4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that deal corruptly! they have forsaken Jehovah, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are estranged `and gone' backward.
Therefore as the tongue of fire devoureth the stubble, and as the dry grass sinketh down in the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have rejected the law of Jehovah of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, when he led thee by the way?
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said unto them, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Do they provoke me to anger? saith Jehovah; `do they' not `provoke' themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?
But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot. Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and put out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,
that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
thus saith Jehovah, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.
How trimmest thou thy way to seek love! therefore even the wicked women hast thou taught thy ways.
yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers.
Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith Jehovah, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law; and ye have done evil more than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that ye hearken not unto me:
Call together the archers against Babylon, all them that bend the bow; encamp against her round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her; for she hath been proud against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel.
For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of Jehovah of hosts; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell?
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers;
because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be:
Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
Now the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against Jehovah exceedingly.
Then men shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt,
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and play the harlot after the strange gods of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
And the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, saying, We have sinned against thee, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baalim.
The wicked are estranged from the womb: They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness, And grieve him in the desert!
For our shield belongeth unto Jehovah; And our king to the Holy One of Israel.
I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Cry aloud and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion; for great in the midst of thee is the Holy One of Israel.
The meek also shall increase their joy in Jehovah, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of Jehovah;
For thus said the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. And ye would not:
Whom hast thou defied and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? `even' against the Holy One of Israel.
Thou shalt winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah, thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 1
Commentary on Isaiah 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of
The Book of the Prophet Isaiah
Chapter 1
The first verse of this chapter is intended for a title to the whole book, and it is probable that this was the first sermon that this prophet was appointed to publish and to affix in writing (as Calvin thinks the custom of the prophets was) to the door of the temple, as with us proclamations are fixed to public places, that all might read them (Hab. 2:2), and those that would might take out authentic copies of them, the original being, after some time, laid up by the priests among the records of the temple. The sermon which is contained in this chapter has in it,
And all this is to be applied by us, not only to the communities we are members of, in their public interests, but to the state of our own souls.
Isa 1:1
Here is,
Isa 1:2-9
We will hope to meet with a brighter and more pleasant scene before we come to the end of this book; but truly here, in the beginning of it, every thing looks very bad, very black, with Judah and Jerusalem. What is the wilderness of the world, if the church, the vineyard, has such a dismal aspect as this?
Isa 1:10-15
Here,
Isa 1:16-20
Though God had rejected their services as insufficient to atone for their sins while they persisted in them, yet he does not reject them as in a hopeless condition, but here calls upon them to forsake their sins, which hindered the acceptance of their services, and then all would be well. Let them not say that God picked quarrels with them; no, he proposes a method of reconciliation. Observe here,
"And now life and death, good and evil, are thus set before you. Come, and let us reason together. What have you to object against the equity of this, or against complying with God's terms?'
Isa 1:21-31
Here,
Now all this is applicable,