Isaiah chapter 1 opens the entire prophetic book with a covenant lawsuit (Hebrew riv) against Judah and Jerusalem. God summons heaven and earth as witnesses, indicts Israel as rebellious children who have abandoned the LORD, describes the nation as bruised and wounded from head to foot, and declares their sacrificial worship repulsive because it is unaccompanied by justice. The chapter closes with a choice — repentance leading to restoration, or continued rebellion leading to destruction — and a promise that Zion will ultimately be redeemed through justice and righteousness.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
The chapter functions as a miniature of the entire book of Isaiah: accusation, judgment, and eventual redemption all compressed into 31 verses. The opening summons to heaven and earth (1:2) echoes Deuteronomy 32:1, casting God as plaintiff in a formal covenant lawsuit. The metaphor of a diseased body (1:5-6) is one of the most vivid images in the prophets — not a single healthy spot remains. The agricultural imagery in 1:3 is devastating: an ox and a donkey recognize their owner, but Israel does not recognize the LORD. The Hebrew wordplay between tsedaqah ('righteousness') and tsedeq ('justice') in 1:21-27 frames the entire theology of Isaiah's message: the city that was once full of justice will be restored through justice. We rendered the sacrificial terms precisely because the indictment is not against sacrifice itself but against the disconnect between ritual and ethics.
Translation Friction
The sheer density of legal, agricultural, and cultic vocabulary in a single chapter forced several difficult decisions. We rendered mishpat as 'justice' throughout rather than alternating with 'judgment' to maintain the consistent theme that God's demand is social justice. The phrase qirya ne'emanah ('faithful city') in 1:21 presented a choice between 'faithful city' and 'trustworthy city' — we chose 'faithful' because the betrayal language (turned harlot) requires the covenant-loyalty connotation. The verb pasha ('rebel, transgress') in 1:2 we rendered as 'rebelled against me' rather than 'transgressed' to capture the personal nature of the covenant breach. The phrase 'Mighty One of Israel' for avir Yisra'el (1:24) is a distinct divine title from 'the Holy One of Israel' and we preserved this distinction.
Connections
The heaven-and-earth summons connects to Deuteronomy 30:19 and 32:1 where Moses calls the same witnesses. The diseased-body metaphor reappears in Isaiah 53:4-5 applied to the Suffering Servant. The vineyard language in 1:8 anticipates the full vineyard parable in Isaiah 5:1-7. The refining imagery in 1:25 connects forward to Malachi 3:2-3. The phrase 'scarlet/crimson' becoming 'white as snow' (1:18) becomes one of the most widely quoted images in all of Scripture and connects conceptually to Psalm 51:7. The indictment of empty worship anticipates Amos 5:21-24 and Micah 6:6-8.
The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah — kings of Judah.
KJV The 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.
From the root chazah ('to see, perceive'). This is technical prophetic vocabulary indicating a formally received divine communication, not a dream or personal opinion.
Translator Notes
The superscription spans roughly 740–686 BCE, covering four kings and at least five decades of prophetic activity. The verb chazah ('he saw') is the visionary cognate of the noun chazon — Isaiah did not merely hear a message but perceived a revealed reality. The four kings listed anchor the book historically across the Assyrian crisis period.
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth,
for the LORD has spoken:
"Children I raised and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.
KJV Hear, 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.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
פָּשְׁעוּpash'u
"rebelled"—rebel, transgress, break away, violate a covenant
The root p-sh-' specifically denotes breach of a relationship or treaty. It is stronger than chata ('miss the mark') and implies willful, deliberate betrayal.
Translator Notes
The summons to heaven and earth as witnesses invokes the covenant-lawsuit (riv) genre familiar from Deuteronomy 32:1. The verb pasha ('rebel') carries the specific connotation of breaking a treaty or covenant relationship — it is political and personal, not merely moral. The word order in Hebrew places 'children' (banim) first for emphasis: the indictment begins with the intimate family relationship that Israel has violated.
An ox knows its owner,
and a donkey its master's feeding trough —
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand."
KJV The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The comparison is intentionally humiliating: even the least intelligent domesticated animals recognize who feeds them, but Israel cannot recognize the LORD. The word evus ('feeding trough, manger') emphasizes provision — the donkey knows where its food comes from. The verb hitbonen ('consider, discern') implies intellectual failure: Israel has not reflected on the most basic facts of its existence.
Woe, sinful nation,
people weighed down with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
children who deal corruptly!
They have abandoned the LORD,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
they have turned their backs.
KJV Ah 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.
Notes & Key Terms
2 terms
Key Terms
קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵלqedosh Yisra'el
"the Holy One of Israel"—the Holy One of Israel; Isaiah's distinctive title for God combining transcendence and covenant
This is Isaiah's signature divine title. We always render it in full as 'the Holy One of Israel' per project decision. It appears 25+ times in Isaiah, far more than in any other biblical book.
הוֹיhoi
"Woe"—woe, alas, ah; prophetic exclamation of lament or denunciation
Rendered consistently as 'Woe' throughout the project. It introduces formal prophetic judgment oracles.
Translator Notes
The interjection hoi ('Woe!') opens a formal prophetic denunciation. Four parallel descriptions cascade in escalating intensity: sinful nation, guilt-laden people, offspring of evildoers, corrupt children. The verb ni'atsu ('they despised, spurned') is extremely strong — it means to treat with contempt, to consider worthless. The phrase nazoru achor ('turned backward') is the opposite of following the LORD.
Why do you keep inviting more blows?
Why do you continue to rebel?
The whole head is diseased,
and the whole heart is faint.
KJV Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The rhetorical question implies that further punishment is pointless because Israel simply adds rebellion to rebellion. The body-politic metaphor begins here: the nation is personified as a single body, sick from head to heart. The word sarah ('turning aside, rebellion') captures persistent deviation from the covenant path.
From the sole of the foot to the head,
there is no soundness in it —
only wounds, welts, and raw, open sores.
They have not been pressed out,
nor bandaged,
nor softened with oil.
KJV From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The medical imagery is graphic and precise: petsa ('wound'), chabbura ('bruise, welt'), and makkah teriyah ('fresh, raw wound'). The three untreated conditions — not pressed out (to drain), not bandaged, not softened with oil — indicate total neglect. This verse establishes that the nation's condition is not a minor ailment but a full-body collapse with no attempt at treatment.
Your land is desolate,
your cities burned with fire.
Your soil — right before your eyes,
foreigners devour it,
and it lies desolate, as overthrown by invaders.
KJV Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The shift from metaphor (diseased body) to literal description (burned cities, foreign occupation) is abrupt and powerful. The word shemamah ('desolation') appears twice, framing the verse. The phrase le-negdekem ('before your eyes, in your presence') intensifies the humiliation — Israel watches helplessly as foreigners consume their inheritance. Some scholars read mahpekhat zarim as 'overthrow like that of Sodom' (comparing to mahpekhah in Genesis 19:29), though the plain sense is devastation by foreign invaders.
And Daughter Zion is left
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a cucumber field,
like a city under siege.
KJV And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
Notes & Key Terms
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Key Terms
בַת־צִיּוֹןbat-Tsiyon
"Daughter Zion"—Daughter Zion; personification of Jerusalem as a young woman, the covenant community
A recurring personification in the prophets. We render as 'Daughter Zion' (without 'of') following the Hebrew construct relationship where Zion itself is the daughter.
Translator Notes
The sukkah ('shelter, booth') and melunah ('hut, lodge') are temporary structures erected during harvest and abandoned afterward — fragile, isolated, and soon to collapse. The vineyard imagery here anticipates the vineyard song of chapter 5. The phrase 'ir netsurah ('besieged city') shifts from agricultural loneliness to military crisis. Daughter Zion stands alone in a stripped landscape.
If the LORD of Hosts had not left us
a few survivors,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have resembled Gomorrah.
KJV Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
Notes & Key Terms
2 terms
Key Terms
יְהוָה צְבָאוֹתYHWH Tseva'ot
"the LORD of Hosts"—LORD of Hosts, LORD of armies, LORD of heavenly forces
A military-cosmic title presenting God as commander of heavenly and earthly armies. Particularly frequent in Isaiah. We render consistently as 'the LORD of Hosts.'
שָׂרִידsarid
"survivors"—survivor, remnant, one who escapes
The remnant concept is foundational to Isaiah — judgment is real but never total. A surviving core will carry the covenant forward.
Translator Notes
The introduction of the Sodom/Gomorrah comparison here prepares for the direct address in verse 10. The word sarid ('survivor, remnant') introduces the remnant theology that becomes central to Isaiah's message. The divine title YHWH Tseva'ot ('LORD of Hosts') emphasizes God's sovereign command over all powers. Paul quotes this verse in Romans 9:29 as evidence of God's preserving grace.
In Isaiah, torah often means prophetic or divine instruction rather than the Mosaic Law specifically. We render as 'instruction' in general prophetic contexts per project decision.
Translator Notes
The shock of directly addressing Jerusalem's leaders as 'rulers of Sodom' and 'people of Gomorrah' cannot be overstated — Sodom was the archetype of total destruction under divine judgment. The parallel structure (hear/give ear, word of the LORD/instruction of our God, Sodom/Gomorrah) is classic Hebrew poetry. The word qetsinim ('rulers, commanders') is a relatively rare term for leaders, perhaps chosen to avoid the more neutral melakhim ('kings').
"What are your many sacrifices to me?"
says the LORD.
"I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fattened cattle.
In the blood of bulls, lambs, and goats
I take no pleasure.
KJV To 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
God speaks in the first person, creating a direct confrontation between deity and worshipper. The verb sava'ti ('I am sated, I have had enough') uses the language of eating to excess — God is depicted as gorged and disgusted with the sacrificial meals. The catalogue of sacrificial animals (rams, cattle, bulls, lambs, goats) represents the full range of Israelite sacrifice. The indictment is not against sacrifice per se but against sacrifice divorced from ethical obedience.
When you come to appear before me,
who asked this of you —
this trampling of my courts?
KJV When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verb remos ('to trample') reframes worship attendance as desecration — the worshippers are not entering God's courts reverently but stomping through them. The phrase lera'ot panay ('to appear before my face') is the standard expression for Temple pilgrimage, but here it is stripped of its expected positive connotation. God does not merely reject the offerings; he questions whether he ever requested this kind of worship at all.
Stop bringing worthless grain offerings!
Incense — it is an abomination to me.
New moons, Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies —
I cannot endure wickedness alongside sacred gathering.
KJV Bring 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.
Notes & Key Terms
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Key Terms
תּוֹעֵבָהto'evah
"abomination"—abomination, detestable thing, something loathsome to God
One of the strongest words of divine revulsion in Hebrew. Its application to Israel's own incense — not to pagan practice — is rhetorically devastating.
Translator Notes
The minchah ('grain offering') is called shav ('worthless, empty, vain'). The word to'evah ('abomination') is the strongest term of revulsion in Hebrew — normally reserved for the most offensive practices of pagan worship, now applied to Israel's own incense. The final phrase is the theological center: God cannot tolerate the combination of aven ('wickedness, iniquity') with atsarah ('solemn assembly'). The problem is not worship itself but the coexistence of ritual piety and moral corruption.
Your new moons and your appointed festivals —
my soul hates them.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
KJV Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verb sane'ah ('hate') is applied to the very festivals God himself instituted in the Torah. The anthropomorphic language — 'my soul hates,' 'I am weary' — conveys emotional exhaustion. The word torach ('burden, trouble') depicts Israel's worship as a weight God must carry rather than a delight he receives. The word mo'adim ('appointed times, festivals') refers to the entire liturgical calendar prescribed in Leviticus 23.
When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide my eyes from you.
Even when you multiply your prayers,
I am not listening —
your hands are full of blood.
KJV And 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The gesture of spreading hands (paras kappayim) was the standard Israelite prayer posture — hands open, palms upward. God responds by hiding his eyes, a devastating reversal of the priestly blessing where God's face shines upon his people (Numbers 6:25). The final clause delivers the reason with brutal conciseness: the hands lifted in prayer are the same hands dripping with blood. The word damim ('bloods,' plural) suggests not a single act of violence but systemic bloodshed.
Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean!
Remove the evil of your deeds
from before my eyes.
Stop doing evil!
KJV Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
A rapid series of imperatives shifts from accusation to demand. The washing language (rachatsu, hizzakku) draws on both ritual purification and moral cleansing. The progression moves from external (wash) to internal (stop doing evil). These are not ritual instructions but ethical demands — the 'washing' God wants is behavioral change, not ceremonial bathing.
We render mishpat consistently as 'justice' in Isaiah's ethical demands rather than alternating with 'judgment,' to maintain the social-justice emphasis of Isaiah's message.
Translator Notes
The verb dirshu ('seek, pursue') combined with mishpat ('justice') makes justice an active pursuit, not a passive quality. The word chamots is debated — it may mean 'the oppressed' (one who is crushed) or 'the oppressor' (one who acts violently). We rendered 'set right the oppressor' following the reading that demands restraining wrongdoers. The orphan (yatom) and widow (almanah) are the paradigmatic vulnerable persons in ancient Israelite law.
"Come now, let us settle this,"
says the LORD.
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
they will become white as snow.
Though they are red as crimson,
they will become like wool.
KJV Come 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verb nivvakhechah ('let us reason together, argue our case') is legal language — God invites Israel to a courtroom negotiation. The color imagery is vivid: shanim ('scarlet') was a deep, permanent dye extracted from an insect, and tola ('crimson') was similarly indelible. The promise that such permanent stains can become white as snow is a declaration of radical grace. This verse is conditional — the context of verses 19-20 makes clear that the cleansing depends on willingness to obey.
If you are willing and obey,
you will eat the good of the land.
KJV If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The condition is twofold: willingness (inner disposition) and obedience (outward action). The promise echoes Deuteronomy's land-blessing language — the covenant is still operative, and its blessings are still available. The brevity of this verse after the extended indictment makes the offer of grace startlingly simple.
But if you refuse and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword" —
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
KJV But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The wordplay between to'khelu ('you will eat,' v. 19) and te'ukhlu ('you will be eaten/devoured,' v. 20) creates a devastating reversal: those who obey eat the land's goodness; those who rebel are eaten by the sword. The closing formula 'the mouth of the LORD has spoken' (pi YHWH dibber) seals the declaration as irrevocable divine speech. The choice between eating and being eaten encapsulates the covenant's two-way structure.
How the faithful city has become a prostitute!
She was once full of justice;
righteousness lodged in her —
but now, murderers.
KJV How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Notes & Key Terms
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Key Terms
צֶדֶקtsedeq
"righteousness"—righteousness, justice, right conduct, vindication, rightness
Tsedeq and its feminine form tsedaqah are context-dependent in this project. Here the social-justice dimension is primary — the 'righteousness' that once lodged in Jerusalem was the practice of fair dealing.
Translator Notes
The lament formula eikhah ('how!') is the same word that opens the book of Lamentations — a cry of stunned grief. The image of a faithful wife turned prostitute is covenant-betrayal language (compare Hosea 1-3, Ezekiel 16). The word ne'emanah ('faithful, trustworthy') shares its root with 'amen' and implies covenant reliability. The final word — meratsechim ('murderers') — lands like a hammer blow after the elevated language of justice and righteousness.
Your silver has become dross,
your wine diluted with water.
KJV Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Two metaphors of debasement: silver refined into worthless slag, and wine watered down. Both images convey the loss of essential quality. The silver metaphor anticipates the refining language in 1:25. In the ancient economy, debased silver and diluted wine were forms of commercial fraud — connecting the imagery to the justice theme.
Your rulers are rebels,
companions of thieves.
Every one of them loves a bribe
and chases after payoffs.
They do not defend the orphan,
and the widow's case never reaches them.
KJV Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The wordplay sarayikh sorerim ('your rulers are rebels') is a devastating sound-play in Hebrew — the words for 'ruler' and 'rebel' are nearly identical. The phrase 'companions of thieves' indicates systemic corruption, not individual bad actors. The bribe-taking (shochad) and payoff-chasing (shalmonim) describe a judicial system captured by the wealthy. The orphan and widow from verse 17 reappear — the very people God commanded them to protect are excluded from justice.
Therefore — declares the Lord,
the LORD of Hosts,
the Mighty One of Israel —
"I will get relief from my adversaries
and avenge myself on my enemies.
KJV Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies.
Notes & Key Terms
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Key Terms
אֲבִיר יִשְׂרָאֵלavir Yisra'el
"the Mighty One of Israel"—mighty one, bull, strong one; divine title emphasizing power
A distinct divine title from 'the Holy One of Israel.' Avir carries connotations of raw strength and is associated with the patriarchal blessings (Genesis 49:24). We preserve the distinction between Isaiah's various divine titles.
Translator Notes
Three divine titles pile up to convey the weight of what follows: ha-Adon ('the Lord, the Sovereign'), YHWH Tseva'ot ('LORD of Hosts'), Avir Yisra'el ('the Mighty One of Israel'). The shocking element is that God's adversaries and enemies are his own people — the ones he raised as children (v. 2). The verb ennachem ('I will relieve myself, get comfort') suggests that punishing the corrupt is a form of divine relief from an intolerable situation.
I will turn my hand against you
and smelt away your dross as with lye,
and remove all your impurities.
KJV And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The refining metaphor reverses the debasement of verse 22: the silver that has become dross will be smelted clean. The word bor ('lye, alkali') is a refining agent — God's judgment is not destruction for its own sake but purification. The word bedilayikh ('your tin, your alloy') refers to base metals mixed into the silver. This is restorative judgment: the goal is to recover the pure metal, not to discard it.
I will restore your judges as at the first
and your counselors as at the beginning.
After that you will be called
'The City of Righteousness,'
'The Faithful City.'"
KJV And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The promise reverses the accusation of verse 21 point by point: the city that became a prostitute will again be called 'faithful' (ne'emanah); the city emptied of justice will be renamed 'City of Righteousness' (ir ha-tsedeq). The restoration of judges and counselors means that justice will flow from reformed leadership. The phrase 'as at the first' and 'as at the beginning' points back to an idealized Davidic-Solomonic era when justice was administered properly.
The feminine form of tsedeq. In this context it functions as a near-synonym of mishpat, together forming a hendiadys for God's comprehensive saving justice.
Translator Notes
This is one of the most theologically dense verses in Isaiah. The verb tippadeh ('she will be redeemed') uses redemption language — the same root (p-d-h) used for the redemption of the firstborn and the exodus from Egypt. But the instruments of redemption are mishpat ('justice') and tsedaqah ('righteousness'), not military power or cultic ritual. The word shaveyha is debated: it could mean 'her returnees' (those who repent and return) or 'her captives' (those carried away). We chose 'her repentant ones' to emphasize the volitional return.
But rebels and sinners will be shattered together,
and those who abandon the LORD will perish.
KJV And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The word shever ('breaking, shattering, destruction') is violent and final. The verse pairs posh'im ('rebels,' from the same root as v. 2) with chatta'im ('sinners') — willful covenant-breakers and habitual wrongdoers alike face the same end. The verb yikhlu ('they will be consumed, come to an end') indicates total destruction. This is the dark counterpart to verse 27's redemption promise.
For they will be ashamed of the sacred oaks
you desired,
and you will be humiliated
by the gardens you chose.
KJV For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The 'oaks' (elim) and 'gardens' (gannot) refer to sites of pagan worship — sacred trees and cultic gardens where fertility rites were performed. The verbs yevoshu ('be ashamed') and tachperu ('be humiliated, disgraced') describe the coming exposure of these practices. The shift from third person ('they') to second person ('you') is characteristic of prophetic poetry, drawing the audience directly into the accusation.
For you will be like an oak whose leaves wither,
and like a garden with no water.
KJV For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The ironic reversal is complete: those who worshipped among sacred oaks will themselves become withered oaks; those who chose pagan gardens will become waterless gardens. The objects of false worship become images of the worshippers' own ruin. The verb novelet ('withering, fading') depicts slow, irreversible decay.
The strong man will become tinder,
and his work a spark —
they will both burn together,
and no one will quench them.
KJV And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The final verse delivers an image of self-destruction: the strong man (chason) and his work (po'alo) — likely referring to the idol and its maker — ignite each other. The ne'oret ('tow, oakum') is the waste fiber from flax processing, extremely flammable. The idol-maker and the idol become fuel for the same fire. The phrase ve'ein mekhabeh ('and no one quenching') means the destruction is irreversible — there is no fire brigade for divine judgment.