He said he heard God speak to him about the sinful inclination of the people of Judah. God told Isaiah that he was tired of the people’s idolatry, arrogance, and selfishness. God wanted the people to return to his laws. When talking to the people, Isaiah pulled no punches: “How is the faithful city become an harlot! It was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.” (KJV, Isaiah 1:21)

Isaiah told the people that God would punish them, but then redeem them: “Therefore saith the Lord.… ‘And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: 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.’” (KJV, Isaiah 1:25–26)