Isaiah: A City of Murderers and Thieves
Isaiah 1:21-23; Jeremiah 6:28-30; Zechariah 7:8-14; Luke 18:9-14 - Are you pure refined silver and fine wine or are you dross and water and living in a desolate land?
“How the faithful city has become a harlot,
She who was full of justice!
Righteousness once lodged in her,
But now murderers.
Your silver has become dross,
Your drink diluted with water.
Your rulers are rebels
And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves a bribe
And chases after rewards.
They do not defend the orphan,
Nor does the widow’s plea come before them.”
Isaiah 1:21-23 NASB1995
This passage notes the dismal condition of the city of Jerusalem and the leaders of Judah. What was once a faithful city with justice and righteousness is now compared to a harlot, an unfaithful adulteress. The city is full of murderers and purveyors of fraud (with the reference to silver that has become dross or worthless, and to wine diluted with water). Its rulers are rebels and the companions of thieves. People love bribes and chasing after rewards. The widow and orphan are not defended or heard. I will not do any word studies for this passage, because I believe the words are pretty self-explanatory and could be “ripped from the headlines” in 2026.
Let’s look at the commentary from Enduring Word:
a. The faithful city has become a harlot: The faithful city was Jerusalem, the city once known for its faithfulness to the LORD. Now, Jerusalem has become a harlot – spiritually speaking, they have forsaken their “marriage” to the LORD and are committing spiritual adultery with their idolatry.
b. It was full of justice: The days of justice and righteousness were long past in Jerusalem. Now the city was filled with murderers, political corruption (Your princes are rebellious), thieves, fraud (Your silver has become dross, your wine mixed with water), bribes, and favoritism against the weak (They do not defend the fatherless, nor does the cause of the widow come before them).
i. The LORD’s accusation against Jerusalem shows, by contrast, what God values among political and civil leaders. God expects them to keep the peace (against murderers), have integrity (instead of being rebellious and the companion of thieves), and to defend the weak (the fatherless and widows).
ii. Your wine mixed with water: “The Lord Jesus made water into wine; sinners make wine into water.” (Bultema)
iii. The spiritual adultery of Judah showed itself in this kind of sin. In a sense, the corruption among the leaders of Judah was a symptom of an even deeper spiritual problem.
Yikes! Sounds a bit familiar, doesn’t it? I could go off on a long and tedious bunny trail with examples of all of these things from our current political climate, but I won’t. As believers, we must advocate for leaders who demonstrate faithfulness, justice for the weak (that includes the unborn, folks), honesty, integrity, humility and a desire to keep the peace instead of letting murderers and thieves and fraudsters walk free. We must also pursue those virtues within ourselves and our churches and communities. We must be refined in His Word like pure silver and not be diluted or corrupted by the world’s influence.
The prophet Jeremiah said something similar to Isaiah:
“All of them are stubbornly rebellious,
Going about as a talebearer.
They are bronze and iron;
They, all of them, are corrupt.
The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
In vain the refining goes on,
But the wicked are not separated.
They call them rejected silver,
Because the Lord has rejected them.”
Jeremiah 6:28-30 NASB1995
The prophet Zechariah also had this to say:
“Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying, “Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts; “but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, for they made the pleasant land desolate.””
Zechariah 7:8-14 NASB1995
They made the pleasant land desolate - there’s something to contemplate. And should we become self-righteous, lose our humility and think we are doing the right things, recall this parable that Jesus told in Luke:
“And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.””
Luke 18:9-14 NASB1995
My next devotional examines Isaiah 1:24-27 - Zion will be redeemed with justice.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - I pray that we can restore integrity, honesty and proper justice in our culture through humility and a focus on Your precepts. Amen.
Citations and Credits:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
Precept Austin was accessed on 07/24/2026 to review commentary for Isaiah 1:21-23.
Commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission and without any alteration. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com. At the link referenced, the bibliography used by David Guzik can be accessed.