Isaiah 1 · Verse 13

Isaiah 1:13

Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
Isaiah 1:13, King James Version

Isaiah 1:13 in other translations

BSBBring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me— your New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations. I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly.
WEBBring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me. New moons, Sabbaths, and convocations— I can’t stand evil assemblies.
ASVBring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; new moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies,—I cannot away with iniquity and the solemn meeting.
YLTAdd not to bring in a vain present, Incense--an abomination it is to Me, New moon, and sabbath, calling of convocation! Rendure not iniquity--and a restraint!
DARBYBring no more vain oblations! Incense is an abomination unto me, — new moon and sabbath, the calling of convocations — wickedness and the solemn meeting I cannot bear.
BBEGive me no more false offerings; the smoke of burning flesh is disgusting to me, so are your new moons and Sabbaths and your holy meetings.
WebsterBring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination to me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

What does Isaiah 1:13 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
13. oblations--unbloody; "meat (old English sense, not flesh) offerings," that is, of flour, fruits, oil, &c. (Le 2:1-13). Hebrew, mincha. incense--put upon the sacrifices, and burnt on the altar of incense. Type of prayer (Psa 141:2; Re 8:3). new moons--observed as festivals (Nu 10:10; 28:11, 14) with sacrifices and blowing of silver trumpets. sabbaths--both the seventh day and the beginning and closing days of the great feasts (Le 23:24-39). away with--bear, Maurer translates, "I cannot bear iniquity and the solemn meeting," that is, the meeting associated with iniquity--literally, the closing days of the feasts; so the great days (Le 23:36; Joh 7:37).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 13 The new moons and Sabbaths "The fast and the day of restraint" - און ועצרה aven vaatsarah. These words are rendered in many different manners by different interpreters, to a good and probable sense by all; but I think by none in such a sense as can arise from the phrase itself, agreeably to the idiom of the Hebrew language. Instead of און aven, the Septuagint manifestly read צום tsom, νηστειαν, "the fast." This Houbigant has adopted. The prophet could not well have omitted the fast in the enumeration of their solemnities, nor the abuse of it among the instances of their hypocrisy, which he has treated at large with such force and elegance in his fifty-eighth chapter. Observe, also, that the prophet Joel, (Joe 1:14, and Joe 2:15), twice joins together the fast and the day of restraint: - עצרה קראו צום קדשו atsarah kiru tsom kaddeshu "Sanctify a fast; proclaim a day of restraint:" which shows how properly they are here joined together. עצרה atsarah, "the restraint," is rendered, both here and in other places of our English translation, "the solemn assembly." Certain holy days ordained by the law were distinguished by a particular charge that "no servile work should be done therein;" Lev 23:36; Num 29:35; Deu 16:8. This circumstance clearly explains the reason of the name, the restraint, or the day of restraint, given to those days. If I could approve of any translation of these two words which I have met with, it should be that of the Spanish version of the Old Testament, made for the use of the Spanish Jews: Tortura y detenimento, "it is a pain and a constraint unto me." But I still think that the reading of the Septuagint is more probably the truth.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 1:10-15

Judea was desolate, and their cities burned. This awakened them to bring sacrifices and offerings, as if they would bribe God to remove the punishment, and give them leave to go on in their sin. Many who will readily part with their sacrifices, will not be persuaded to part with their sins. They relied on the mere form as a service deserving a reward. The most costly devotions of wicked people, without thorough…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 1:10-15 →

Isaiah 1:13 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לֹ֣אlo'notH3808
תוֹסִ֗יפוּto.Si.fuyou must repeatH3254
הָבִיא֙ha.Vi'to bringH935
מִנְחַת\־min.chat-an offering ofH4503
שָׁ֔וְאShav'worthlessnessH7723
קְטֹ֧רֶתke.To.retincenseH7004
תּוֹעֵבָ֛הto.'e.Vah[is] an abominationH8441
הִ֖יאhi'itH1931
לִ֑יLito <the> me
חֹ֤דֶשׁCho.deshnew moonH2320
וְשַׁבָּת֙ve.sha.Batand sabbathH7676
קְרֹ֣אke.Ro'[the] calling ofH7121
מִקְרָ֔אmik.Ra'convocation[s]H4744
לֹא\־lo'-notH3808
אוּכַ֥ל'u.KhalI am able to endureH3201
אָ֖וֶן'A.venwickednessH205
וַעֲצָרָֽה\׃va.'a.tza.Rahand solemn assembli[es]H6116

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 1:13

  • Isaiah 66:3

    He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.

  • Malachi 1:10

    Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.

  • Matthew 15:9

    But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

  • Ezekiel 20:39

    As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.

  • Lamentations 2:6

    And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the Lord hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.

  • 1 Corinthians 11:17

    Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.

  • Exodus 12:16

    And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.

  • Deuteronomy 16:1-22

    Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning. …

  • Joel 2:15

    Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

  • 1 Chronicles 23:31

    And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the Lord in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the Lord:

  • Proverbs 21:27

    The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?

  • Joel 1:14

    Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord,

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
vain.
Eze 20:39; Mal 1:10; Mt 15:9; Lu 11:42
incense.
66:3; Pr 21:27
the new.
Le 23:1-44; Nu 28:1-29:40; De 16:1-22; La 2:6; Joe 1:14; 2:15
it is.
1Co 11:17; Php 1:15
iniquity. or, grief.
Ps 78:40; Eph 4:30

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 1:12

    When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

  • Isaiah 1:13

    Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

  • Isaiah 1:14

    Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

Read all of Isaiah 1

Isaiah 1:13 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
No me traigáis más vano presente: el perfume me es abominación: luna nueva y sábado, el convocar asambleas, no las puedo sufrir: son iniquidad vuestras solemnidades.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Ne continuez pas d’apporter de vaines offrandes: l’encens m’est une abomination, – la nouvelle lune et le sabbat, la convocation des assemblées; je ne puis supporter l’iniquité et la fête solennelle.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Bringet keine eitle Opfergabe mehr! Räucherwerk ist mir ein Greuel. Neumond und Sabbath, das Berufen von Versammlungen: Frevel und Festversammlung mag ich nicht.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Ne offeratis ultra sacrificium frustra: incensum abominatio est mihi. Neomeniam et sabbatum, et festivitates alias, non feram; iniqui sunt cœtus vestri.