Isaiah 58:1

“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — YHWH addresses the prophet directly, commissioning him to announce to "My people" and "the house of Jacob" their transgression and sins. The people are not absent; per the next verse they are actively seeking God and asking for righteous judgment, making this a confrontation, not a first call.

The words — כַּשׁוֹפָר (ka'shophar), "like a ram's horn," is the verse's controlling image: the shophar signals alarm, assembly, or war, not a gentle invitation. The imperative קְרָא (qara') reinforces this — it is the cry of a watchman or herald, not a whispered suggestion.

The thread — Hosea 8:1 is the direct parallel: "Put the ram's horn to your lips!" with the same purpose, sounding alarm over covenant transgression. Titus 2:15 and Acts 20:26 bracket the function from both sides — speak with authority, and testify so that the blood of the unheeded is not on the messenger.

Why it lands — The people are seeking God and asking for justice; God's answer is that their sin is the answer, and the prophet must not soften that verdict. The verse demands that the messenger deliver the diagnosis plainly, without the comfort the audience expects to receive.

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

קְרָ֤אke.Ra'call out בְגָרוֹן֙ve./ga.rOnwith/ a throat אַל־'al-may not תַּחְשֹׂ֔ךְtach.Sokhyou refrain כַּשּׁוֹפָ֖רka./sho.Farlike <the>/ trumpet הָרֵ֣םha.Remraise קוֹלֶ֑ךָko.Le./chavoice/ your וְהַגֵּ֤דve./ha.Gedand/ declare לְעַמִּי֙le./'a.M/ito/ people/ my פִּשְׁעָ֔םpish.'A/mtransgression/ their וּלְבֵ֥יתu./le./Veitand/ to/ [the] house of יַעֲקֹ֖בya.'a.KoJacob חַטֹּאתָֽם׃cha.to.Ta/msins/ their

King James Version

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

Cross-references

Titus 2:15 Speak these things as you encourage and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.
Hosea 8:1 Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
Acts 20:26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
Ezekiel 3:17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.
Acts 7:51 You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
Matthew 3:7 But 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?
Ezekiel 3:5 For you are not being sent to a people of unfamiliar speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel—
Isaiah 40:9 Go up on a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
Ezekiel 20:4 Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? Confront them with the abominations of their fathers
Micah 3:8 As 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.