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Judgment on the Sacred Groves

29 [a]You shall be ashamed of the terebinths which you desired,
    and blush on account of the gardens which you chose.
30 You shall become like a terebinth whose leaves wither,
    like a garden that has no water.
31 The strong tree shall turn to tinder,
    and the one who tends it shall become a spark;
Both of them shall burn together,
    and there shall be none to quench them.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:29–31 These verses were secondarily inserted here on the catchword principle; like v. 28 they pronounce judgment on certain parties “together” (v. 31). The terebinths and gardens refer to the sacred groves or asherahs that functioned as idolatrous cultic symbols at the popular shrines or high places (1 Kgs 14:23; 2 Kgs 17:10). Hezekiah cut down these groves during his reform (2 Kgs 18:4); they were a religious issue during Isaiah’s ministry (cf. Is 17:7–11). Isaiah threatens those who cultivate these symbols with the same fate that befalls trees when deprived of water.

29 “You will be ashamed(A) because of the sacred oaks(B)
    in which you have delighted;
you will be disgraced because of the gardens(C)
    that you have chosen.
30 You will be like an oak with fading leaves,(D)
    like a garden without water.
31 The mighty man will become tinder
    and his work a spark;
both will burn together,
    with no one to quench the fire.(E)

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29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.

30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.

31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.

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29 For [a]they shall be ashamed of the [b]terebinth trees
Which you have desired;
And you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens
Which you have chosen.
30 For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades,
And as a garden that has no water.
31 (A)The strong shall be as tinder,
And the work of it as a spark;
Both will burn together,
And no one shall (B)quench them.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 1:29 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; some Heb. mss., Tg. you
  2. Isaiah 1:29 Sites of pagan worship