"Hear the word of the Lord, ye Rulers of Sodom; Give heed to the instruction of our God, ye people of Gomorrah! What care I for the great number of your sacrifices? saith the Lord. I am sated with the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts, And in the blood of bullocks and lambs and he-goats I take no pleasure. When ye appear before me--who has required this of you? Trample no more my courts, bring no more offerings, Vain is the odor of incense--it is an abomination to me; I am not able to endure a fast and a solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed days my soul hateth. I am tired of bearing it. When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you. Also, if ye make many prayers, I will not hear." Then Isaiah launched forth into one of the most beautiful speeches that he delivered in his whole career. In it he brought home to the people the true idea of the religion which God had commanded to Israel, and through which Judah could be regenerated, strengthened and saved: "Your hands are stained with blood; Wash, that ye may be clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from before mine eyes. Cease to do evil; learn to do good; Seek justice; relieve the oppressed; Vindicate the orphan; plead for the widow." In one of the sublimest passages that any prophet ever uttered, Isaiah promised the people God's forgiveness in the following wonderful appeal: "Come now, let us argue together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, They may become white as snow; Though they be red as crimson, They may become as wool; If ye willingly yield and are obedient, Ye shall eat the good of the land, But if you refuse and rebel, Ye shall be devoured by the sword. The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it!" While Isaiah thus pleaded and threatened, he gained many additions to "The Remnant," but he failed to create a deep impression either with the reigning house or with the powerful priesthood or with the majority of the rich in Jerusalem and Judah. In the meantime, a vassal of Assyria, in far-off Babylonia, rebelled successfully. Immediately, various Palestinian states, including Judah, began to prepare a similar attempt to free themselves from the Assyrian yoke. Ahaz had died in 721, the year in which Sargon the Great captured Samaria, after a two year's siege, and effectually reduced the kingdom of Israel. Hezekiah, his young son, to whom Isaiah looked for the ideal prince he had pictured, succeeded him. The calamity of the northern kingdom did not seem to bring Isaiah or Ahaz any warning. The king had been paying his Assyrian tribute regularly and faithfully; the prophet had centered his hope in "The Remnant" and in the crown prince, and bided his time.