Isaiah 1:12
ESV
"When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts?
NIV
When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?
NASB
When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courtyards?
CSB
When you come to appear before me, who requires this from you— this trampling of my courts?
NLT
When you come to worship me, who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?
KJV
When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
NKJV
“When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, To trample My courts?
What does Isaiah 1:12 mean?
The idea in this verse seems to be that God considered the Israelites to be trespassing: stomping around in His sacred presence without reason. They came to Him with sinful hearts merely to carry out religious ritual with no intention of changing direction.The Lord was the one who required them to come and make their offerings and bring their sacrifices. He is revealing here His intention for the sacrificial system: to represent the humility and repentance of God's people for their sin. Instead, Israel was using sacrifices and ritual as a substitute for making right choices and working to abandon their sinful practices. Their hearts remain sinful even in the act of worshiping the Lord.
