Isaiah 1:12 (KJV)

Passage

When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

Nearby Context

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

Isaiah 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full 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 tread my courts?

Isaiah 1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even 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 to bear them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "come", "appear", "before", "hath", "required", "hand", "tread", and "courts". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "come" 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 is the multitude of..." into verse 13's "Bring no more vain oblations incense is...", so "come" 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 "come" and "appear" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.