Passage

Isaiah 1.21

Book: Isaiah · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"19. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20. but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it."

"21. How is the faithful city become a harlot! she that was full of justice! righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers."

"22. Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water. 23. 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." (Isaiah 1:19-23, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"19. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20. but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”"

"21. How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She was full of justice; righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers."

"22. Your silver has become dross, your wine mixed with water. 23. Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves. Everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards. They don’t judge the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come to them." (Isaiah 1:19-23, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"19. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it."

"21. How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers."

"22. Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: 23. 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." (Isaiah 1:19-23, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"19. If ye are willing, and have hearkened, The good of the land ye consume, 20. And if ye refuse, and have rebelled, [By] the sword ye are consumed, For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken."

"21. How hath a faithful city become a harlot? I have filled it [with] judgment, Righteousness lodgeth in it, now murderers."

"22. Thy silver hath become dross, Thy drink polluted with water. 23. Thy princes [are] apostates, and companions of thieves, Every one loving a bribe, and pursuing rewards, The fatherless they judge not, And the plea of the widow cometh not to them." (Isaiah 1:19-23, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
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Quoted in

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 (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
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 for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.