Bible Strands
Isaiah 65:2
All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — YHWH speaks, addressing a people who have already received his self-revelation (65:1) and now provoke him with idolatrous worship (65:3). The moment is one of exhausted, persistent outreach.
The words — סוֹרֵר (sōrēr) is a noun from the root שׁרר (shārār), "to turn aside, rebel"; it names not mere error but a settled, active turning away.
The thread — Paul quotes this verse in Romans 10:21, applying it to Israel's refusal of righteousness. The outstretched-hand image also appears in Proverbs 1:24, where Wisdom's call is refused.
Why it lands — The verse removes the excuse of ignorance: the people are not unaware but obstinate, walking "in the wrong path" by their own choice. It forces the reader to distinguish between not knowing and having chosen otherwise.
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
I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
Cross-references
- Romans 10:21 But as for Israel he says: “All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
- Proverbs 1:24 Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,
- Jeremiah 4:14 Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?
- Psalms 81:11 But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.
- Isaiah 1:2 Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.
- Isaiah 63:10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.
- Jeremiah 5:23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away.
- Jeremiah 7:24 Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
- Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
- Luke 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!