“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.”

Isaiah 1: 18

No other book is quoted in the New Testament as often as the Book of Isaiah. Jesus read from Isaiah in the synagogue (Luke 4: 18-19). The Gospels contain Isaiah’s prophecies of the Messiah. Paul referred to Isaiah in his writings to the Romans nearly twenty times and so let’s take a look as some of Isaiah’s words – words that are still relevant to us today.

In the opening verses of the book, Isaiah describes the problem of the human condition – “a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity…they have forsaken the LORD” (Isaiah 1:4).

Your princes are rebels
and companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe
and runs after gifts.
They do not bring justice to the fatherless,
and the widow’s cause does not come to them.

Isaiah 1:23

Not much has changed. Outside of the grace of God, each of us are without hope, but while God judges the people, the verses above express God’s greatest desire that we would be redeemed.

Consider the contrast of the colors. Scarlet and crimson can become pure and white as snow or wool. Only God can remove the stain of sin as he invites the people and us to repent.