What Does Isaiah 1:18 Mean?
Two renderings of the same sentence, the verses it belongs to, and what the passage is doing — so you can decide what it means rather than take someone's word for it.
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isaiah 1:18, King James Version
The same verse in modern English
"“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool." Isaiah 1:18, Berean Standard Bible
What it sits inside
A verse quoted on its own is the commonest way one gets misread. Here it is with what comes immediately before and after, in the King James Version.
Isaiah 1:16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Isaiah 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
Isaiah 1:20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
A conversation built on it
Some things feel too deeply stained to come out, so you carry them quietly instead. Isaiah records an invitation issued before any cleaning up had happened — come now, as you are. What was scarlet does not end up faintly pink. It ends up white.
Questions people ask
What does Isaiah 1:18 mean?
In modern English (Berean Standard Bible) it reads: ““Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.” The King James rendering most people know is: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
What is the context of Isaiah 1:18?
The verses immediately around it read: (Isaiah 1:16) Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; (Isaiah 1:17) Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:18) Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:19) If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: (Isaiah 1:20) But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
How is Isaiah 1:18 used in a conversation about this?
Some things feel too deeply stained to come out, so you carry them quietly instead. Isaiah records an invitation issued before any cleaning up had happened — come now, as you are. What was scarlet does not end up faintly pink. It ends up white.
Reading it is one thing. Saying what it stirs up is another.
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