Bible Strands
Isaiah 1:29
Surely you will be ashamed of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be embarrassed by the gardens that you have chosen.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet delivers God’s judgment to rebellious Israel, placing this warning immediately after pronouncing destruction on those who forsake the Lord.
The words — The verb יֵבֹשׁוּ (ye.Vo.shu) literally means “they will be ashamed,” marking the people’s future reversal of affection. The verb חֲמַדְתֶּם (cha.mad.Tem) means “you have desired” and grammatically modifies the oaks, not the gardens.
The thread — Isaiah 57:5 associates idolatrous rites with oaks and valley sacrifices. Isaiah 65:3 and Isaiah 66:17 separately condemn sacrificial practices conducted in gardens and groves.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that idolatrous devotion will collapse into disgrace. Readers must confront the concrete outcome of trading covenant loyalty for chosen pagan sites.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 57:5 who burn with lust among the oaks, under every luxuriant tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
- Isaiah 65:3 to a people who continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in the gardens and burning incense on altars of brick,
- Isaiah 66:17 “Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves—to follow one in the center of those who eat the flesh of swine and vermin and rats—will perish together,” declares the LORD.
- Ezekiel 16:63 so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Hosea 4:13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.
- Isaiah 30:22 So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”
- Isaiah 31:7 For on that day, every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made.
- Isaiah 45:16 They will all be put to shame and humiliated; the makers of idols will depart together in disgrace.
- Jeremiah 2:20 “For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your chains, saying, ‘I will not serve!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute.
- Jeremiah 3:6 Now in the days of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree to prostitute herself there.