Isaiah 1:16 (DRB)

Passage

Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes, cease to do perversely,

Nearby Context

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

Isaiah 1:15 And when you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you: and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear: for your hands are full of blood.

Isaiah 1:16 Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes, cease to do perversely,

Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow.

Isaiah 1:18 And then come, and accuse me, saith the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "wash", "yourselves", "clean", "take", "away", "evil", "devices", and "eyes". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "wash" and "yourselves", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "And when you stretch forth your hands..." into verse 17's "Learn to do well seek judgment relieve...", so "wash" and "yourselves" 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 "wash" and "yourselves" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.