Isaiah 1:16-20

The Wickedness of Judah

16 j Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
k cease to do evil,
 17 learn to do good;
l seek justice,
correct oppression;
m bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow's cause.

18 "Come now, n let us reason 1 together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as o white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
 19 p If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
 20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
q for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

  1. Cross References
    Jeremiah 2:22
    Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord God.
  2. Cross References
    1 Peter 3:11
    Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.
  3. Cross References
    Jeremiah 22:3
    Thus says the Lord : Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:23
    Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow's cause does not come to them.
    James 1:27
    Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
  5. Cross References
    Micah 6:2
    Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the Lord has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel.
    Isaiah 43:26
    Put me in remembrance; let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
  6. Cross References
    Psalms 51:7
    Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
    Revelation 7:14
    I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
  7. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 30:15 - 16
    See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.
  8. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:2
    Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the...
    Isaiah 24:3
    The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly pl...
    Isaiah 40:5
    And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, an...
    Isaiah 58:14
    Then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I ...
    Micah 4:4
    But they shall sit every man under his vine and...
    Numbers 23:19
    God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of...
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.