Isaiah 1:10

1:10 Listen to the Lord’s word,

you leaders of Sodom! ¹ 

Pay attention to our God’s rebuke, ² 

people of Gomorrah!

Isaiah 1:15

1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I look the other way; ³ 

when you offer your many prayers,

I do not listen,

because your hands are covered with blood. ⁴ 

[1:10]  ¹ sn Building on the simile of v. 9, the prophet sarcastically addresses the leaders and people of Jerusalem as if they were leaders and residents of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah. The sarcasm is appropriate, for if the judgment is comparable to Sodom’s, that must mean that the sin which prompted the judgment is comparable as well.

[1:10]  ² tn Heb “to the instruction of our God.” In this context, which is highly accusatory and threatening, תּוֹרָה (torah, “law, instruction”) does not refer to mere teaching, but to corrective teaching and rebuke.

[1:15]  ³ tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”

[1:15]  ⁴ sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.