Isaiah 1:10 (ASV)

Passage

Hear the word of Jehovah, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 1:8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

Isaiah 1:9 Except Jehovah of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

Isaiah 1:10 Hear the word of Jehovah, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Isaiah 1:11 What unto me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah: I have had enough of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.

Isaiah 1:12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hear", "word", "jehovah", "rulers", "sodom", "give", "people", and "gomorrah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hear" and "word", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "Except Jehovah of hosts had left unto..." into verse 11's "What unto me is the multitude of...", so "hear" and "word" belong inside that flow. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "hear" and "word" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.