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LXX Isaiah

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 1

1 The vision which Isaiah the son of Amos saw, which he saw against Judah, and against Jerusalem, in the reign of Uzziah, and Jotham, and Ahaz, and Hezekiah, who reigned over Judea.⁠ 2 Hear, heaven, and listen, earth: for the Lord has spoken, saying, I have begotten and reared up children, but they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib: but Israel does not know me, and the people has not regarded me. 4 Ah sinful nation, a people full of sins, an evil seed, lawless children: you have forsaken the Lord, and provoked the Holy One of Israel. 5 Why should you be struck any more, transgressing more and more? the whole head is pained, and the whole heart sad. 6 From the feet to the head, neither wound, nor bruise, nor festering ulcer: it is not possible to apply a plaster, nor oil, nor bandages. 7 Your land is desolate, your cities burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is made desolate, overthrown by strange nations. 8 The daughter of Zion shall be deserted as a tent in a vineyard, and as a storehouse of fruits in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. 9 And if the Lord of Sabaoth had not left us a seed,⁠ we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been made like Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; attend to the law of God, you people of Gomorrah. 11 Of what value to me is the abundance of your sacrifices? says the Lord: I am full of whole burnt offerings of rams; and I do not delight in the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats: 12 neither shall you come with these to appear before me; for who has required these things at your hands? You shall no more tread my court. 13 Though you bring fine flour, it is vain; incense is an abomination to me; I cannot bear your new moons, and your sabbaths, and the great day, your fasting, and rest from work; 14 your new moons also, and your feasts my soul hates: you have become loathsome to me; I will no more pardon your sins. 15 When you stretch forth your hands to me, I will turn away my eyes from you: and though you make many pleas, I will not listen to you; for your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves, be clean; remove your iniquities from your souls before my eyes; cease from your iniquities; 17 learn to do well; diligently seek judgment, deliver him that is suffering wrong, plead for the orphan, and obtain justice for the widow. 18 And come, let us reason together, says the Lord: and though your sins be as crimson, I will make them white as snow; and though they be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool.⁠ 19 And if you are willing, and listen to me, you shall eat the good of the land: 20 but if you are not willing, nor listen to me, a sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this. 21 How has the faithful city Zion, once full of judgment, become a harlot! in which righteousness lodged, but now murderers. 22 Your silver is worthless, your wine merchants mix the wine with water. 23 Your princes are rebellious, companions of thieves, loving bribes, seeking after rewards; not pleading for orphans, and not heeding the cause of widows. 24 Therefore thus says the Lord, the Lord of hosts, Woe to the mighty men of Israel; for my fierce anger shall not cease against my adversaries, and I will execute judgment on my enemies. 25 And I will bring my hand upon you, and purge you completely, and I will destroy the rebellious, and will take away from you all transgressors, and will humble all the proud. 26 And I will establish your judges as before, and your counselors as at the beginning: and afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful mother-city of Zion. 27 For her captives shall be saved with judgment, and with mercy. 28 And the transgressors and the sinners shall be crushed together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be utterly consumed. 29 For they shall be ashamed of their idols, which they delighted in, and they are made ashamed of the gardens which they coveted. 30 For they shall be as a turpentine tree that has cast its leaves, and as a garden that has no water. 31 And their strength shall be as a thread of tow, and their works as sparks of fire, and the transgressors and the sinners shall be burnt up together, and there shall be none to quench them.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Isaiah 1:18 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 8:5

Septuagint · Early Christian

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Summary

In 1 Clement, the author quotes the Greek Septuagint translation of Isaiah 1 exactly, directly after a similar saying from a lost book of Ezekiel, and introduces it as another place, a phrase Clement uses to separate quotations from different books.

Passages

LXX Isaiah 1:18

Septuagint
16 Wash yourselves, be clean; remove your iniquities from your souls before my eyes; cease from your iniquities; 17 learn to do well; diligently seek judgment, deliver him that is suffering wrong, plead for the orphan, and obtain justice for the widow. 18 And come, let us reason together, says the Lord: and though your sins be as crimson, I will make them white as snow; and though they be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool. 19 And if you are willing, and listen to me, you shall eat the good of the land: 20 but if you are not willing, nor listen to me, a sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Isaiah

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 8:5

Early Christian · First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
5 And in another place He says: ‘Wash, be clean. Remove your iniquities from My sight. Cease from your sins; learn to do good; seek justice; defend those who are wronged; give judgment for the orphan and uphold righteousness for the widow. Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are as crimson, I will make them white as snow; though they are as scarlet, I will make them white as wool. If you are willing and listen to Me, you will eat the good things of the earth; but if you refuse and do not listen, a sword shall devour you—for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Clement of Rome, 1 Clement

References

“... The citation is part of a longer section on repentance that begins in 1 Clem. 7:5. Though the passage (8:3) is reminiscent of Isa 1:18, there are two reasons that scholars generally have concluded that Clement did not regard this passage as a quotation from that prophet. First, he quotes Isa 1:16-18 verbatim immediately following this citation. Second, his introductory formulae separate this saying from the subsequent Isaiah passage while linking it to the preceding saying, which has clear associations with Ezek 33:11. After 8:3 Clement introduces the Isaiah passage with καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ τόπῳ λέγει οὕτως, a phrase that occurs three times in 1 Clement (8:4, 29:3, 46:3) each time serving as a transition between biblical and non-biblical quotations. ...”
Benjamin G. Wright, “The Apocryphal Ezekiel Fragments,” in The Apocryphal Ezekiel, ed. Michael E. Stone, Benjamin G. Wright, and David Satran, EJL 18 (Atlanta: SBL, 2000), 19.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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LXX Isaiah 1:18 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 8:5

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