Isaiah 1:2
ESV
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: "Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.
NIV
Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the Lord has spoken: "I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
NASB
Listen, heavens, and hear, earth; For the Lord has spoken: 'Sons I have raised and brought up, But they have revolted against Me.
CSB
Listen, heavens, and pay attention, earth, for the Lord has spoken: "I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
NLT
Listen, O heavens! Pay attention, earth! This is what the Lord says: 'The children I raised and cared for have rebelled against me.
KJV
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.
NKJV
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me;
What does Isaiah 1:2 mean?
Beginning with this verse, the first five chapters of Isaiah present God's case against His people Israel. These chapters are described as a lawsuit and are sometimes called the "great arraignment." As in a court of law, God will show how His people have broken the covenant agreement between Him and them. They are failing, repeatedly, to keep their end of their contractual arrangement with Him while He is keeping His end. God's case will be thorough and devastating.Yahweh begins by calling the heavens and earth to witness what He is about to say. Using poetic language, the Lord suggests that even works of creation will agree with Him about the behavior of His people. Nature itself will confirm His case against them.
The Lord's case, boiled down, is this: The children He has brought up have rebelled against Him. He created and developed and cared for and protected His children Israel from their beginning as a single man into a nation of millions. They have repaid Him with disobedience and defiance.
