Isaiah 5:13

Are gone into captivity. Literally, “go into captivity.” The captivity had not yet begun (see on v. 7). Isaiah here sets forth the reasons for the captivity. He does not present the captivity as an accomplished fact. The people of Israel were taken captive in 723/722.

No knowledge. Sin is folly. Those who engage in sin show themselves not to be wise, but foolish. Sin pays wages, not of prosperity, peace, and honor, but of ignominy, woe, and death. He who chooses sin, chooses death. Clearly and repeatedly God had pointed out what the results of transgression would be. Also, past experience had frequently shown the terrible fruitage of disobedience. Now the people of Israel and Judah were revealing their complete lack of “knowledge” by persisting in evil and thereby ensuring their own destruction. They were “destroyed for lack of knowledge,” because they had “rejected knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).