Isaiah 1:12 (DRB)

Passage

When you came to appear before me, who required these things at your hands, that you should walk in my courts?

Nearby Context

Isaiah 1:10 Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrha.

Isaiah 1:11 To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your victims, saith the Lord? I am full, I desire not holocausts of rams, and fat of fatlings, and blood of calves, and lambs, and buck goats.

Isaiah 1:12 When you came to appear before me, who required these things at your hands, that you should walk in my courts?

Isaiah 1:13 Offer sacrifice no more in vain: incense is an abomination to me. The new moons, and the sabbaths and other festivals I will not abide, your assemblies are wicked.

Isaiah 1:14 My soul hateth your new moons, and your solemnities: they are become troublesome to me, I am weary of bearing them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "came", "appear", "before", "required", "things", "hands", "should", and "walk". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "came" and "appear", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "To what purpose do you offer me..." into verse 13's "Offer sacrifice no more in vain incense...", so "came" and "appear" 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 "came" and "appear" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.