Come, Follow Me · Week 38 · September 14–20

Isaiah 1–12

This Week's Reading

This week's Come, Follow Me reading from Isaiah 1–12 invites us to examine our hearts and actions before the Lord. The prophet Isaiah speaks with urgency about God's desire for genuine repentance rather than empty religious rituals. He calls His people to wash themselves, make them clean, and put away the evil of their doings. Through these chapters, we see a clear picture of Jesus Christ as the Savior who offers cleansing from sin and protection for His people. The reading also highlights God's promise of future glory and the importance of trusting in Him during times of trouble.

Key Passages

Isaiah 1:10–19: This passage teaches that God does not delight in sacrifices when our hands are full of blood; instead, He calls us to cease doing evil, learn to do well, and seek judgment for the oppressed.
Isaiah 1:1–4: Here we read a sobering description of a nation that has forsaken the Lord, reminding us that even animals know their owners while Israel often does not consider Him.
Isaiah 4:1–4: This beautiful vision promises a future where the branch of the Lord will be glorious and every one written among the living in Jerusalem shall be called holy after being washed by the Spirit.
Isaiah 7:1–4: In this historical account, the Lord commands Isaiah to tell King Ahaz not to fear the two tails of smoking firebrands, assuring him that God is with His house.
Isaiah 10:1–4: These verses warn against those who decree unrighteous decrees and turn aside the needy from judgment, reminding us that without Christ we shall bow down under the prisoners.

Questions to Ponder

How does Isaiah's call to "wash you, make you clean" challenge your current approach to repentance?
In what ways might your religious practices become mere rituals if they are not accompanied by a change of heart?
Who are the oppressed in your life or community, and how can you seek judgment for them as Isaiah instructs?
How does the promise that sins shall be made "white as snow" give you hope when you feel burdened by guilt?

A Thought to Take Home

The Lord desires a relationship with us built on love and obedience rather than empty rituals. When we turn to Him with sincere hearts, He promises to cleanse us completely and make us holy. This week's reading reminds us that Jesus Christ is the only one who can wash away our filth and give us new life.

Further study Isaiah 1:10–19, Isaiah 1:1–4, Isaiah 4:1–4, Isaiah 7:1–4, Isaiah 10:1–4

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This guide was prepared with AI from the scriptures and checked against the text; it can still make mistakes. For the Church's own guidance, read the official Come, Follow Me manual for this week. Nephite Atlas is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Key passages

Isaiah 1:10–19

¹⁰Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. ¹¹To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. ¹²When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? ¹³Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. ¹⁴Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. ¹⁵And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. ¹⁶Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; ¹⁷Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. ¹⁸Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. ¹⁹If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

Isaiah 1:1–4

¹The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. ²Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. ³The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. ⁴Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

Isaiah 4:1–4

¹And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. ²In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. ³And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: ⁴When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

Isaiah 7:1–4

¹And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. ²And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. ³Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field; ⁴And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

Isaiah 10:1–4

¹Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; ²To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! ³And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? ⁴Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.