Isaiah 66:4

So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God speaks to the covenant community immediately after declaring that their ritual sacrifices are equivalent to murder and idolatry. He addresses them as the audience for the coming judgment, contrasting them with the faithful remnant in the following verse.

The words — The text highlights אֶבְחַר ('ev.char, "I will choose") and קָרָ֙אתִי֙ (ka.ra.ti, "I called") to establish divine agency and rejected initiative. God actively selects their punishment and terror because His repeated calls met with silence and deliberate disobedience.

The thread — This pattern of divine calling met with human silence and subsequent judgment echoes in Isaiah 65:12 and the rebellious history recorded in 2 Kings 21:2 and 2 Kings 21:6. The motif of God choosing punishment in response to chosen evil creates a direct theological link across these passages.

Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that ritual observance cannot override deliberate disobedience, as God actively aligns consequences with human choices. It requires readers to acknowledge that persistent rejection of divine speech results in self-imposed judgment rather than arbitrary punishment.

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 also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

Cross-references

Isaiah 65:12 I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”
2 Kings 21:2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
2 Kings 21:6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
Proverbs 1:24 Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,
Proverbs 10:24 What the wicked man dreads will overtake him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
Jeremiah 7:13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but you would not answer,
Psalms 81:12 So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
Proverbs 1:31 So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
1 Kings 22:19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.
Isaiah 50:2 Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold, My rebuke dries up the sea; I turn the rivers into a desert; the fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.