Sin and Redemption (Chs. 58, 59). 

        Here again we seem to be in Jerusalem. First, the prophet deals with the apparently religious, before he turns on the open sin. During the exile, circumcision, Sabbath-keeping, and fasting were among the few open expressions of religion possible to the Jews; hence they grew in importance in the popular mind. Isaiah deals with the misuse of the latter two.

        As might be expected, sham religion is accompanied by open sin, and the result is national disaster. The only hope is divine intervention.