Isaiah

A vast vision of God as “the Holy One of Israel”. Isaiah warns of judgment on Judah and the nations, then speaks comfort to exiles and promises a coming king and a suffering servant who will bear the sins of many, and a new creation.

Author

The prophet Isaiah and, many scholars think, his later followers

Written

Isaiah was active about 740 to 700 BC

Chapters

1. 1Isaiah 1God accuses Judah of rebellion. Their sacrifices are empty while injustice goes on. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”
2. 2Isaiah 2A vision of the last days, when all nations stream to God’s mountain and beat their swords into ploughshares. The proud will be humbled.
3. 3Isaiah 3Judgment on Jerusalem’s leaders for crushing the poor, and on the proud women of Zion.
4. 4Isaiah 4After judgment, the “Branch of the Lord” will be beautiful, and God’s glory will shelter Zion.
5. 5Isaiah 5The song of the vineyard: God planted Israel with care, but it produced bad fruit. Six woes follow.
6. 6Isaiah 6Isaiah sees the Lord on his throne, and the seraphim cry, “Holy, holy, holy.” Cleansed, Isaiah answers, “Here am I. Send me.”
7. 7Isaiah 7As enemies threaten King Ahaz, Isaiah gives a sign: “The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and call him Immanuel,” meaning God with us.
8. 8Isaiah 8Assyria will sweep over the land like a flood. Fear God rather than what people fear.
9. 9Isaiah 9“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. For to us a child is born.” But judgment still hangs over Israel.
10. 10Isaiah 10Assyria is only a tool in God’s hand and will itself be judged. A remnant will return.
11. 11Isaiah 11A shoot will come from the stump of Jesse, and the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him. In his kingdom the wolf will live with the lamb.
12. 12Isaiah 12A song of praise: “God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.” Draw water from the wells of salvation.
13. 13Isaiah 13A prophecy against Babylon: the day of the Lord will come against it.
14. 14Isaiah 14Israel will be restored. A taunt against the king of Babylon, the fallen “morning star”.
15. 15Isaiah 15A lament over Moab’s destruction.
16. 16Isaiah 16Moab should seek refuge in Zion, where a faithful king will reign.
17. 17Isaiah 17Judgment on Damascus and Israel, who forgot the God of their salvation.
18. 18Isaiah 18A message to Cush: the nations will bring gifts to the Lord.
19. 19Isaiah 19Judgment on Egypt, and a surprising promise that Egypt and Assyria will one day worship with Israel.
20. 20Isaiah 20Isaiah walks barefoot as a sign that Egypt and Cush will be taken captive.
21. 21Isaiah 21A vision of Babylon’s fall, and messages to Edom and Arabia.
22. 22Isaiah 22Jerusalem feasts while it should repent: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” The steward Shebna is replaced by Eliakim.
23. 23Isaiah 23A prophecy against the trading city of Tyre.
24. 24Isaiah 24The “Isaiah apocalypse” begins: the whole earth is judged and the Lord reigns on Mount Zion.
25. 25Isaiah 25God will prepare a feast for all peoples and swallow up death forever, wiping away the tears from all faces.
26. 26Isaiah 26“You will keep in perfect peace the one whose mind is steadfast, because they trust in you.” Your dead will live.
27. 27Isaiah 27God will slay Leviathan and tend his vineyard, and the exiles will be gathered.
28. 28Isaiah 28Woe to the drunken leaders of Ephraim. God lays a precious cornerstone in Zion.
29. 29Isaiah 29Jerusalem will be besieged. The people honour God with their lips, but their hearts are far from him.
30. 30Isaiah 30Woe to those who trust Egypt. “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust is your strength.”
31. 31Isaiah 31Don’t rely on Egypt’s horses. God will defend Jerusalem like a bird hovering over its nest.
32. 32Isaiah 32A righteous king will reign, and the Spirit will be poured out, bringing peace and justice.
33. 33Isaiah 33The Lord will rise up. Who can live with God’s consuming fire? The one who walks righteously. Your eyes will see the King in his beauty.
34. 34Isaiah 34God’s judgment on Edom and all the nations.
35. 35Isaiah 35The desert will bloom. Strengthen weak hands. The blind will see, the lame leap, and the redeemed return to Zion with singing.
36. 36Isaiah 36Assyria invades Judah, and its commander mocks Hezekiah’s trust in God.
37. 37Isaiah 37Hezekiah prays, and Isaiah sends God’s answer. The Assyrian army is struck down.
38. 38Isaiah 38Hezekiah is ill, and God adds fifteen years to his life. His song of thanks.
39. 39Isaiah 39Hezekiah shows his treasures to envoys from Babylon, and Isaiah foretells the exile.
40. 40Isaiah 40“Comfort, comfort my people.” A voice prepares the way of the Lord. God is incomparable, and those who wait on him will renew their strength.
41. 41Isaiah 41“Do not fear, for I am with you.” God is Lord of history and calls idols to account.
42. 42Isaiah 42The first Servant Song: God’s chosen servant will bring justice gently. “A bruised reed he will not break.”
43. 43Isaiah 43“I have called you by name; you are mine.” When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. I am doing a new thing.
44. 44Isaiah 44God pours out his Spirit. The foolishness of idols carved from the same wood used for cooking.
45. 45Isaiah 45God names Cyrus, the Persian king, as his chosen instrument to free his people. “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth.”
46. 46Isaiah 46Babylon’s idols must be carried, but God carries his people from birth to old age.
47. 47Isaiah 47Proud Babylon will fall and be humbled.
48. 48Isaiah 48Stubborn Israel is refined in the furnace of affliction. “Come out of Babylon!”
49. 49Isaiah 49The second Servant Song: the servant is a light for the nations. God will not forget his people: “I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”
50. 50Isaiah 50The third Servant Song: the servant is obedient though beaten and mocked, trusting God to vindicate him.
51. 51Isaiah 51Look to Abraham and Sarah. God’s salvation lasts forever. Awake, Jerusalem!
52. 52Isaiah 52“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” The fourth Servant Song begins: the servant will be raised high.
53. 53Isaiah 53The suffering servant is despised and rejected, pierced for our transgressions, and by his wounds we are healed. He bears the sin of many.
54. 54Isaiah 54Sing, barren one, for God’s love for his people will not be shaken.
55. 55Isaiah 55“Come, all you who are thirsty.” Seek the Lord while he may be found, for his ways are higher than ours, and his word will not return empty.
56. 56Isaiah 56Foreigners and eunuchs who hold fast to God are welcome: “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
57. 57Isaiah 57Idolatry is condemned, but God lives with the humble and contrite.
58. 58Isaiah 58True fasting is not empty ritual but loosing the chains of injustice, feeding the hungry, and sheltering the poor.
59. 59Isaiah 59Sin has separated the people from God. The Lord himself puts on righteousness to save, and a Redeemer will come to Zion.
60. 60Isaiah 60“Arise, shine, for your light has come.” Nations will come to Zion’s light, and the Lord will be her everlasting light.
61. 61Isaiah 61“The Spirit of the Lord is on me to proclaim good news to the poor.” Jesus read these words in Nazareth to announce his mission.
62. 62Isaiah 62God will not rest until Jerusalem shines. Her new name is “My Delight Is in Her”.
63. 63Isaiah 63God comes as a warrior from Edom. A prayer recalling his mercy in the exodus.
64. 64Isaiah 64“Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!” We are the clay, and you are the potter.
65. 65Isaiah 65God answers: he will judge the rebellious but create new heavens and a new earth, where the wolf and lamb feed together.
66. 66Isaiah 66Heaven is God’s throne, yet he looks to the humble. Jerusalem will be comforted like a child by its mother, and all nations will see God’s glory.