Isaiah 1:15 (ASV)

Passage

And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 1:13 Bring 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.

Isaiah 1:14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth; they are a trouble unto me; I am weary of bearing them.

Isaiah 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

Isaiah 1:16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

Isaiah 1:17 learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "spread", "forth", "hands", "hide", "mine", "eyes", "make", and "prayers". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "spread" and "forth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "Your new moons and your appointed feasts..." into verse 16's "Wash you make you clean put away...", so "spread" and "forth" 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 "spread" and "forth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.