and Jerusalem". Its theme is the salvation of the nation by Jehovah through judgment and grace, as being "life from the dead". ( Rom 11:15). It is addressed to those who look for Messiah ( Isa 8:17; Isa 45:22) and those who "wait for Him" ( Isa 8:17; Isa 25:9; Isa 26:8; Isa 33:2.

Uzziah ( 2Ch 26:1-23649 BC).

Jotham ( 2Ch 27:1-9.

Ahaz ( 2Ch 28:1-27).

and. The absence of conjunctions between these names, and the Hebrew accents attached to them, seem to indicate that some of them reigned for a time jointly. App-50.

Hezekiah ( 2Ch 29:1Â-32:33, and Isa 36:1Â-39:8).

Hear, heavens. Figure of speech Apostrophe. App-6. Reference to Pentateuch (App-92). It commences like the Song of Moses ( Deu 32:1. See notes, p. 283), and is the commentary on it. Note the connection of the two books, Isaiah the necessary sequel to Deuteronomy. This verse was put on the title-page of early English Bibles, claiming the right of all to hear what Jehovah hath spoken.

for. Note the reason given.

the Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.

hath spoken: i.e., articulately. Not Isaiah. All modern criticism is based on the assumption that it is a human book: and that prediction is human impossibility (which we grant); and this ends in a denial of inspiration altogether. Against this God has placed 2Pe 1:21.

spoken. Jehovah is the Eternal One: "Who was, and is, and is to come". Hence, His words are, like Himself, eternal; and prophecy relates to the then present as well as to the future; and may have a praeterist and a futurist interpretation, as well as a now present application to ourselves.

brought up. Compare Exo 4:22; Deu 14:1; Deu 32:6, Deu 32:18, Deu 32:20.

children = sons.

rebelled. Hebrew. pash’a. App-44.

knoweth. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6, for all that that knowledge implies.

not know. Compare Jer 8:7. All Israel’s trouble came from the truth of this indictment. Compare Luke The trouble will all be removed when Isa 54:13; Isa 60:16 are fulfilled. Jer 31:34. Jer 11:9. Compare Jer 9:23,

My People. Some codices, with Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read "and My people".

Ah. Figure of speech Ecphonesis. Note the four exclamatory descriptions, and see note on "gone away", below.

sinful. Hebrew. chata. App-44.

sinful nation. Note the Figures of speech Apostrophe, Synonymia and Anabasis in verses: Isa 1:4, Isa 1:5. Contrast Exo 19:6. Deu 7:6; Deu 14:2, Deu 14:21.

laden = heavily burdened.

iniquity. Hebrew ’avah. App-44.

of = consisting of. Genitive of Apposition. App-17.

corrupters. Reference to Pentateuch ( Deu 32:5).

forsaken. Apostasy in disposition. Reference to Pentateuch ( Deu 28:20; Deu 31:16). App-92. Occurs in the "former" portion here, Isa 1:28; Isa 6:12; Isa 7:16; Isa 10:3 (leave), 14 (left); Isa 17:2, Isa 17:9; Isa 18:6 (left); Isa 27:10; Isa 32:14, and in the "latter" portion, Isa 41:17; Isa 49:14; Isa 54:6; Isa 55:7; Isa 58:2; Isa 60:15; Isa 62:4, Isa 62:12; Isa 65:11. App-79.

the Hebrew. Jehovah.(with ’eth) = Jehovah Himself (App-4). Not the same as in verses: Isa 1:2, Isa 1:9, Isa 1:10, Isa 1:20.

provoked = despised, blasphemed. Reference to Pentateuch (App-92). An old Mosaic word ( Num 14:11, Num 14:23; Num 16:30. Deu 31:20). Apostasy in words (see note above).

the Holy One of Israel. Occurs twenty-five times in Isaiah: twelve times in the "former" portion ( Isa 1:4; Isa 5:19, Isa 5:24; Isa 10:20; Isa 12:6; Isa 17:7; Isa 29:19; Isa 30:11, Isa 30:12, Isa 30:15; Isa 31:1; Isa 37:23,:); and thirteen times in the "latter" portion ( Isa 41:14, Isa 41:16, Isa 41:20; Isa 43:3, Isa 43:14; Isa 45:11; Isa 47:4; Isa 48:17; Isa 49:7; Isa 54:5; Isa 55:5; Isa 60:9, Isa 60:14). Outside Isaiah it is used by Himself once ( 2Ki 19:22 first occurrence); three times in the Psalms ( Isa 71:22; Isa 89:18).

gone away backward. Apostasy in act. See note on Isa 1:4, and notice the threefold apostasy in this verse.

Why. ? Figure of speech Erotesis App-6

wounds. Note the Figure of speech Synonymia Hebrew singular, as are the other two.

ointment = oil.

desolate. Occurs in "former" portion here, Isa 6:11; Isa 17:9; Isa 33:8; and in the "latter" portion, Isa 49:8, Isa 49:19; Isa 54:1, Isa 54:3; Isa 61:4, Isa 61:4; Isa 62:4.

your cities. Some codices, with Syriac, read "and your cities".

land = soil.

strangers = foreigners, or apostates. Hebrew. zur. See note on Pro 5:3 (not the same word as in Isa 2:6).

cottage = a booth, made of reeds. Compare Job 27:18.

a lodge. A platform on four poles, sheltered by leaves or sacking. Left to the weather at the close of harvest.

Except, &c. The first passage in Isaiah quoted in N.T. ( Rom 9:29).

very small. Hebrew. kim’at. See note on Pro 5:14.

as Sodom. Reference to Pentateuch ( Gen 19:1-29. Deu 29:23.) Compare Isa 3:9, for the reason.

rulers of: i.e. rulers who ruled as in Sodom.

the law. Reference to whole Pentateuch. Twelve times in Isaiah ( Isa 1:10; Isa 2:3; Isa 5:24; Isa 8:16, Isa 8:20; Isa 24:5; Isa 30:9, &c.

people of: i.e. people who acted as the people in Gomorrah acted.

To what purpose, &c. Figure of speech Synathraesmos, in verses: Isa 1:11-15. Also Figure of speech Hypotyposis, for emphasis, in describing the hollowness of mere religious observances (as when Christ was on earth. Compare Joh 2:6, Joh 2:7 with Isa 14:16). Mat 15:3-8.

saith the LORD. The Hebrew fut. of ’amar (= y’, omar), combined with a Divine title, is used thrice in the so-called "former "portion of Isaiah ( Isa 1:11, Isa 1:18; Isa 33:10), and six times in the "latter" portion ( Isa 40:1, Isa 40:25; Isa 41:21, Isa 41:21; Isa 66:9). Elsewhere only in Psa 12:6, while the past tense is frequently used (see App-92).

to appear, &c. Reference to Pentateuch. See note ( Exo 23:15).

tread = trample, and thus profane. Hebrew. ramas. Eze 26:11; Eze 34:18. Dan 8:7, Dan 8:10.

oblations. Hebrew. minchah = gift-offering. App-43.

is = itself [is].

assemblies = convocations. Hebrew. mikra’. Reference to Pentateuch (App-92); out of twenty-three occurrences, twenty occur in Pentateuch. Occurs only here, Isa 4:5, and Neh 8:8 (in a later sense "reading"), outside the Pentateuch. Not kahal. See note on Gen 28:3; Gen 49:6; and App-92.

I cannot away with. Hebrew. yakol = to be able. Here = "I am not able [to endure, or put up with]". The Figure of speech Ellipsis must be thus supplied.

iniquity = vanity. (Not the same word as Isa 1:4.) Hebrew. ’aven. App-44.

iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Hebrew "iniquity and assembly". Figure of speech Hendiadys = your vain assembly.

My soul = I (very emph.) Hebrew. nephesh. App-13. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6.

And when = Even when.

spread forth your hands. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), for "pray", in which hands are spread forth.

make many prayers = multiply your prayers.

blood. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Effect), for the acts which shed the blood.

evil. Heb ra’a. App-44.

fatherless. widow. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Species), for all kinds of helpless and bereaved persons.

let us reason together = let us put the matter right, or settle the matter. It means the putting an end to all reasoning, rather than an invitation to commence reasoning.

sins. Hebrew. chata. App-44.

though. Some codices, with one early printed edition, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read "yea, though".

for the mouth of the LORD, &c. This sets the seal on this book as a whole, uniting all its parts. It Occurs in the "former" portion ( Isa 1:20), and in the "latter" portion ( Isa 40:5, and Isa 58:14). Compare Isa 21:17; Isa 22:25; Isa 24:3; Isa 25:8. See App-79.

is = [is it that she].

wine = liquor, or drink. Hebrew. saba’. App-27.

Thy princes, &c. Figure of speech Hermeneia. Interpreting the Figures of speech Hypocatastasis in Isa 1:22.

princes are rebellious. Sarim sorerim, not a "pun", but the Figure of speech Paronomasia (App-6), for solemn emphasis. It may be Englished "thy rulers are unruly".

gifts = rewards, or bribes.

The Lord. Hebrew. Adon.

App-4.

the mighty One of Israel. Peculiar to Isaiah. Reference to Pentateuch ( Gen 49:24). App-92. Compare Isa 49:26; Isa 60:16.

turn My hand : i.e. repeat the judgment ( Isa 1:27)

thee: i.e. the city (verses: Isa 1:21, Isa 1:26, Isa 1:27).

purge = refine. Compare Isa 1:16; Isa 6:7

tin: i.e. alloy.

judges as a t the first. Reference to Pentateuch Exo 18:16-26.

faithful. Compare Isa 1:21.

redeemed = delivered Hebrew. paddah.

her converts = they that return of her.

transgressors = rebels, App-44.

oaks: the trees resorted to for idolatrous worship ( Isa 57:5; Isa 65:3; Isa 66:17. 2Ki 16:4; 2Ki 17:10. Eze 6:13).

chosen. Hebrew. bachar. Occurs four times in the "former" portion (here, Isa 7:15, Isa 7:16; Isa 14:1, and sixteen times in the "latter" portion ( Isa 40:20; Isa 41:8, Isa 41:9, Isa 41:24, Isa 43:10, Isa 44:1, Isa 44:2; Isa 48:10; Isa 49:7

; Isa 56:4; Isa 58:5, Isa 58:6; Isa 65:12; Isa 66:3, Isa 66:4, Isa 66:4).

be = become.

leaf. Some codices (one in margin), with four early printed editions, Septuagint, Syr, and Vulgate, read "Leaves" (plural)

the strong. Hebrew. hason. Occurs only here, and Amo 2:9.

the maker of it = his work (whatever it be): i.e. the idols (doubtless the ’asherahs.

App-42).