Isaiah 1:5 (DRB)

Passage

For what shall I strike you any more, you that increase transgression? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 1:3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood.

Isaiah 1:4 Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, ungracious children: they have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backwards.

Isaiah 1:5 For what shall I strike you any more, you that increase transgression? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad.

Isaiah 1:6 From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores: they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil.

Isaiah 1:7 Your land is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire: your country strangers devour before your face, and it shall be desolate as when wasted by enemies.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "strike", "increase", "transgression", "whole", "head", and "sick". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "strike", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "Woe to the sinful nation a people..." into verse 6's "From the sole of the foot unto...", so "shall" and "strike" 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 "shall" and "strike" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.