Limitless Word
Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
Isaiah 1:10 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Hear Yahweh’s word, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
  • KJV Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
  • NKJV Hear the word of the Lord, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, You people of Gomorrah:
  • NASB ¶Hear the word of the Lord, You rulers of Sodom; Listen to the instruction of our God, You people of Gomorrah!
  • NLT Listen to the Lord, you leaders of “Sodom.” Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Isaiah addresses Judah's leaders and people as 'Sodom' and 'Gomorrah,' calling them to hear God's word. The shocking comparison underscores how far they have fallen.

Overview

Naming them after the proverbial cities of wickedness signals that their guilt rivals the worst. Yet God still summons them to listen to His law, leaving room for repentance. The call to hear the LORD's word remains the gracious means by which sinners are turned back to Him.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 16

  • Isa 3:9The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.
  • Rev 11:8Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city—figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where their Lord was also crucified.
  • Deut 32:32But their vine is from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous; their clusters are bitter.
  • Ezek 16:49Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy.
  • Jer 23:14And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness. They are all like Sodom to Me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”
  • Jer 9:26Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
  • Gen 13:13But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.
  • Isa 28:14Therefore hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
  • 1 Kgs 22:19–23Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.
  • Isa 8:20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
  • Ezek 16:46Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters to your north; and your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters to your south.
  • Amos 9:7“Are you not like the Cushites to Me, O children of Israel?” declares the LORD. “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir?
  • Mic 3:8–12As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the LORD, with justice and courage, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.
  • Amos 3:1Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
  • Amos 3:8The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not prophesy?
  • Rom 9:29It is just as Isaiah foretold: “Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 1:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 1:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.