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Additional Comments |
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| 1 The Visions of Isaiah son of Amoz, that he hath seen concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah. |
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| 2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, For Jehovah hath spoken: Sons I have nourished and brought up, And they they transgressed against Me. |
Heavens – The power of spiritual control. - While this prophecy is primarily one concerning Natural Israel, yet it is clear from the overall context that there is a good portion that applies to nominal spiritual Israel.
Earth – Organized society under religious restraint.
Thus this prophecy is directed to the church-nation of natural Israel, and by extension also applies to the church-state systems of Christendom.
I – Jehovah God.
Hath nourished – Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matt. 4:4.
Brought up thy children – During the Gospel Age, the Lord was blessing the children of nominal spiritual Israel because of the Lord's true people who were held captive in her.
They – These children of mystic Babylon, the tares.
Have rebelled against Me – This they have done by rejecting God's Truth, that which reveals His wonderfull character. |
| 3 An ox hath known its owner, And an ass the crib of its master, Israel hath not known, My people hath not understood. |
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| 4 Ah, sinning nation, a people heavy [with] iniquity, A seed of evil doers, sons corrupters! They have forsaken Jehovah, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have gone away backward. |
Sinful nation .. laden with iniquity – This phrase helps us identify the target of this prophecy. ".. for her sins have reached unto heaven .. come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive of her plagues." Rev. 18:4,5.
Seed of evildoers – "An enemy hath shown them" - tares.
Children that are corrupters – "Ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of gehenna than yourselves." Matt. 23:15.
Provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger – The Lord's anger is an expression of His fundamental attribute of Justice. This anger or wrath is expressed in the pouring out of the seven last plagues upon the symbolic earth (Rev. 16:1). |
| 5 Wherefore are ye stricken any more Ye do add apostacy! Every head is become diseased, and every heart [is] sick. |
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| 6 From the sole of the foot unto the head, There is no soundness in it, Wound, and bruise, and fresh smiting! They have not been closed nor bound, Nor have they softened with ointment. |
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| 7 Your land [is] a desolation, your cities burnt with fire, Your ground, before you strangers are consuming it, And a desolation as overthrown by strangers! |
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| 8 And left hath been the daughter of Zion, As a booth in a vineyard, As a lodge in a place of cucumbers as a city besieged. |
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| 9 Unless Jehovah of Hosts had left to us a remnant, Shortly as Sodom we had been, To Gomorrah we had been like! |
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| 10 Hear the word of Jehovah, ye rulers of Sodom, Give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah, |
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| 11 'Why to Me the abundance of your sacrifices saith Jehovah, I have been satiated [with] burnt-offerings of rams, And fat of fatlings; And blood of bullocks, and lambs, And he-goats I have not desired. |
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| 12 When ye come in to appear before Me, Who hath required this of your hand, To trample My courts |
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| 13 Add not to bring in a vain present, Incense an abomination it [is] to Me, New moon, and sabbath, calling of convocation! Rendure not iniquity and a restraint! |
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| 14 Your new moons and your set seasons hath My soul hated, They have been upon me for a burden, I have been weary of bearing. |
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| 15 And in your spreading forth your hands, I hide mine eyes from you, Also when ye increase prayer, I do not hear, Your hands of blood have been full. |
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| 16 Wash ye, make ye pure, Turn aside the evil of your doings, from before Mine eyes, Cease to do evil, learn to do good. |
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| 17 Seek judgment, make happy the oppressed, Judge the fatherless, strive [for] the widow. |
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| 18 Come, I pray you, and we reason, saith Jehovah, If your sins are as scarlet, as snow they shall be white, If they are red as crimson, as wool they shall be! |
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| 19 If ye are willing, and have hearkened, The good of the land ye consume, |
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| 20 And if ye refuse, and have rebelled, [By] the sword ye are consumed, For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken. |
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| 21 How hath a faithful city become a harlot I have filled it [with] judgment, Righteousness lodgeth in it now murderers. |
The faithful city – The early true church
Become an harlot – Gradually, beginning with 314 A.D. when the Roman emperor Constantine (civil power) convened a church council (August 1, 314) in Arles, France, beginning the union of church and state in Europe.
It was – Prior to 314 A.D.
Full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it – In the early church.
Now – After 314. |
| 22 Thy silver hath become dross, Thy drink polluted with water. |
Thy silver – The Bible truth given to the early church.
Become dross -- |
| 23 Thy princes [are] apostates, and companions of thieves, Every one loving a bribe, and pursuing rewards, The fatherless they judge not, And the plea of the widow cometh not to them. |
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| 24 Therefore the affirmation of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah, I am eased of Mine adversaries, And I am avenged of Mine enemies, |
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| 25 And I turn back My hand upon thee, And I refine as purity thy dross, And I turn aside all thy tin, |
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| 26 And I give back thy judges as at the first, And thy counsellors as in the beginning, After this thou art called, 'A city of righteousness a faithful city.' |
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| 27 Zion in judgment is redeemed, And her captivity in righteousness. |
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| 28 And the destruction of transgressors and sinners [is] together, And those forsaking Jehovah are consumed. |
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| 29 For [men] are ashamed because of the oaks That ye have desired, And ye are confounded because of the gardens That ye have chosen. |
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| 30 For ye are as an oak whose leaf is fading, And as a garden that hath no water. |
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| 31 And the strong hath been for tow, And his work for a spark, And burned have both of them together, And there is none quenching! |
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