Yesaya 1:15

1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I look the other way; ¹ 

when you offer your many prayers,

I do not listen,

because your hands are covered with blood. ² 

Yehezkiel 20:31

20:31 When you present your sacrifices ³  – when you make your sons pass through the fire – you defile yourselves with all your idols to this very day. Will I allow you to seek me, ⁴  O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will not allow you to seek me! ⁵ 

[1:15]  ¹ tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”

[1:15]  ² sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.

[20:31]  ³ tn Or “gifts.”

[20:31]  ⁴ tn Or “Will I reveal myself to you?”

[20:31]  ⁵ tn Or “I will not reveal myself to you.”