“But come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
Parallel translations
- WEB “But draw near here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes.
- KJV But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.
- NKJV “But come here, You sons of the sorceress, You offspring of the adulterer and the harlot!
- NASB “But come here, you sons of a sorceress, Offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute!
- NLT “But you—come here, you witches’ children, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
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
God calls the idolaters near, naming them children of a sorceress and offspring of adulterers. It matters because it begins a sharp indictment of the people's spiritual unfaithfulness.
Overview
Turning from the righteous to the wicked, God summons the guilty for judgment, branding them with the language of witchcraft and adultery to expose their idolatry. Spiritual unfaithfulness is portrayed as marital betrayal of God. This sets up the catalog of idolatrous sins that follows, against which God's grace will later shine all the brighter.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Matt 16:4A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.
- 1 Jn 3:10By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
- Jas 4:4You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
- Hos 1:2When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, He told him, “Go, take a prostitute as your wife and have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting itself by departing from the LORD.”
- Gen 3:15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
- John 8:40–44But now you are trying to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing.
- Luke 3:7Then John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
- Isa 45:20Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save.
- Joel 3:9–11Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war; rouse the mighty men; let all the men of war advance and attack!
- Matt 12:34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.
- Matt 23:33You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?
- Matt 3:7But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
- Rev 17:1–5Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.
- Isa 1:21See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 57:3 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.