The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

Peter Ackroyd

• Publisher: Canongate Books
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780862419707
• eBook ISBN: 9780857861047
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Bibles

This is the text of the book of Isaiah, the first and foremost of the 17 'prophetic' books of the Old Testament. Contrasting with images of wrath and destruction are visions of an age of peace and harmony. The biblical text is introduced by Peter Ackroyd.

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.

²Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;

for the Lord hath spoken,

I have nourished and brought up children,

and they have rebelled against me.

³The ox knoweth his owner,

and the ass his master’s crib,

but Israel doth not know,

my people doth not consider.

⁴Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity,

a seed of evildoers,

children that are corrupters:

they have forsaken the Lord,

they have provoked

the Holy One of Israel unto anger,

they are gone away backward.

⁵Why should ye be stricken any more?

Ye will revolt more and more:

the whole head is sick,

and the whole heart faint.

⁶From the sole of the foot even unto the head

there is no soundness in it;

but wounds, and bruises,

and putrifying sores:

they have not been closed, neither bound up,

neither mollified with ointment.

⁷Your country is desolate,

your cities are burned with fire;

your land, strangers devour it

in your presence,

and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

⁸And the daughter of Zion is left

as a cottage in a vineyard,

as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers,

as a besieged city.

⁹Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us

a very small remnant,

we should have been as Sodom,

and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom;

give ear unto the law of our God,

ye people of Gomorrah.

¹¹To what purpose is the multitude of

your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord:

I am full of the burnt offerings of rams,

and the fat of fed beasts;

and I delight not in the blood of bullocks,

or of lambs, or of he goats.

¹²When ye come to appear before me,

who hath required this at your hand,

to tread my courts?

¹³Bring no more vain oblations;

incense is an abomination unto me;

the new moons and sabbaths,

the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with:

it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

¹⁴Your new moons and your appointed feasts

my soul hateth;

they are a trouble unto me;

I am weary to bear them.

¹⁵And when ye spread forth your hands,

I will hide mine eyes from you;

yea, when ye make many prayers,

I will not hear;

your hands are full of blood.

¹⁶Wash you, make you clean;

put away the evil of your doings

from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

¹⁷learn to do well; seek judgment,

relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless,

plead for the widow.

¹⁸Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:

though your sins be as scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they be red like crimson,

they shall be as wool.

¹⁹I...

Table of contents

• cover
• Title Page
• A Note About Pocket Canons
• Introduction By Peter Ackroyd
• The Book Of The Prophet Isaiah
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19
• Chapter 20
• Chapter 21
• Chapter 22
• Chapter 23
• Chapter 24
• Chapter 25
• Chapter 26
• Chapter 27
• Chapter 28
• Chapter 29
• Chapter 30
• Chapter 31
• Chapter 32
• Chapter 33
• Chapter 34
• Chapter 35
• Chapter 36
• Chapter 37
• Chapter 38
• Chapter 39
• Chapter 40
• Chapter 41
• Chapter 42
• Chapter 43
• Chapter 44
• Chapter 45
• Chapter 46
• Chapter 47
• Chapter 48
• Chapter 49
• Chapter 50
• Chapter 51
• Chapter 52
• Chapter 53
• Chapter 54
• Chapter 55
• Chapter 56
• Chapter 57
• Chapter 58
• Chapter 59
• Chapter 60
• Chapter 61
• Chapter 62
• Chapter 63
• Chapter 64
• Chapter 65
• Chapter 66
• Copyright Page