English Standard Version
Isaiah 1:4
4Ah, 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.
Isaiah 1:4 in other versions
- King James Version (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.
- New International Version (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.
- New King James Version (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.
- New Living Translation (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.
Context of Isaiah 1:4
2Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: "Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. 3The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand." 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. 5Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil.
Read all of Isaiah 1Isaiah 1:4 word by word
ה֣וֹי׀ גּ֣וֹי חֹטֵ֗א עַ֚ם כֶּ֣בֶד עָוֹ֔ן זֶ֣רַע מְרֵעִ֔ים בָּנִ֖ים מַשְׁחִיתִ֑ים עָזְב֣וּ אֶת־יְהוָ֗ה נִֽאֲצ֛וּ אֶת־קְד֥וֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל נָזֹ֥רוּ אָחֽוֹר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Ahהוֹיhôy · woe!H1945
- sinfulחָטָאchâţâ' · to sinH2398
- nationגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
- a peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- ladenכָּבֵדkâbêd · heavyH3515
- with iniquityעָוֺן‛âvôn ‛âvôn · iniquity: crimeH5771
- a seedזֶ֫רַעzera‛ · seed: childrenH2233
- of evildoersרָעַעrâ‛a‛ · be evilH7489
- childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- that are corruptersשָׁחַתshâchath · to ruinH7843
- they have forsakenאֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
- they have forsakenעָזַב‛âzab · to leave: forsakeH5800
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- they have provokedנָאַץnâ'ats · to spurnH5006
- the Holy Oneקָדוֹשׁqâdôsh qâdôsh · holyH6918
- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- they are gone awayזוּרzûr · be a strangerH2114
- backwardאָחוֹר'âchôr 'âchôr · backH268
Cross-references for Isaiah 1:4
- Isaiah 1:23Your 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.
- Isaiah 10:6Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
- Isaiah 30:9For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the Lord;
- Genesis 13:13Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.
- Matthew 11:28Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
- Acts 7:51"You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.
- Revelation 18:5for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
- Isaiah 57:3But you, draw near, sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
- Numbers 32:14And behold, you have risen in your fathers' place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel!
- Psalms 78:8and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
- Jeremiah 7:26Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.
- Jeremiah 16:11then you shall say to them: 'Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the Lord, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law,
- Matthew 3:7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
- Matthew 23:33You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
- Jeremiah 2:33"How well you direct your course to seek love! So that even to wicked women you have taught your ways.
- Ezekiel 16:33Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings.
Commentaries on Isaiah 1:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Ah sinful nation "Degenerate" - Five MSS., one of them ancient, read משחתים moschathim, without the first י yod, in hophal corrupted, not corrupters. See the same word in the same form, and in the same sense, Proverbs 25:26. Are corrupters "Are estranged" - Thirty-two MSS., five ancient, and two editions, read נזורו nazoru ; which reading determines the word to be from the root זור zur, to alienate, not from נזר nazar, to separate; so Kimchi understands…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Ah! sinful nation - The word rendered ah!‘ - הוי hôy - is not a mere exclamation, expressing astonishment. It is rather an interjection denouncing threatening, or punishment. Wo to the sinful nation.‘ Vulgate, Vae genti peccatrici.‘ The corruption pertained to the nation, and not merely to a part. It had become general. Laden with iniquity - The word translated “laden” - כבד kebed - denotes properly anything “heavy,” or burdensome; from כבד kâbad “to be…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4The term Holy One of Israel often appears in Isaiah as a title for the Lord. God is: the righteous and just King of heaven and earth (Isaiah 6:3–5), the incomparable God, meaning no one is like him (Isaiah 40:25), and the Redeemer (the one who rescues and saves) of his people (Isaiah 43:14). Because of this, it was a serious and foolish sin for Judah to reject him.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. people--the peculiar designation of God's elect nation (Ho 1:10), that they should be "laden with iniquity" is therefore the more monstrous. Sin is a load (Psa 38:4; Mt 11:28). seed--another appellation of God's elect (Ge 12:7; Jr 2:21), designed to be a "holy seed" (Is 6:13), but, awful to say, "evildoers!" children--by adoption (Ho 11:1), yet "evildoers"; not only so, but "corrupters" of others (Ge 6:12); the climax. So "nation--people--seed…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 1:4
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
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