Book of Isaiah

The Book of Isaiah (Hebrew: ספר ישעיה‎, Sefer Yeshayahu) presents the career of the prophet Isaiah. It is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in English Bibles. The oldest surviving manuscripts of Isaiah are two scrolls found among the Dead Sea Scrolls; dating from about 150 to 100 BCE, they are substantially identical with the Masoretic version which forms the basis of most modern English-language versions of the book.

Quotes

Chapter 1

I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
- 2 (KJV)

The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib.
- 3 (KJV)

The daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
- 8 (KJV)

Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with.
- 13 (KJV)

When you stretch out your hands,
   I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
   I will not listen;
   your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
   remove the evil of your doings
   from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
   learn to do good;
seek justice,
   rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
   plead for the widow.
- 15-17 (NRSV)

Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.
- 18 (KJV)

שָׂרַ֣יִךְ סֹורְרִ֗ים וְחַבְרֵי֙ גַּנָּבִ֔ים כֻּלֹּו֙ אֹהֵ֣ב שֹׁ֔חַד וְרֹדֵ֖ף שַׁלְמֹנִ֑ים יָתֹום֙ לֹ֣א יִשְׁפֹּ֔טוּ וְרִ֥יב אַלְמָנָ֖ה לֹֽא־יָבֹ֥וא אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃ פ
- Your rulers are rebels and friends of thieves.
  They demand bribes and accept money for doing wrong.
  They take money to cheat people, and they don’t speak up for widows and orphans.
  They will not even listen to their cries for help.
- 23 (Leningrad Codex; ERV)
  - Your rulers are rebels,
    partners with thieves;
    they all love bribes and chase after gifts.
    They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;
    the widow’s case does not come before them.
    - (NIV)
  - Your leaders are turncoats
    who keep company with crooks.
    They sell themselves to the highest bidder
    and grab anything not nailed down.
    They never stand up for the homeless,
    never stick up for the defenseless.
    - (MSG)

Chapter 2

They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
- 4 (KJV)

Chapter 3

What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor?
- 15 (KJV)

Chapter 5

My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill.
- 1 (KJV)

And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
- 2 (KJV)

And he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
- 7 (KJV)

Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place.
- 8 (KJV)

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink.
- 11 (KJV)

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.
- 20 (KJV)

For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- 25 (KJV)

Chapter 6

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
- 1-3 (KJV)
  - I saw Jehovah sitting on a lofty and elevated throne, and the skirts of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were standing above him; each had six wings. Each covered his face with two and covered his feet with two, and each of them would fly about with two. And one called to the other: “Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of armies. The whole earth is filled with his glory.
    - (NWT)

Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips
- 5 (KJV)

Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.
And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips.
- 6 (KJV)

Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
- 8 (KJV)

Then said I, Lord, how long?
- 11 (KJV)

Chapter 7

Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
- 14 (KJV)

Chapter 8

Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel.
- 13 (KJV)

Wizards that peep and that mutter.
- 19 (KJV)

Chapter 9

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
- 2 (KJV)

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.
- 6 (KJV)

To the increase of his rulership
And to peace, there will be no end.
- 7 (NWT)

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
- 7 (KJV)

Chapter 11

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
- 1 (KJV)

And he will find delight in the fear of Jehovah.
He will not judge by what appears to his eyes,
Nor reprove simply according to what his ears hear.
He will judge the lowly with fairness,
And with uprightness he will give reproof in behalf of the meek ones of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth
And put the wicked to death with the breath of his lips.
Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, And faithfulness the belt of his hips.
- 3-5 (NWT)

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
- 6 (KJV)

And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
- 7 (KJV)

Chapter 13

Dragons in their pleasant palaces.
- 22 (KJV)

Chapter 14

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
- 12 (KJV)

Jehovah of armies has sworn: "Just as I have intended, so it will occur, and just as I have decided, that is what will come true."
- 24 (KJV)

Chapter 21

Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?
The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night.
- 11 (KJV)

Chapter 22

Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.
- 13 (KJV)

Chapter 23

Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes.
- 8 (KJV)

Howl, ye ships of Tarshish.
- 14 (KJV)

Chapter 25

In this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined.
- 6 (KJV)

He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces.
- 8 (KJV)

Chapter 26

We have as it were brought forth wind.
- 18 (KJV)

Chapter 28

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.
- 10 (KJV)

We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement.
- 15 (KJV)

Chapter 29

They are drunken, but not with wine.
- 9 (KJV)

The Lord says:
"These people come near to me with their mouth
   and honor me with their lips,
   but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
   is based on merely human rules."
- 13 (NIV)

Chapter 30

Their strength is to sit still.
- 7 (KJV)

Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book.
- 8 (KJV)

Speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits.
- 10 (KJV)

In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.
- 15 (KJV)

The bread of adversity, and the waters of affliction.
- 20 (KJV)

This is the way, walk ye in it.
- 21 (KJV)

Chapter 32

And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
- 2 (KJV)

Chapter 34

And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.
- 13 (KJV)

Chapter 35

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
- 1 (KJV)

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
- 3 (KJV)

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
- 5 (KJV)

Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
- 6 (KJV)

The wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
- 8 (KJV)

They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
- 10 (KJV)

Chapter 38

Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.
- 1 (KJV)

I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
- 15 (KJV)

Chapter 40

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished.
- 1 (KJV)

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
- 3 (KJV)

The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
- 6 (KJV)

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
- 11 (KJV)

The nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
- 15 (KJV)

Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning?
- 21 (KJV)

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
- 31 (KJV)

Chapter 42

A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench.
- 3 (KJV)

Chapter 43

"You are my witnesses," declares Jehovah, "Yes, my servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and have faith in me and understand that I am the same One. Before me no God was formed, and after me there has been none.
- 10 (NWT)

Chapter 44

He warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire.
- 16 (KJV)

Chapter 45

Woe unto him that striveth with his maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it,
What makest thou?
- 9 (KJV)

Chapter 46

Remember the former things of long ago,
That I am God, and there is no other.
I am God, and there is no one like me.
From the beginning I foretell the outcome,
And from long ago the things that have not yet been done.
I say, "My decision will stand,
And I will do whatever I please."
- 9-10 (NWT)

I am calling a bird of prey from the sunrise,
From a distant land the man to carry out my decision.
I have spoken, and I will bring it about.
I have purposed it, and I will also carry it out.
- 11 (NWT)

Chapter 48

I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
- 10 (KJV)

O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.
- 18 (KJV)

There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.
- 22 (KJV)

Chapter 49

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
- 15 (KJV)

Chapter 52

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
- 7 (KJV)

For they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
- 8 (KJV)

Chapter 53

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
- 1 (KJV)

He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him.
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.
- 2-4 (KJV)

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
- 5-7 (KJV)

He was cut off out of the land of the living.
- 8 (KJV)

He was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
- 12 (KJV)

Chapter 55

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not?
- 1-2 (KJV)

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.
- 6 (KJV)

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
- 8 (KJV)

For just as the rain and the snow pour down from heaven
And do not return there until they saturate the earth, making it produce and sprout,
Giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
So my word that goes out of my mouth will be.
It will not return to me without results,
But it will certainly accomplish whatever is my delight,
And it will have sure success in what I send it to do.
- 10-11 (NWT)

Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree.
- 13 (KJV)

Chapter 56

I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
- 5 (KJV)

Chapter 57

The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart.
- 1 (KJV)

Peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near.
- 19 (KJV)

But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
- 20-21 (KJV)

Chapter 58

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
- 6 (KJV)

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily.
- 8 (KJV)

Chapter 59

They make haste to shed innocent blood.
- 7 (KJV)

Chapter 60

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
- 1 (KJV)

Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their dovecotes? For in me the islands will hope; the ships of Tar′shish are in the lead, to bring your sons from far away, along with their silver and their gold, to the name of Jehovah your God and to the Holy One of Israel, For he will glorify you.
- 8-9 (NWT)

The little one will become a thousand. And the small one a mighty nation. I myself, Jehovah, will speed it up in its own time.
- 22 (NWT)

Chapter 61

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.
- 1 (KJV)

To give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
- 3 (KJV)

And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed.
- 9 (KJV)

Chapter 63

Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?
- 1 (KJV)

I have trodden the winepress alone.
- 3 (KJV)

Chapter 64

All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf.
- 6 (KJV)

Chapter 65

Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou.
- 5 (KJV)

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
- 17 (KJV)

I am about to create a new heavens and a new earth;
   the former things shall not be remembered
   or come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
   in what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,
   and its people as a delight.
- 17-18 (NRSV)

They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat.
- 21-22 (NRSV)

External links

Encyclopedic article on Book of Isaiah on Wikipedia

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