Isaiah 1:16 kjv

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

Isaiah 1:16 nkjv

"Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,

Isaiah 1:16 niv

Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.

Isaiah 1:16 esv

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,

Isaiah 1:16 nlt

Wash yourselves and be clean!
Get your sins out of my sight.
Give up your evil ways.

Isaiah 1 verses

Isaiah 1 16 Meaning

Isaiah 1:16 is a direct divine command calling the people of Judah to thorough, spiritual, and moral cleansing. It emphasizes an active responsibility on their part to remove all wickedness from their lives and to cease from doing evil deeds, making their hearts and actions acceptable in God’s sight before any religious rituals can be pleasing to Him. It marks a foundational step in repentance: renouncing sin before embracing righteousness.

Isaiah 1 16 Context

Isaiah chapter 1 serves as a legal indictment and a prophetic summons to Judah and Jerusalem, who are portrayed as a rebellious and diseased people, deeply steeped in sin (Isa 1:4-6). They are engaged in hypocritical worship, offering numerous sacrifices and performing religious rituals while their lives are filled with social injustice, violence, and corruption (Isa 1:10-15). Verse 16 directly addresses this spiritual dissonance. It's a stark rebuke of their belief that outward ceremonial observances could atone for inner wickedness. Historically, this period reflects Judah's decline, marked by political instability, religious syncretism, and a moral decay that disregarded God's covenant commands. Isaiah's call for true inner repentance directly counters the prevailing polemic where people sought to satisfy God through ritual, ignoring their blatant sin and covenant unfaithfulness.

Isaiah 1 16 Word analysis

• Wash yourselves (רָחַצוּ, raḥatsū): From the verb raḥats, meaning "to wash, bathe." This is not just a light washing of hands but implies a thorough, complete bathing. In the context, it moves beyond ceremonial ablution to represent a radical and comprehensive moral and spiritual cleansing, a stripping away of defilement from their very being. It calls for an active decision and effort on their part.
• make yourselves clean (זַכּוּ, zakkū): From the root zakáh, meaning "to be pure, clean, clear." This term intensifies the command of "wash yourselves," indicating a state of being morally and ritually pure. It speaks to both the removal of defilement and the establishment of an unblemished condition. It emphasizes internal purification.
• remove (הָסִירוּ, hāsīrū): From the verb sūr, "to turn aside, take away, remove." This is a forceful imperative, demanding a decisive and conscious act of separation from what is impure or offensive. It’s not a passive hope for change, but an active exertion of will.
• the evil of your deeds (רֹעַ מַעַלְלֵיכֶם, roa‘ ma‘alleykhem): Roa‘ means "evil, wickedness, misery, harm." Ma‘alalleykhem refers to "your deeds, practices, actions." This phrase pinpoints the precise object of removal: not just individual, isolated sins, but the ingrained patterns and overall character of their conduct, which are fundamentally wicked and corrupt.
• from before my eyes (מִנֶּגֶד עֵינָי, minneged ‘êynāy): Minneged means "from in front of, opposite to, from the presence of." This signifies that God is keenly aware of and offended by their evil deeds. Their wickedness is not hidden but is openly committed in His sight, provoking His displeasure. It underscores the personal affront to God inherent in their sin.
• cease to do evil (חִדְלוּ הָרֵעַ, ḥidəlū hārēa‘): Ḥidəlū is from ḥādal, "to cease, stop, refrain, forbear." This is a definitive command for an immediate and absolute halt to wicked behavior. Hārēa‘ (the evil) acts as an infinitive noun, implying the complete discontinuation of their evil-doing as an active practice. It is a necessary practical outcome of the inner washing and removal of deeds.

• "Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean": This powerful pairing of imperatives underscores the necessity of a radical, comprehensive transformation that goes beyond superficial or ceremonial acts. It speaks to both purification from defilement and attaining a state of moral integrity, indicating that inner cleanliness is prerequisite for external righteousness.
• "remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes": This phrase clearly identifies the problem: their habitual wicked actions. The "before my eyes" part stresses God's constant observation and personal offense, highlighting that sin is primarily against God. It moves from general cleanliness to the specific target of offensive behavior.
• "cease to do evil": This final command in the verse is a direct, actionable instruction to immediately stop the practice of wickedness. It signifies the behavioral outcome and concrete evidence of the internal purification that God has called for, setting the stage for learning to do good (as stated in the next verse, Isa 1:17).

Isaiah 1 16 Bonus section

The progressive nature of the imperatives in Isaiah 1:16 is noteworthy. It begins with "Wash yourselves" and "make yourselves clean" – terms related to ritual purity but here imbued with deep moral significance, pointing to an internal purification. This inner work then leads to the external act of "remove the evil of your deeds," a concrete action of divestment from sin. Finally, "cease to do evil" denotes a complete cessation of their former sinful lifestyle. This sequence underscores that repentance is not a singular event but an active process involving heart, habit, and conduct, emphasizing the necessity of human volition and cooperation in response to God's command. This verse also lays the groundwork for the gracious invitation of Isaiah 1:18, where God promises full forgiveness after this call to repentance.

Isaiah 1 16 Commentary

Isaiah 1:16 stands as a profound summary of God’s initial demand for genuine repentance. Following a scathing indictment of Judah’s spiritual hypocrisy and corrupt rituals, God outlines the true path to reconciliation. The verse presents a sequence of imperative commands: first, an inward, radical purification of the self ("wash yourselves; make yourselves clean"), followed by the outward manifestation of this inner change—the active removal of all wicked deeds that offend God’s holiness. The final command, "cease to do evil," emphasizes the decisive break from past sinful patterns. It communicates that external religious observances are meaningless and offensive to God without a preceding commitment to true moral transformation. The verse underscores personal responsibility in turning away from sin as the foundational step toward acceptable worship and reconciliation with a holy God.

Practical usage includes:

• Self-Examination: Prompting individuals to look inward and identify their "evil deeds" that need to be actively renounced.
• Priority Shift: Reorienting focus from mere religious routines to genuine purity of heart and righteous actions.
• Decisive Action: Emphasizing that ceasing from evil requires conscious and immediate choices to turn away from sinful habits.