1:1The
vision of Yesha`yahu the son of Amotz, which he saw concerning Yahudah and
Yerushalayim, in the days of `Uzziyah, Yotam, Achaz, and Chizkiyahu, kings of Yahudah.
1:2Hear,
heavens,
And listen, eretz; for Yahweh has spoken:
I have nourished and brought up children,
And they have rebelled against me.
1:3The
ox knows his owner,
And the donkey his master's crib;
But Yisra'el doesn't know,
My people don't consider.
1:4Ah
sinful nation,
A people laden with iniquity,
A seed of evil-doers,
Children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken Yahweh.
They have despised the Holy One of Yisra'el.
They are estranged and backward.
1:5Why
should you be beaten more,
That you revolt more and more?
The whole head is sick,
And the whole heart faint.
1:6From
the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it:
Wounds, welts, and open sores.
They haven't been closed, neither bandaged, neither soothed with oil.
1:7Your
country is desolate.
Your cities are burned with fire.
Strangers devour your land in your presence,
And it is desolate,
As overthrown by strangers.
1:8The
daughter of Tziyon is left as a booth in a vineyard,
As a lodge in a garden of cucumbers,
As a besieged city.
1:9Unless
Yahweh Tzva'ot had left to us a very small remnant,
We would have been as Sedom;
We would have been like `Amorah.
1:10Hear
the word of Yahweh, you rulers of Sedom.
Listen to the Torah of our Mighty One, you people of `Amorah.
1:11What
are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?, says Yahweh.
I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams,
And the fat of fed animals.
I don't delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs,
Or of male goats.
1:12When
you come to appear before me,
Who has required this at your hand, to trample my courts?
1:13Bring
no more vain offerings.
Incense is an abomination to me;
New moons, Shabbatot, and convocations:
I can't bear with evil assemblies.
1:14My
soul hates your New Moons and your appointed feasts; they are a trouble to me;
I am weary of bearing them. 1:15When
you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; yes, when you make
many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. 1:16Wash yourselves, make you clean; put
away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil; 1:17learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the
oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 1:18Come now, and let us reason together, says
Yahweh: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though
they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 1:19If
you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land: 1:20but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be
devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.
Yahweh Does Not Hear The Prayers Of Unrepentant
Sinners
1:15 shows that Yahweh would not hear the many prayers that the Yahudim would make. Why?
1:2 shows that the Yahudim, Yahweh's children, had rebelled against him.
1:3-4 shows that the Yahudim, Yisraelites, were sinful, laden with iniquity, evil doers, and dealt corruptly. They forsook and despised Yahweh, the Holy One of Yisrael, and became estranged and backward.
1:15 shows that the reason Yahweh would not hear their prayers was because their hands were full of blood - murder!
1:16-17 shows Yahweh urging the Yisraelites to wash themselves, to make themselves clean, by putting away the evil of their doings from before his eyes, by ceasing to do evil. And by learning to do well, seeking justice, relieving the oppressed, judging the fatherless and pleading for the widow.
In other words, to be heard by Yahweh in prayer, one must cease to do evil and do righteousness.
Yahweh Does Not Hear The Prayers Of The Proud
16:6We
have heard of the pride of Mo'av, that he is very proud; even of his arrogance,
and his pride, and his wrath; his boastings are nothing. 16:7Therefore shall Mo'av wail for Mo'av,
everyone shall wail: for the raisin-cakes of Kir-Hareset shall you mourn, utterly
stricken. 16:8For the fields of
Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sivmah; the sovereigns of the nations have
broken down the choice branches of it, which reached even to Ya`zer, which
wandered into the wilderness; its shoots were spread abroad, they passed over
the sea. 16:9Therefore I will weep
with the weeping of Ya`zer for the vine of Sivmah; I will water you with my
tears, Heshbon, and El`aleh: for on your summer fruits and on your harvest the
battle shout is fallen. 16:10Gladness
is taken away, and joy out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there
shall be no singing, neither joyful noise: nobody shall tread out wine in the
presses; I have made the vintage shout to cease. 16:11Why
my heart sounds like a lyre for Mo'av, and my inward parts for Kir-Heres. 16:12It shall happen, when Mo'av presents
himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, and shall come to his
sanctuary to pray, that he shall not prevail. 16:13This
is the word that Yahweh spoke concerning Mo'av in time past. 16:14But now Yahweh has spoken, saying,
"Within three years, as the years of a hireling, the glory of Mo'av shall
be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude; and the remnant shall
be very small and of no account."
16:12 shows that even though Moav would go into his sanctuary and pray, he would not prevail, implying that his prayer would not to be heard by Yahweh.
Why?
16:6 shows that Moav was to be proud, very proud, arrogant and boastful.
In other words, Yahweh does not hear the prayers of those who are proud, arrogant or boastful. Implying that for Yahweh to hear our prayers, we must indeed avoid these traits, and put on humility.
Chizkiyahu's Prayer After His Recovery
38:9The
writing of Chizkiyahu king of Yahudah, when he had been sick, and was recovered
of his sickness.
38:10I
said, In the noontide of my days I shall go into the gates of She'ol:
I am deprived of the residue of my years.
38:11I
said, I shall not see Yah, Yah in the land of the living:
I shall see man no more with the inhabitants
of the world.
38:12My
dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me as a shepherd's tent:
I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life; he
will cut me off from the loom:
From day even to night will you make an end of
me.
38:13I
quieted myself until morning; as a lion, so he breaks all my bones:
From day even to night will you make an end of
me.
38:14Like
a swallow or a crane, so did I chatter;
I did moan as a dove; my eyes fail with
looking upward:
Sovereign, I am oppressed, be you my
collateral.
38:15What
shall I say? He has both spoken to me, and he has done it:
I shall go softly all my years because of the
bitterness of my soul.
38:16Sovereign,
by these things men live;
Wholly therein is the life of my spirit:
Why - recover you me, and make me to live.
38:17Behold,
it was for my shalom that I had great bitterness:
But you have in love to my soul delivered it
from the pit of corruption;
For you have cast all my sins behind your
back.
38:18For
She'ol can't praise you, death can't celebrate you:
Those who go down into the pit can't hope
for your truth.
38:19The
living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do this day:
The father to the children shall make known
your truth.
38:20Yahweh
is ready to save me:
Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed
instruments
All the days of our life in the house of
Yahweh.
Chizkiyahu's prayer after his recovery when he had been sick near unto death.
The Futility And Folly Of Praying To Idols
44:6Thus
says Yahweh, the King of Yisra'el, and his Redeemer, Yahweh Tzva'ot: "I am
the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no Mighty One. 44:7Who, as I, shall call, and shall declare
it, and set it in order for me, since I established the ancient people? And the
things that are coming, and that shall happen, let them declare. 44:8Don't fear, neither be afraid: haven't I
declared to you of old, and showed it? You are my witnesses. Is there a Mighty
One besides me? Indeed, there is not. I don't know any Rock.
44:9"Those
who fashion an engraved image are all of them vanity; and the things that they
delight in shall not profit; and their own witnesses don't see, nor know: that
they may be put to shame. 44:10Who
has fashioned a mighty one, or molten an image that is profitable for nothing? 44:11Behold, all his fellows shall be put to
shame; and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let
them stand up; they shall fear, they shall be put to shame together. 44:12The smith makes an ax, and works in the
coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm: yes, he
is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint. 44:13The carpenter stretches out a line; he
marks it out with a pencil; he shapes it with planes, and he marks it out with
the compasses, and shapes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty
of a man, to dwell in a house. 44:14He
cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak, and
strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest: he plants a
fir-tree, and the rain nourishes it. 44:15Then
shall it be for a man to burn; and he takes of it, and warms himself; yes, he
kindles it, and bakes bread: yes, he makes a mighty one, and worships it; he makes
it an engraved image, and falls down to it. 44:16He
burns part of it in the fire; with part of it he eats flesh; he roasts roast,
and is satisfied; yes, he warms himself, and says, 'Aha, I am warm, I have seen
the fire.' 44:17The residue of it he
makes a mighty one, even his engraved image; he falls down to it and worships,
and prays to it, and says, 'Deliver me; for you are my mighty one.'
44:18"They
don't know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they
can't see; and their hearts, that they can't understand. 44:19None calls to mind, neither is there
knowledge nor understanding to say, 'I have burned part of it in the fire; yes,
also I have baked bread on the coals of it; I have roasted flesh and eaten it:
and shall I make the residue of it an abomination? Shall I fall down to the
stock of a tree?' 44:20He feeds on
ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can't deliver his soul,
nor say, 'Is there not a lie in my right hand?'
44:21"Remember
these things, Ya`akov, and Yisra'el; for you are my servant: I have formed you;
you are my servant: Yisra'el, you shall not be forgotten by me. 44:22I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your
transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins: return to me; for I have redeemed
you. 44:23Sing, you heavens, for
Yahweh has done it; shout, you lower parts of the eretz; break forth into
singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for Yahweh has
redeemed Ya`akov, and will glorify himself in Yisra'el."
44:24Thus
says Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb: "I am
Yahweh, who makes all things; who stretches forth the heavens alone; who
spreads abroad the eretz (who is with me?); 44:25who
frustrates the signs of the liars, and makes diviners mad; who turns wise men
backward, and makes their knowledge foolish; 44:26who
confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers;
who says of Yerushalayim, 'She shall be inhabited'; and of the cities of
Yahudah, 'They shall be built, and I will raise up the waste places of it'; 44:27who says to the deep, 'Be dry, and I will
dry up your rivers'; 44:28Who says
of Koresh, 'He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying
of Yerushalayim, "She shall be built"; and of the temple, "Your
foundation shall be laid."'"
Yahweh clearly shows the futility and folly of praying to idols, and of his unchallenged greatness. Praise Yahweh!
Yahweh - Alone - Is The Mighty One
45:14Thus
says Yahweh: "The labor of Mitzrayim, and the merchandise of
"45:16They
shall be put to shame, yes, confounded, all of them; they shall go into
confusion together who are makers of idols. 45:17But
Yisra'el shall be saved by Yahweh with an everlasting salvation: you shall not
be put to shame nor confounded world without end. 45:18For
thus says Yahweh who created the heavens, the Mighty One who formed the eretz
and made it, who established it and didn't create it a waste, who formed it to
be inhabited: 'I am Yahweh; and there is no one else. 45:19I have not spoken in secret, in a place of
the land of darkness; I didn't say to the seed of Ya`akov, Seek you me in vain:
I, Yahweh, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. 45:20Assemble yourselves and come; draw near
together, you who have escaped from the nations: they have no knowledge who
carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a mighty one that can't
save. 45:21Declare you, and bring it
forth; yes, let them take counsel together: who has showed this from ancient
time? Who has declared it of old? Haven't I, Yahweh? And there is no Mighty One
else besides me, a just Mighty One and a Savior; there is no one besides me. 45:22Look to me, and be you saved, all the ends
of the eretz; for I am the Mighty One, and there is none else. 45:23By myself have I sworn, the word is
gone forth from my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to me
every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 45:24Only in Yahweh, it is said of me, is
righteousness and strength; even to him shall men come; and all those who were
incensed against him shall be put to shame. 45:25In
Yahweh shall all the seed of Yisra'el be justified, and shall glory.'"
Yahweh, through his judgements, will indeed show that he Yahweh, alone, is the Mighty One, and that idols are not mighty ones. Only Yahweh should be prayed to, being the only Mighty One.
Yahweh's House Of Prayer For All Peoples
56:1Thus
says Yahweh, "Keep you justice, and do righteousness; for my yeshu`ah is
near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. 56:2Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who
holds it fast; who keeps the Shabbat from profaning it, and keeps his hand from
doing any evil. 56:3Neither let the
foreigner, who has joined himself to Yahweh, speak, saying, 'Yahweh will surely
separate me from his people'; neither let the eunuch say, 'Behold, I am a dry
tree.' 56:4For thus says Yahweh of
the eunuchs who keep my Shabbatot, and choose the things that please me, and
hold fast my covenant: 56:5To them
will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than
of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not
be cut off. 56:6Also the foreigners
who join themselves to Yahweh, to minister to him, and to love the name of
Yahweh, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Shabbat from profaning it, and
holds fast my covenant; 56:7even
them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of
prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted on my
altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. 56:8The Sovereign Yahweh, who gathers the
outcasts of Yisra'el, says, 'Yet will I gather others to him, besides his own
who are gathered.'"
56:7 shows that Yahweh's house is a house of prayer, a house of prayer for all peoples, both Yisraelites and non-Yisraelites.
To be brought into Yahweh's house one must keep justice and do righteousness, as 56:1 shows.
56:2 shows that keeping justice and doing righteousness includes keeping the Shabbat from profaning it, and keeping one's hands from doing any evil.
56:4 shows that it includes doing the things that please Yahweh, and holding fast Yahweh's covenant - the Ten Commandments.
56:6 shows that it includes joining oneself to Yahweh, to minister to him, to love the name of Yahweh, and to be Yahweh's servant.
By doing all these things will Yahweh indeed bring us to his house of prayer, a house of prayer for all peoples.
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