What is meant by the words: “Come, now, you people, and let us set matters straight between us”? ??⚖️?♨️?⚖️??

[Bible Speaks]

"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. Isaiah 1:18. 

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What is meant by the words: “Come, now, you people, and let us set matters straight between us”? This is not an invitation to talk things over and reach a mutual agreement by having give-and-take discussions. Instead, the verse refers to establishing a forum of justice in which the righteous Judge, Jehovah, gives Israel an opportunity to change and cleanse herself.

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Crimson was one of the colors of costly dyed material. (2Ch 2:7, 14; 3:14; Na 2:3) Sins are also likened to the deep color of crimson.—Isa 1:18.m

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Steps necessary for attaining reconciliation. Since God is the offended party whose law has been and is being violated, it is man who must become reconciled to God, not God to man. (Ps 51:1-4) Man does not meet God on equal terms, nor is God’s stand as to what is right subject to change, emendation, or modification. (Isa 55:6-11; Mal 3:6; compare Jas 1:17.) His conditions for reconciliation are therefore nonnegotiable, not subject to question or compromise. (Compare Job 40:1, 2, 6-8; Isa 40:13, 14.) While many translations render Isaiah 1:18 to read, “Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD” (KJ; AT; JP; RS), a more appropriate and consistent translation is: “‘Come, now, you people, and let us set matters straight [“let us settle the dispute,” Ro] between us,’ says Jehovah.” The fault producing the disharmony lies entirely with man, not with God.—Compare Eze 18:25,29-32.

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This does not prevent God from mercifully taking the initiative in opening the way for reconciliation. He did so through his Son. The apostle writes: “For, indeed, Christ, while we were yet weak, died for ungodly men at the appointed time. For hardly will anyone die for a righteous man; indeed, for the good man, perhaps, someone even dares to die. But God recommends his own love [a·gaʹpen] to us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

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Much more, therefore, since we have been declared righteous now by his blood, shall we be saved through him from wrath. For if, when we were enemies, we became reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, now that we have become reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only that, but we are also exulting in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” (Ro 5:6-11) Jesus, who “did not know sin,” was made to “be sin for us,” dying as a human sin offering, to relieve persons of the charge and penalty of sin. Relieved of the charge of sin, such ones could thus appear righteous in God’s eyes, hence “become God’s righteousness by means of him [Jesus].”—2Co 5:18, 21.

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Recognizing the need for reconciliation and accepting God’s provision for reconciliation, namely, the sacrifice of God’s Son, the individual must then repent of his sinful course and convert, or turn around, from following the way of the sinful world of mankind. By appealing to God on the basis of Christ’s ransom, forgiveness of sins and reconciliation can be obtained, bringing “seasons of refreshing . . . from the person of Jehovah” (Ac 3:18, 19) as well as peace of mind and heart. (Php 4:6, 7) No longer an enemy under the wrath of God, one has, in effect, “passed over from death to life.” (Joh 3:16; 5:24) Thereafter the individual must retain God’s goodwill by ‘calling upon him in trueness,’ ‘continuing in the faith, and not being shifted away from the hope of the good news.’—Ps 145:18;Php 4:9; Col 1:22, 23.

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https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200003664?q=isa+1%3A18&p=par#h=13