⁴ Alas, sinful nation,
A people ^[c]laden with iniquity,
^(F)A ^[d]brood of evildoers,
Children who are corrupters!
They have forsaken the Lord,
They have provoked to anger
The Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away backward.

^5 (G)Why should you be stricken again?
You will revolt more and more.
The whole head is sick,
And the whole heart faints.
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 or bound up,
Or soothed with ointment.

^7 (H)Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
Strangers devour your land in your presence;
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
⁸ So the daughter of Zion is left ^(I)as a ^[e]booth in a vineyard,
As a hut in a garden of cucumbers,
^(J)As a besieged city.
^9 (K)Unless the Lord of hosts
Had left to us a very small remnant,
We would have become like ^(L)Sodom,
We would have been made like Gomorrah.

¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord,
You rulers ^(M)of Sodom;
Give ear to the law of our God,
You people of Gomorrah:
¹¹ “To what purpose is the multitude of your ^(N)sacrifices to Me?”
Says the Lord.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.

¹² “When you come ^(O)to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
¹³ Bring no more ^(P)futile^[f] sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and ^(Q)the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
¹⁴ Your ^(R)New Moons and your ^(S)appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.
^15 (T)When you ^[g]spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
^(U)Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of ^[h]blood.

¹⁶ “Wash^(V) yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
^(W)Cease to do evil,
¹⁷ Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke ^[i]the oppressor;
^[j]Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.

¹⁸ “Come now, and let us ^(X)reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
^(Y)They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
²⁰ But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
^(Z)For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

²⁴ Therefore the Lord says,
The Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel,
“Ah, ^(AH)I will ^[l]rid Myself of My adversaries,
And ^[m]take vengeance on My enemies.
²⁵ I will turn My hand against you,
And ^(AI)thoroughly^[n] purge away your dross,
And take away all your alloy.
²⁶ I will restore your judges ^(AJ)as at the first,
And your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward ^(AK)you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”

²⁷ Zion shall be redeemed with justice,
And her ^[o]penitents with righteousness.
²⁸ The ^(AL)destruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together,
And those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
²⁹ For ^[p]they shall be ashamed of the ^[q]terebinth trees
Which you have desired;
And you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens
Which you have chosen.
³⁰ For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades,
And as a garden that has no water.
^31 (AM)The strong shall be as tinder,
And the work of it as a spark;
Both will burn together,
And no one shall ^(AN)quench them.