Ecclesiastes 9 - Isaiah 3

Samuel said to Saul -

"...Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." (Old Testament 1 Samuel 15:22)

Even as we have been commanded to sacrifice, the Lord greatest desire is our obedience and our hearkening to his words. The Lord said to all those that pervert the ways of the Lord -

"Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah." (Old Testament Isaiah 1:10)

Then the Lord asks -

"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?..." (Old Testament Isaiah 1:11)

He answers these wicked rulers and people -

"I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood." (Old Testament Isaiah 1:11 - 15)

The Lord explains this as -

"...this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men" (Old Testament Isaiah 29:13)

To the wicked as was amongst Sodom and Gomorrah, the Lord pleads -

"Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." (Old Testament Isaiah 1:16 - 17)

The promise is to those that repent, whose"heart" is near to the Savior -

"Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
23 But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine." (Old Testament Isaiah 29:22 - 24)

The understanding and doctrine is this -

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Old Testament Isaiah 1:18)