Considered "the most powerful and sustained" prophetic outburst at religious unreality, the vehemence of this prophecy is built up together in its form and content. First, God rejected the offerings, then the offerers (verses 11-12), the specific accusation in the lurid conclusion of verse 15 ("Your hands are full of blood"), followed by the command to "have done with evil" in "eight thunderous calls", ending in the reminder of the life-and-death alternatives similar to Deuteronomy 30:15-20.

Verse 11