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Isaiah 1:8-10
New Catholic Bible
Isaiah 1:8-10
New Catholic Bible
8 Daughter Zion[a] is left
like a shack in a vineyard,
like a shed in a field of cucumbers,
like a besieged city.
9 If the Lord of hosts[b]
had not left us a few survivors,
we would have become like Sodom
and been like Gomorrah.
10 [c]Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom.
Listen to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 1:8 Daughter Zion: a personification of Jerusalem. Shack: huts for keeping the grapes were built among the vines during the grape harvest.
- Isaiah 1:9 Lord of hosts: literally, “Lord of armies (Hebrew, sabaoth),” indicates that the God of Israel is master of everything, from the armed hosts of Israel to the stars and every celestial power. Sodom and Gomorrah are cities constantly recalled (even in Mt 10:15) as an example of moral depravity that calls down punishment from God (see Gen 18:16—19:29).
- Isaiah 1:10 Right in the temple of Jerusalem, young Isaiah raises his voice in denunciation of hypocrisy in worship. He compares the leaders and people to the most dissolute sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 18:16—19:29). The diatribe against hypocritical worship occurs frequently in the Bible (Pss 40:6-8; 50:5-15; Jer 6:20; Am 5:21-27; Hos 6:6; Mic 6:5-8). We already think of the scathing words of Jesus against Pharisaism (Mt 7:21) and of his forceful action against the sellers in the temple (Lk 19:45-46; Jn 2:13-22).
