Isaiah, יְשַׁעְיָהוּ (Yesha'yahu) meaning "YAHWEH is salvation", contains some of the most well known verses as well as the least read passages. I suggest you skim read the sections and keep up the pace for one week. Prophet Isaiah incorporates both prose and poetry into his gifted writings, which contain sarcasm, metaphor, personification, and many other skillful literary forms. But it is a really long book without a connecting plot, so for practical reasons I have divided Isaiah into 2 parts: 1-39 and 40-66 (Yes, people have compared this to the division of the bible into Old and New, but I wouldn't)
There is a huge debate about whether there is one author or more for this book which I would like to avoid. If you are interested here is a taster http://www.xenos.org/classes/isaiah/isweek2.htm. Please refer to IVP New Bible Commentary for further information. This commentary provides a useful outline for the first 6 chapters which may be useful as you navigate the rich details of the text.
1 A situation of crisis
1:1 The prophet and his period
1:2-4 The great accusation
1:5-9 The devastation of Judah
1: 10-20 Pious corruption and its cleansing
1: 21-31 God's lament and resolve
2-4 God's Jerusalem and man's
2:2-5 The city of God
2:6-9 The city of mammon
2:10-22 The terror of the Lord
3:1-15 Judgement by decay
3:16-4:1 Silk to sackcloth
4:2-6 The glory to come
5:1-30 The bitter vintage
5:1-7 The parable
5:8-23 The six woes
5:24-30 God's scavengers
6 The prophet's call
What do you think of Prophet Isaiah's ministry before his call in chapter 6? What did you learn from today's reading?
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