1 fAnd seven women gshall take hold of fone man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; htake away our reproach.”
The Branch of the Lord Glorified
2 In that day ithe branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and jthe fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. 3 kAnd he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called lholy, everyone who has mbeen recorded for life in Jerusalem, 4 when nthe Lord shall have washed away the filth of othe daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by pa spirit of burning.1 5 Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies qa cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be ra canopy. 6 sThere will be a tbooth for shade by day from the heat, and ufor a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
The Vineyard of the Lord Destroyed
1 Let me sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had va vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with wchoice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and xhe looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 yWhat more was there to do for my vineyard,
that I have not done in it?
xWhen I looked for it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
5 And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove zits hedge,
and it shall be devoured;2
aI will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and bbriers and thorns shall grow up;
cI will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
7 dFor the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
but behold, bloodshed;3
for righteousness,
but behold, an outcry!4
Woe to the Wicked
8 Woe to those who ejoin house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
and you are made to dwell alone
in the midst of the land.
9 The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
f“Surely many houses shall be desolate,
large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
11 Woe to those who irise early in the morning,
that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
as wine inflames them!
12 jThey have lyre and harp,
tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
kbut they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
or see the work of his hands.
13 Therefore my people go into exile
their mhonored men go hungry,8
and their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has nenlarged its appetite
and opened oits mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem9 and her multitude will go down,
her revelers and he who pexults in her.
15 qMan is humbled, and each one is brought low,
and the eyes of the haughty10 are brought low.
16 rBut the Lord of hosts is exalted11 in justice,
and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
17 Then shall the lambs graze sas in their pasture,
and tnomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.
18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with ucords of falsehood,
who draw sin as with cart ropes,
19 who say: v“Let him be quick,
let him speed his work
that we may see it;
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
and let it come, that we may know it!”
20 Woe to wthose who call evil good
and good evil,
xwho put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are ywise in their own eyes,
and shrewd in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are zheroes at drinking wine,
and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 who aacquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of his right!
24 Therefore, bas the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so ctheir root will be das rottenness,
and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have erejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
and have fdespised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore gthe anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,
and hthe mountains quaked;
and their corpses were ias refuse
in the midst of the streets.
jFor all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
26 He will kraise a signal for nations far away,
and lwhistle for them mfrom the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
27 nNone is weary, none stumbles,
none slumbers or sleeps,
not a waistband is loose,
not a sandal strap broken;
28 otheir arrows are sharp,
all their bows bent,
their horses’ hoofs seem like flint,
and their wheels plike the whirlwind.
29 Their roaring is like a lion,
like young lions they roar;
they growl and qseize their prey;
they carry it off, and none can rescue.
30 They will growl over it on that day,
like the growling of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
behold, rdarkness and distress;
and the light is darkened by its clouds.
Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord
1 In the year that sKing Uzziah died I tsaw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train12 of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had usix wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:
u“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
4 And wthe foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and xthe house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! yFor I am lost; zfor I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the aKing, the Lord of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he btouched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for cus?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
d“‘Keep on hearing,14 but do not understand;
keep on seeing,15 but do not perceive.’
10 eMake the heart of this people fdull,16
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
glest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, h“How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until icities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is a desolate waste,
12 and the Lord removes people far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 jAnd though a tenth remain in it,
it will be burned17 again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump kremains
when it is felled.”
You Are My Refuge
A Maskil1 of David, when he was in kthe cave. A Prayer.
1 With my voice I lcry out to the Lord;
with my voice I mplead for mercy to the Lord.
2 I npour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.
3 When my spirit ofaints within me,
you know my way!
In the path where I walk
they have phidden a trap for me.
4 qLook to the rright and see:
sthere is none who takes notice of me;
tno refuge remains to me;
no one cares for my soul.
5 I cry to you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my urefuge,
my vportion in wthe land of the living.”
6 xAttend to my cry,
for yI am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
zfor they are too strong for me!
7 aBring me out of prison,
that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
for you will bdeal bountifully with me.
