# Isaiah 1.2
**Book:** [Isaiah](/codex/isaiah-the-prophet/) · ASV
## Immediate context (±2 verses)
**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> 1. The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
>
> **2. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.**
>
> 3. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 4. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that deal corruptly! they have forsaken Jehovah, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are estranged and gone backward. (Isaiah 1:1-4, ASV)
**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> 1. The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
>
> **2. Hear, heavens, and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.**
>
> 3. The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib; but Israel doesn’t know, my people don’t consider.” 4. Ah sinful nation, a people loaded with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken Yahweh. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They are estranged and backward. (Isaiah 1:1-4, WEB)
**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> 1. The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
>
> **2. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.**
>
> 3. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 4. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. laden: Heb. of heaviness gone: Heb. alienated, or, separated (Isaiah 1:1-4, KJV)
**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> 1. The Visions of Isaiah son of Amoz, that he hath seen concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
>
> **2. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, For Jehovah hath spoken: Sons I have nourished and brought up, And they, they transgressed against Me.**
>
> 3. An ox hath known its owner, And an ass the crib of its master, Israel hath not known, My people hath not understood. 4. Ah, sinning nation, a people heavy [with] iniquity, A seed of evil doers, sons, corrupters! They have forsaken Jehovah, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have gone away backward. (Isaiah 1:1-4, YLT)
## Setting
- **Speaker:** Isaiah of Jerusalem, transmitting YHWH's first-person voice
- **Audience:** Judah and Jerusalem; cosmically, the heavens and the earth as covenant-witnesses
- **Location:** Jerusalem
- **Time period:** 8th century BC, during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah
## Theological reading
The verse opens Isaiah as a **covenant-lawsuit** (*rîb*). The summons-to-hear (*shimu shamayim*) addresses the heavens and the earth as witnesses, echoing Deut 32:1 (*"Give ear, ye heavens, and I will speak; and let the earth hear"*), the witnesses called at Sinai (Deut 4:26; 30:19; 31:28) to attest the covenant are now summoned to attest the indictment. The pairing of *shama* ("hear") with *ha'azin* ("give ear") is the formal poetic-couplet of covenantal-lawsuit-opening; the same pair runs at Deut 32:1; Jdg 5:3 (Deborah's song); Job 33:1; Ps 49:1; Ps 78:1; Isa 28:23; 32:9; 51:4. The cosmic-witness summons frames Israel's rebellion as breach-of-covenant requiring judicial-response. The verse anchors the lawsuit-form (*rîb*-genre) developed across Isa 1; Mic 6:1-8; Jer 2; Hos 4, YHWH brings legal-charge against His covenant-people, with the heavens-and-earth as witnesses to the covenant-stipulations now violated.
## Key words
- [H8085 - shama](/codex/h8085-shama/), *shimu*, the imperative opening the covenant-lawsuit; the cosmic summons-to-hear.
## See also
- [H8085 - shama](/codex/h8085-shama/), lexical entry treating the verse
- Compare: Deut 32:1 (parallel cosmic-witness summons); [Micah 6.1-2](/codex/micah-6-1-2/) (parallel *rîb*-genre opening); Jer 2 (Jeremiah's lawsuit)
- Isaiah 1 (the chapter's full indictment-and-call-to-repentance pattern)
## Quoted in
**Lexicon:**
- [H1285 - berith](/codex/h1285-berith/)
- [H8085 - shama](/codex/h8085-shama/)
**Passages:**
- [Micah 6.1-2](/codex/micah-6-1-2/)
## Why these four translations
ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.
The four:
- **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.
See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.