Isaiah 1 · Verse 18

Isaiah 1:18

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Isaiah 1:18, King James Version

Isaiah 1:18 in other translations

BSB	“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
WEB	“Come now, and let’s reason together,” says the LORD: “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
ASV	Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
YLT	Come, I pray you, and we reason, saith Jehovah, If your sins are as scarlet, as snow they shall be white, If they are red as crimson, as wool they shall be!
DARBY	Come now, let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
BBE	Come now, and let us have an argument together, says the Lord: how may your sins which are red like blood be white as snow? how may their dark purple seem like wool?
Webster	Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

What does Isaiah 1:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

18. God deigns to argue the case with us, that all may see the just, nay, loving principle of His dealings with men (Is 43:26). scarlet--the color of Jesus Christ's robe when bearing our "sins" (Mt 27:28). So Rahab's thread (Jos 2:18; compare Le 14:4). The rabbins say that when the lot used to be taken, a scarlet fillet was bound on the scapegoat's head, and after the high priest had confessed his and the people's sins over it, the fillet became white: the miracle ceased, according to them, forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem, that is, exactly when Jesus Christ was crucified; a remarkable admission of adversaries. Hebrew for "scarlet" radically means double-dyed; so the deep-fixed permanency of sin in the heart, which no mere tears can wash away. snow--(Psa 51:7). Repentance is presupposed, before sin can be made white as snow (Is 1:19, 20); it too is God's gift (Jr 31:18, Lam 5:21, Acts 5:31). red--refers to "blood" (Is 1:15). as wool--restored to its original undyed whiteness. This verse shows that the old fathers did not look only for transitory promises (Article VII, Book of Common Prayer). For sins of ignorance, and such like, alone had trespass offerings appointed for them; greater guilt therefore needed a greater sacrifice, for, "without shedding of blood there was no remission"; but none such was appointed, and yet forgiveness was promised and expected; therefore spiritual Jews must have looked for the One Mediator of both Old Testament and New Testament, though dimly understood.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 18 Though your sins be as scarlet - שני shani, "scarlet or crimson," dibaphum, twice dipped, or double dyed; from שנה shanah, iterare, to double, or to do a thing twice. This derivation seems much more probable than that which Salmasius prefers from שנן shanan, acuere, to whet, from the sharpness and strength of the color, οξυφοινικον; תלע tela, the same; properly the worm, vermiculus, (from whence vermeil), for this color was produced from a worm or insect which grew in a coccus or excrescence of a shrub of the ilex kind, (see Plin. Nat. Hist. 16:8), like the cochineal worm in the opuntia of America. See Ulloa's Voyage book v., chap. ii., note to page 342. There is a shrub of this kind that grows in Provence and Languedoc, and produces the like insect, called the kermes oak, (see Miller, Dict. Quercus), from kermez, the Arabic word for this color, whence our word crimson is derived. "Neque amissos colores Lana refert medicata fuco," says the poet, applying the same image to a different purpose. To discharge these strong colors is impossible to human art or power; but to the grace and power of God all things, even much more difficult are possible and easy. Some copies have כשנים keshanim, "like crimson garments." Though they be red, etc. - But the conjunction ו vau is added by twenty-one of Kennicott's, and by forty-two of De Rossi's MSS., by some early editions, with the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic. It makes a fuller and more emphatic sense. "And though they be red as crimson," etc.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 1:16-20

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…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 1:16-20 →

Isaiah 1:18 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.

לְכוּ\־le.khu-comeH1980

נָ֛אna'pleaseH4994

וְנִוָּֽכְחָ֖הve.ni.va.khe.Chahso let us argue our case togetherH3198

יֹאמַ֣רyo.Marhe saysH559

יְהוָ֑הYah.wehYahwehH3068

אִם\־'im-thoughH518

יִֽהְי֨וּyih.Yuthey areH1961

חֲטָאֵיכֶ֤םcha.ta.'ei.Khemsins yourH2399

כַּשָּׁנִים֙ka.sha.Nimlike <the> scarletH8144

כַּשֶּׁ֣לֶגka.She.leglike <the> snowH7950

יַלְבִּ֔ינוּyal.Bi.nuthey will become whiteH3835

אִם\־'im-thoughH518

יַאְדִּ֥ימוּya'.Di.muthey are redH119

כַתּוֹלָ֖עkha.to.La'like <the> crimsonH8438

כַּצֶּ֥מֶרka.Tze.merlike <the> woolH6785

יִהְיֽוּ\׃yih.Yuthey will beH1961

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

Cross references for Isaiah 1:18

Isaiah 44:22
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
Revelation 7:14
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Psalms 51:7
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Micah 7:18-19
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Isaiah 43:24-26
Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.
Ephesians 1:6-8
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Isaiah 41:21
Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.
Isaiah 41:1
Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
Romans 5:20
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
1 Samuel 12:7
Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers.
Acts 17:2
And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Acts 18:4
And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

and let us.
41:21; 43:24-26; 1Sa 12:7; Jer 2:5; Mic 6:2; Ac 17:2; 18:4; 24:25
though your.
44:22; Ps 51:7; Mic 7:18,19; Ro 5:20; Eph 1:6-8; Re 7:14

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

Context

Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Isaiah 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Isaiah 1:19
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

Read all of Isaiah 1

Isaiah 1:18 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Venid luego, dirá Jehová, y estemos á cuenta: si vuestros pecados fueren como la grana, como la nieve serán emblanquecidos: si fueren rojos como el carmesí, vendrán á ser como blanca lana.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Venez, et plaidons ensemble, dit l’ Éternel: Si vos péchés sont comme le cramoisi, ils deviendront blancs comme la neige; s’ils sont rouges comme l’écarlate, ils seront comme la laine.
German Elberfelder 1871	Kommt denn und laßt uns miteinander rechten, spricht Jehova. Wenn eure Sünden wie Scharlach sind, wie Schnee sollen sie weiß werden; wenn sie rot sind wie Karmesin, wie Wolle sollen sie werden.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Et venite, et arguite me, dicit Dominus. Si fuerint peccata vestra ut coccinum, quasi nix dealbabuntur; et si fuerint rubra quasi vermiculus, velut lana alba erunt.