Judaism
Isaiah 1
Text
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.
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, For the LORD hath spoken: Children I have reared, and brought up, And they have rebelled against Me.
The ox knoweth his owner, And the ass his master’s crib; But Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider.
Ah sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A seed of evil-doers, Children that deal corruptly; They have forsaken the LORD, They have contemned the Holy One of Israel, They are turned away backward.
On what part will ye yet be stricken, Seeing ye stray away more and more? The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faint;
From the sole of the foot even unto the head There is no soundness in it; But wounds, and bruises, and festering sores: They have not been pressed, neither bound up, Neither mollified with oil.
Your country is desolate; Your cities are burned with fire; Your land, strangers devour it in your presence, And it is desolate, as overthrown by floods.
And the daughter of Zion is left As a booth in a vineyard, As a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city.
Except the LORD of hosts Had left unto us a very small remnant, We should have been as Sodom, We should have been like unto Gomorrah.
Hear the word of the LORD, Ye rulers of Sodom; Give ear unto the law of our God, Ye people of Gomorrah.
To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? Saith the LORD; I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, And the fat of fed beasts; And I delight not in the blood Of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.
When ye come to appear before Me, Who hath required this at your hand, To trample My courts?
Bring no more vain oblations; It is an offering of abomination unto Me; New moon and sabbath, the holding of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity along with the solemn assembly.
Your new moons and your appointed seasons My soul hateth; They are a burden unto Me; I am weary to bear them.
And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; Yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; Your hands are full of blood.
Wash you, make you clean, Put away the evil of your doings From before Mine eyes, Cease to do evil;
Learn to do well; Seek justice, relieve the oppressed, Judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Come now, and let us reason together, Saith the LORD; Though your sins be as scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they be red like crimson, They shall be as wool.
If ye be willing and obedient, Ye shall eat the good of the land;
But if ye refuse and rebel, Ye shall be devoured with the sword; For the mouth of the LORD hath spoken.
How is the faithful city Become a harlot! She that was full of justice, Righteousness lodged in her, But now murderers.
Thy silver is become dross, Thy wine mixed with water.
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.
Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, The Mighty One of Israel: Ah, I will ease Me of Mine adversaries, And avenge Me of Mine enemies;
And I will turn My hand upon thee, And purge away thy dross as with lye, And will take away all thine alloy;
And I will restore thy judges as at the first, And thy counsellors as at the beginning; Afterward thou shalt be called The city of righteousness, The faithful city.
Zion shall be redeemed with justice, And they that return of her with righteousness.
But the destruction of the transgressors and the sinners shall be together, And they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
For they shall be ashamed of the terebinths which ye have desired, And ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
For ye shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fadeth, And as a garden that hath no water.
And the strong shall be as tow, And his work as a spark; And they shall both burn together, And none shall quench them.
Text: The Holy Scriptures, Jewish Publication Society (1917), public domain, via Sefaria.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:12
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”
Hadith (An-Nawawi 13)
“None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”
Mahabharata 5.1517
“One should never do to another what one regards as injurious to oneself.”
Dhammapada 129 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“All tremble at the rod, all fear death. Treating others like oneself, neither kill nor incite to kill.”
Impermanence & Letting Go
Dhammapada 20:277 (trans. F. Max Müller)
“‘All created things perish,’ he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way to purity.”
Tao Te Ching 76 (trans. James Legge)
“Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. (So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 (trans. Edwin Arnold)
“Nay, but as when one layeth His worn-out robes away, And taking new ones, sayeth, "These will I wear to-day!" So putteth by the spirit Lightly its garb of flesh, And passeth to inherit A residence afresh.”
The Path to Wisdom
Dhammapada 20:282 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“From meditation springs wisdom, without meditation, wisdom ends.”
Analects 2:11 (trans. James Legge)
“If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge, so as continually to be acquiring new, he may be a teacher of others.”
Tao Te Ching 33 (trans. James Legge)
“He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent.”
Quran 39:9
“Are those who know equal with those who know not?”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
Dhammapada 2 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“Intention is the leader of things; intention is first, they’re made by intention. If with pure intent you speak or act, happiness follows you like a shadow that never leaves.”
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 16 (trans. Edwin Arnold)
“The Doors of Hell Are threefold, whereby men to ruin pass, The door of Lust, the door of Wrath, the door Of Avarice. Let a man shun those three!”