(2 Chronicles 28:5–15)
1
The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Joatham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2
Listen, O heavens, and pay attention, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. I have nurtured and raised children, but they have spurned me.
3
An ox knows his owner, and a donkey knows the manger of his lord, but Israel has not known me, and my people have not understood.
4
Woe to a sinful nation, a people burdened by iniquity, a wicked offspring, accursed children. They have abandoned the Lord. They have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel. They been taken away backwards.
5
For what reason shall I continue to strike you, as you increase transgressions? The entire head is feeble, and the entire heart is grieving.
6
From the sole of the foot, even to the top of the head, there is no soundness within. Wounds and bruises and swelling sores: these are not bandaged, nor treated with medicine, nor soothed with oil.
7
Your land is desolate. Your cities have been set ablaze. Foreigners devour your countryside in your sight, and it will become desolate, as if devastated by enemies.
8
And the daughter of Zion will be left behind, like an arbor in a vineyard, and like a shelter in a cucumber field, and like a city being laid to waste.
9
If the Lord of hosts had not bequeathed us offspring, we would have been like Sodom, and we would have been comparable to Gomorrah.
Meaningless Offerings
10
Listen to the Word of the Lord, you leaders of the people of Sodom. Listen closely to the law of our God, O people of Gomorrah.
11
The multitude of your sacrifices, what is that to me, says the Lord? I am full. I do not desire holocausts of rams, nor the fat of fatlings, nor the blood of calves and of lambs and of he-goats.(a)
12
When you approach before my sight, who is it that requires these things from your hands, so that you would walk in my courts?
13
You should no longer offer sacrifice in vain. Incense is an abomination to me. The new moons and the Sabbaths and the other feast days, I will not receive. Your gatherings are iniquitous.
14
My soul hates your days of proclamation and your solemnities. They have become bothersome to me. I labor to endure them.
15
And so, when you extend your hands, I will avert my eyes from you. And when you multiply your prayers, I will not heed you. For your hands are full of blood.
16
Wash, become clean, take away the evil of your intentions from my eyes. Cease to act perversely.
17
Learn to do good. Seek judgment, support the oppressed, judge for the orphan, defend the widow.
18
And then approach and accuse me, says the Lord. Then, if your sins are like scarlet, they shall be made white like snow; and if they are red like vermillion, they shall become white like wool.
19
If you are willing, and you listen to me, then you will eat the good things of the land.
20
But if you are not willing, and you provoke me to anger, then the sword will devour you. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
The Corruption of Zion
21
How has the faithful city, full of judgment, become a harlot? Justice lived in her, but now murderers.
22
Your silver has turned into dross. Your wine has been mixed with water.
23
Your leaders are unfaithful, the associates of thieves. They all love gifts; they pursue rewards. They do not judge for orphans, and the widow’s case is not brought before them.
24
Because of this, the Lord God of hosts, the Strength of Israel, says: Ah! I will be consoled over my enemies, and I will be vindicated from my adversaries.
25
And I will turn my hand to you. And I will temper your dross unto purity, and I will take away all your tin.
26
And I will restore your judges, so that they will be as before, and your counselors as in times long past. After this, you shall be called the City of the Just, the Faithful City.
27
Zion will be redeemed in judgment, and they will lead her back to justice.
28
And he shall crush the accursed and sinners together. And those who have abandoned the Lord will be consumed.
29
For they shall be confounded because of the idols, to which they have sacrificed. And you shall be ashamed over the gardens that you chose,
30
when you were like an oak with falling leaves, and like a garden without water.
31
And your strength will be like the embers from stubble, and your work will be like a spark, and both will burn together, and there will be no one to extinguish it.
Footnotes