Isaiah 1:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.

NIV: Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.

NASB: Oh, sinful nation, People weighed down with guilt, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the Lord, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him.

CSB: Oh sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, brood of evildoers, depraved children! They have abandoned the Lord; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they have turned their backs on him.

NLT: Oh, what a sinful nation they are — loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil people, corrupt children who have rejected the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.

KJV: Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

NKJV: Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward.

God is bringing a kind of lawsuit against His people Israel for breaking their covenant with Him (Isaiah 1:1–3). This verse reveals that God is more than just angry. His heart is broken over the sins of Israel. The word "ah" is an expression of hurt and sadness at this "sinful nation."

The Lord's case introduces the core of Israel's heart problem as being about sin: failing to do what's right. The people are heavy with iniquity: a word for sin that means "twisted-ness.". Each new generation is the offspring of "evildoers:" rebels who deny God's authority. Like their parents, they deal corruptly, meaning that their relationships are defined by dishonesty to favor themselves over others. Sin, disobeying the Lord, serving self, saturates everything the people do.

Though God is focused on Israel here, they are not alone in this sinful state of being. In the New Testament, Paul will express the universal truth that all have sinned and fall short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). Isaiah's book will point to the Savior to come who will make forgiveness and freedom from sin possible by bearing that sin for us (Isaiah 53:12).

The result of sin in Israel is this, the Lord says: They have forsaken Him. His people are doing everything they can to leave Him behind, to live apart from Him. In committing to their sin, they demonstrate that they despise the Lord. Isaiah will use this name for Yahweh, "the Holy One of Israel," more than twenty times in his book.

The Lord says that the people of Israel have become utterly estranged from Him in their hearts.

Isaiah 1:2–20 begins a presentation somewhat like a lawsuit against the people of Judah in Israel. The Lord will show many of the ways they have broken their covenant with Him. The people are saturated with sin. They have forsaken Him. Isaiah describes a spiritual sickness Israel refuses to treat. It will lead to their physical destruction by enemy invaders. Their offerings are meaningless because of their sinful rebellion. God calls them to stop sinning and to do good. He offers to make their sins white as snow if they repent and to consume them if they rebel.

After identifying himself as the son of Amoz, Isaiah begins his vision from the Lord with the introduction of God's lawsuit against the people of Israel. His children are living in rebellion against Him. They are saturated in sin and have forsaken the Lord. Their spiritual sickness will lead to their destruction, though a few will be saved. Their offerings are meaningless because of their sinful lifestyles. If they repent now, they will be redeemed. If not, they will be destroyed. The Lord will restore justice to once righteous Jerusalem. All who do not repent will be consumed.

Isaiah 1 begins Isaiah's massive book of prophecy with the Lord presenting a lawsuit against His people Israel in Judah for breach of covenant. They live in rebellion against Him and are saturated in sin. They refuse to treat their spiritual illness and will be decimated by their enemies. Their offerings are meaningless. They must stop doing evil and start doing what is good. The Lord will burn off the corrupt from Jerusalem and return it to a place of justice and righteousness. Those who refuse to repent will be broken and destroyed.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).