A TRANSLATION OF

CALVIN'S VERSION OF

THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH

CHAPTERS 1--16

CHAPTER 1

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 hearken, O earth,
For thus the Lord speaketh:
I have nourished and brought up children;
Yet they have acted wickedly towards me. ¹

3 The ox knoweth his owner,
And the ass his masters crib;
Israel doth not know;
My people doth not understand.

4 O sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity,
Seed of evil-doers, degenerate children!
They have forsaken Jehovah,
They have despised ² the Holy One of Israel,
They are estranged backwards.

5 Why should I strike you any more?
Ye will add faithlessness.
The whole head is sickness,
And the whole heart is faintness.

6 From the sole of the foot even to the head
There is no soundness in it;
A wound, a swelling, And a purifying sore;
And they have not been plastered, nor bound up,
Nor softened with ointment.

7 Your country is desolation;
Your cities are burnt with fire;
Your land do strangers devour in your presence,
It is reduced to solitude, like the destruction of foreigners.

8 And the daughter of Zion shall be left,
As a cottage in a vineyard,
As a lodge in a garden of cucumbers,
As a city laid waste.

9 Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a very small remnant,
We should have been as Sodom,
And like Gomorrah.

10 Hear the word of the Lord, ye princes of Sodom!
Give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah!
Of what value to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
Saith the Lord.

11 I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams,
And of the fat of fed beasts;
And in the blood of oxen, or of sheep, or of he-goats,
I delight not.

12 When you come that you may appear before my face,
Who hath required this at your hand?
Even to tread my courts.

13 Do not continue to bring an offering of vanity.
Incense is an abomination to me.
The new-moon, And the sabbath, And the yearly assemblies,
I cannot endure,
(It is a vain thing,)
Nor the assembly.

14 Your new-moons And your yearly festivals
My soul hateth;
They have been a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.

15 When ye spread forth your hands,
I will hide mine eyes from you.
Even though you multiply prayer,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash you, make you clean;
Take away the wickedness of your practices from before mine eyes;
Cease to do evil;

17 Learn to do well:
Seek judgment, restore ³ the oppressed;
Plead for the orphan, defend the widow.

18 Come now, and let us reason together,
Hath the Lord said:
If your sins be as scarlet,
They shall be white as snow;
If they be red like purple,
They shall be as wool.

19 If ye shall be willing and shall hearken,
Ye shall eat the good of the land.

20 But if ye shall refuse and rebel,
Ye shall be consumed by the sword;
For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

21 How is the faithful city become a harlot!
She was full of judgment,
And righteousness lodged by night ⁴ in her;
But now murderers.

22 Thy silver is become dross,
And thy wine is mixed with water.

23 Thy princes are rebellious,
And are companions of thieves;
Every one loveth a gift,
And seeketh eagerly for rewards.
They judge not the cause of the fatherless,
Nor doth the cause of the widow come to them.

24 Therefore saith the Lord, ⁵ Jehovah of hosts,
The mighty One of Israel;
Alas! I will take consolation on mine adversaries,
I will be avenged of mine enemies.

25 I will turn my hand upon thee;
I will purely purge away thy dross,
And I will take away all thy tin.

26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first,
And thy counsellors as at the beginning.
Then shall it be said of thee,
The city of righteousness,
The faithful city.

27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment,
And they who shall be brought back to her with righteousness.

28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together,
And they who have revolted from the Lord shall be consumed.

29 Yea, they shall be ashamed
Of the trees which ye have desired,
And they shall be covered with disgrace
By the groves which ye have chosen.

30 Ye shall surely be as a tree whose leaf fadeth,
And as a grove that hath no water.

31 And your strong man ⁶ shall be as tow,
And the maker of it as a spark;
And they shall both be burnt,
And there shall be none to quench them.