Isaiah 1:23 - Easy To Read Version Your rulers are rebels and friends of thieves. All of your rulers demand bribes—they accept money for doing wrong things. All of your rulers take pay for cheating people. Your rulers don’t try to help the children that have no parents. And your rulers don’t listen to the needs of the women whose husbands are dead.” Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes and runs after compensation and rewards. They judge not for the fatherless nor defend them, neither does the cause of the widow come to them [for they delay or turn a deaf ear]. American Standard Version (1901) Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. Common English Bible Your princes are rebels, companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and pursues gifts. They don’t defend the orphan, and the widow’s cause never reaches them. Catholic Public Domain Version Your leaders are unfaithful, the associates of thieves. They all love gifts; they pursue rewards. They do not judge for orphans, and the widow's case is not brought before them. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version Thy princes are faithless, companions of thieves: they all love bribes, the run after rewards. They judge not for the fatherless: and the widow's cometh not in to them. |
Also, all the leaders of the priests and the leaders of the people of Judah sinned worse and became more unfaithful to the Lord. They followed the evil example of the other nations. Those leaders ruined the Lord’s temple. {\cf2\super [453]} The Lord had made the temple holy in Jerusalem.
“If a person tries to pay you to agree with him when he is wrong, don’t accept that payment. A payment like that can blind judges so that they can’t see the truth. And a payment like that can make good people tell lies.
Two thieves that work together are enemies. One thief will threaten the other one, so if he is forced to tell the truth in court, he will be too afraid to speak.
Learn to do good things. Be fair with other people. Punish the people that hurt others. Help the children that have no parents. Help the women whose husbands are dead.”
The Lord says, “Come, let’s discuss these things. Your sins are red like scarlet, {\cf2\super [11]} but they can be \{washed away and you will be\} white like snow. Your sins are bright red, but you can become white like wool.
“Goodness is like silver. But your silver has become worthless. Your wine (goodness) has been mixed with water—it is now weak.
You leaders in Jerusalem should listen to the Lord’s message. But now you refuse to listen to him.
The Lord will give his judgment against the elders {\cf2\super [32]} and leaders for the things they have done.
The Lord said, “Look at these children. They don’t obey me. They make plans, but they don’t ask me to help them. They make agreements with other nations, but my Spirit does not want those agreements. These people are adding more and more sins to themselves.
Good, honest people that refuse to hurt others for money—\{they will live through that fire\}. Those people refuse to take bribes. They refuse to listen to plans to murder other people. They refuse to look at plans for doing bad things.
And if you pay those people money, they will forgive a criminal. But they don’t allow good people to be judged fairly.
“I stood ready to accept people that turned against me. I was waiting for those people to come to me. But they continued living a way that is not good. They did anything their hearts wanted to do.
“Jehoiakim, your eyes look\par only for what benefits yourself.\par You are always thinking about\par getting more for yourself.\par You are willing to kill innocent people.\par You are willing to steal things\par from other people.”\par
I will destroy Jerusalem because of all the evil things the people of Israel and Judah have done. The people, their kings, leaders, their priests and prophets, the men of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem have all made me angry.
The enemy has surrounded Jerusalem\par like men guarding a field.\par Judah, you turned against me!\par So the enemy is coming against you!”\par This message is from the Lord.\par
So I will go to the leaders of Judah.\par I will talk to them.\par Surely the leaders know the way of the Lord.\par I am sure they know the law of their God.”\par But the leaders had all joined together\par to break away from serving the Lord.\par
They turned against God,\par so a lion from the forest will attack them.\par A wolf from the desert will kill them.\par A leopard is hiding near their cities.\par The leopard will tear to pieces\par any person that comes out of the city.\par This will happen because the people\par of Judah have sinned again and again.\par They have wandered away from the Lord\par many times.\par
“Son of man, {\cf2\super [102]} you live among rebellious people—they always turn against me. They have eyes to see \{the things I have done for them\}. But they don’t see those things. They have ears to hear \{the things I told them to do\}. But they don’t hear my commands. Why? Because they are a rebellious people.
“The leaders in Jerusalem are like a wolf eating the animal it has caught. Those leaders attack and kill people just to get rich.
“Ephraim has joined their drunkenness. Let them continue to be prostitutes. Let them be with their lovers.
The leaders of Judah are like thieves\par trying to steal another man’s property.\par So I (God) will pour out my anger\par on them like water.\par
All their evil is in Gilgal; {\cf2\super [96]} \par I began hating them there.\par I will force them to leave my house,\par because of the evil things they do.\par I will not love them any more.\par Their leaders are rebels—\par \{they have turned against me\}.\par
Why? Because I know about your many sins.\par You have done some really bad things:\par You hurt people that do right.\par You accept money to do wrong.\par You keep justice from the poor people in court.\par
The judges in Jerusalem accept bribes\par to help them decide who wins in court.\par The priests in Jerusalem must be paid\par before they will teach the people.\par People must pay the prophets\par before they will look into the future.\par And then those leaders expect the Lord\par to help them. They say,\par “The Lord lives here with us.\par So nothing bad will happen to us.”\par
Leaders of Jacob and rulers of Israel,\par listen to me!\par You hate the right way of living!\par If something is straight,\par then you make it crooked!\par
Rich people in that city are still cruel!\par The people in that city still tell lies.\par Yes, those people tell their lies!\par
People are good at doing bad things\par with both hands.\par Officials ask for bribes.\par Judges take money\par to change their decisions in court.\par “Important leaders” \{don’t make\par good and fair decisions\}.\par They do whatever they want to do.\par
Don’t hurt widows and orphans, {\cf2\super [19]} \par strangers, or poor people.\par Don’t even think of doing bad things\par to each other!”\par
Then I will come to you—and I will do the right thing. I will be like a person that is ready to tell the judge about the bad things people did. Some people do evil magic. Some people do the sin of adultery. {\cf2\super [19]} Some people make false promises. Some people cheat their workers—they don’t pay them the money they promised. People don’t help widows and orphans. {\cf2\super [20]} People don’t help strangers. People don’t respect me!” The Lord All-Powerful said these things.
The leaders of Moab and Midian left. They went to talk to Balaam. They carried with them money to pay him for his service. [282] Then they told him what Balak had said.
Jesus said to all the people there, “It is written \{in the Scriptures {\cf2\super [286]} \}, ‘My house will be called a house for prayer.’ {\cf2\super [287]} But you are changing God’s house into a ‘hiding place for thieves.’ {\cf2\super [288]} ”
Then Jesus taught the people. He said, “It is written in the Scriptures, {\cf2\super [145]} ‘My house will be called a house for prayer for all people.’ {\cf2\super [146]} But you are changing God’s house into a ‘hiding place for thieves.’ {\cf2\super [147]} ”
Jesus said, “It is written \{in the Scriptures {\cf2\super [306]} \}, ‘My house will be a house of prayer.’ {\cf2\super [307]} But you have changed it into a ‘hiding place for thieves.’ {\cf2\super [308]} ”
Then Jesus began to explain everything that had been written about himself in the Scriptures. {\cf2\super [393]} Jesus started with the books of Moses and then he talked about what the prophets had said about him.
You must always be fair. You must not favor some people over other people. You must not take money to change your mind in judgment. Money blinds the eyes of wise people and changes what a good person will say.
The kind of religion (worship) that God accepts is this: caring for orphans {\cf2\super [2]} or widows {\cf2\super [3]} who need help, and keeping yourself free from the world’s \{evil\} influence. This is the kind of religion (worship) that God accepts as pure and good.
But Samuel’s sons did not live the same way he did. Joel and Abijah accepted bribes. They took money secretly and changed their decisions in court. They cheated people in court.