9, 10. How important is cleanness in our worship of Jehovah?

⁹ Jehovah, the compassionate God, now shifts to a warmer, more appealing tone. “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the badness of your dealings from in front of my eyes; cease to do bad.

(Isaiah 1:16,

Here we find a string of nine imperatives, or commands. The first four are negative in the sense that they involve the removal of sin;

¹⁰ Washing and cleanness have always been an important part of pure worship. (Exodus 19:10, 11; 30:20; 2 Corinthians 7:1) But Jehovah wants the cleansing to go deeper, into the very heart of his worshipers. Most important is moral and spiritual cleanliness, and this is what Jehovah refers to. The first two commands in Isa 1 verse 16 are not mere repetition. A Hebrew grammarian suggests that the first, “wash yourselves,” refers to an initial act of cleansing, whereas the second, “make yourselves clean,” refers to ongoing efforts to maintain that cleanness.

11. To combat sin, what should we do, and what should we never do?

¹¹ We can hide nothing from Jehovah. (Job 34:22; Proverbs 15:3; Hebrews 4:13) So his command, “Remove the badness of your dealings from in front of my eyes,” can only mean one thing​—to cease doing bad. That means not attempting to conceal serious sins, for doing so is a sin in itself. Proverbs 28:13 warns: “He that is covering over his transgressions will not succeed, but he that is confessing and leaving them will be shown mercy.”

14. What positive message is conveyed at Isaiah 1:16, 17?

¹⁴ What a firm, positive message Jehovah conveys through these nine commands! Sometimes those involved in sin convince themselves that it is simply beyond their power to do right. Such notions are discouraging. Moreover, they are wrong. Jehovah knows​—and wants us to know—​that with His help, any sinner can stop his sinful course, turn around, and do right instead.