English Standard Version
Isaiah 1:16
16Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
Isaiah 1:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
- New International Version (NIV)Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,
- New Living Translation (NLT)Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways.
Context of Isaiah 1:16
14Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. 18"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
Read all of Isaiah 1Isaiah 1:16 word by word
רַחֲצוּ֙ הִזַּכּ֔וּ הָסִ֛ירוּ רֹ֥עַ מַעַלְלֵיכֶ֖ם מִנֶּ֣גֶד עֵינָ֑י חִדְל֖וּ הָרֵֽעַ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Washרָחַץrâchats · to wash: washH7364
- you, make you cleanזָכָהzâkâh · to cleanH2135
- put awayסוּרsûr ώûr · to turn aside: removeH5493
- the evilרֹעַrôa‛ · evilH7455
- of your doingsמַעֲלָלma‛ălâl · deedH4611
- from beforeנֶ֫גֶדneged · beforeH5048
- mine eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
- ceaseחָדַלchâdal · to ceaseH2308
- to do evilרָעַעrâ‛a‛ · be evilH7489
Cross-references for Isaiah 1:16
- Job 11:13"If you prepare your heart, you will stretch out your hands toward him.
- Psalms 26:6I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O Lord,
- Jeremiah 4:14O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?
- Acts 22:16And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.'
- 2 Corinthians 7:1Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
- James 4:8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Revelation 7:14I 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.
- Isaiah 55:6"Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;
- Ezekiel 18:30"Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.
- Zechariah 1:3Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.
- Matthew 3:8Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
- Ephesians 4:22to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
- 1 Peter 2:1So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.
- Psalms 34:14Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
- Psalms 37:27Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever.
- Amos 5:15Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Commentaries on Isaiah 1:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Wash you - Referring to the preceding verse, "your hands are full of blood;" and alluding to the legal washing commanded on several occasions. See Leviticus 14:8, Leviticus 14:9, Leviticus 14:47.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Wash you - This is, of course, to be understood in a moral sense; meaning that they should put away their sins. Sin is represented in the Scriptures as defiling or polluting the soul Ezekiel 20:31; Ezekiel 23:30; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 9:4; and the removal of it is represented by the act of washing; Psalm 51:2: Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin;‘ Jeremiah 4:14: O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-20Verses 16-20 Not only feel sorrow for the sin committed, but break off the practice. We must be doing, not stand idle. We must be doing the good the Lord our God requires. It is plain that the sacrifices of the law could not atone, even for outward national crimes. But, blessed be God, there is a Fountain opened, in which sinners of every age and rank may be cleansed. Though our sins have been as scarlet and crimson, a deep dye, a double dye, first in the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16Wash and cleanse yourselves: The people were made unclean by their sin and impure sacrifices. To be clean in God's eyes, they needed to change their behavior, remove their sins, and abandon their evil ways (see also Isaiah 1:18).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. God saith to the sinner, "Wash you," &c., that he, finding his inability to "make" himself "clean," may cry to God, Wash me, cleanse me (Psa 51:2, 7, 10). before mine eyes--not mere outward reformation before man's eyes, who cannot, as God, see into the heart (Jr 32:19).Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 1:16
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries