Isaiah 1:4

4 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.

Isaiah 1:4 in Other Translations

4 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.

4 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.

4 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.

4 Shame! Misguided God-dropouts, staggering under their guilt-baggage, Gang of miscreants, band of vandals - My people have walked out on me, their God, turned their backs on The Holy of Israel, walked off and never looked back.

4 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].

Isaiah 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 1:4

Ah sinful nation
. Or "sinning nation" ^F25; that was continually sinning, doing nothing else but sin, the reverse of what they were chosen to be, ( Deuteronomy 7:6 ) . These words are said, either as calling and crying to them, to cause them to hear and hearken to what is said, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi observe, and as (ywh) is used in ( Isaiah 55:1 ) ( Zechariah 2:6 Zechariah 2:7 ) or by way of complaint and lamentation, as Jarchi thinks, because of their general and continued wickedness, see ( 1 Kings 13:30 ) , or by way of threatening, as in ( Isaiah 1:24 ) and so the Targum paraphrases it,

``woe to them who are called a holy people, and have sinned:''

and so the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions render it, "woe to the sinning nation"; their ruin is at hand: a people laden with iniquity;
full of sin; they multiplied offences, as in the Chaldee paraphrase: they were "heavy" with them, as the word ^F26 signifies, yet felt not, nor complained of, the burden of them: a seed of evil doers;
this is not said of their fathers, but of themselves, as Jarchi observes; they had been planted a right seed, but now were degenerate, a wicked generation of men. Children that are corrupters;
of themselves and others, by their words and actions; who had corrupted their ways, as the Targum adds; and so Kimchi and Aben Ezra. They have forsaken the Lord;
the worship of the Lord, as the Targum interprets it; the ways and ordinances of God, forsook the assembling of themselves together, neglected the hearing of the word, and attendance on the worship of the Lord's house: they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger;
by their numerous sins, both of omission and commission: they are gone away backward;
were become backsliders and revolters, had apostatized from God and his worship, turned their backs on him, and cast his law behind them. The characters here given not only agree with the Jews in the times of Isaiah, but also with those in the times of Christ and his apostles, ( Matthew 12:39 ) ( 23:33 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 (ajx ywg) "gens peccatrix", Sept. V. L. Syr. Ar.
F26 (Nye dbk) "gravi iniquitate", V. L.

Isaiah 1:4 In-Context

2 Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.

3 The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”

4 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.

5 Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted.

6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness— only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with olive oil.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 5:18
• 2. S ver 2; Isaiah 9:17; Isaiah 14:20; Isaiah 31:2; Jeremiah 23:14
• 3. Psalms 14:3
• 4. S Deuteronomy 32:15; S Psalms 119:87
• 5. S 2 Kings 19:22; Isaiah 5:19,24; Isaiah 31:1; Isaiah 37:23; Isaiah 41:14; Isaiah 43:14; Isaiah 45:11; Isaiah 47:4; Ezekiel 39:7
• 6. S Proverbs 30:9; Isaiah 59:13