Isaiah 57:1–21
57 The righteous perishes,
And no man takes it to heart;
aMerciful men are taken away,
bWhile no one considers
That the righteous is taken away from 1evil.
They shall rest in ctheir beds,
Each one walking in his uprightness.
dYou sons of the sorceress,
You offspring of the adulterer and the harlot!
Against whom do you make a wide mouth
And stick out the tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
Offspring of falsehood,
5 Inflaming yourselves with gods eunder every green tree,
fSlaying the children in the valleys,
Under the clefts of the rocks?
6 Among the smooth gstones of the stream
Is your portion;
They, they, are your lot!
Even to them you have poured a drink offering,
You have offered a grain offering.
Should I receive comfort in hthese?
7 “On ia lofty and high mountain
You have set jyour bed;
Even there you went up
To offer sacrifice.
8 Also behind the doors and their posts
You have set up your remembrance;
For you have uncovered yourself to those other than Me,
And have gone up to them;
You have enlarged your bed
And 2made a covenant with them;
kYou have loved their bed,
Where you saw their 3nudity.
9 lYou went to the king with ointment,
And increased your perfumes;
You sent your mmessengers far off,
And even descended to Sheol.
10 You are wearied in the length of your way;
nYet you did not say, ‘There is no hope.’
You have found the life of your hand;
Therefore you were not grieved.
11 “And oof whom have you been afraid, or feared,
That you have lied
And not remembered Me,
Nor taken it to your heart?
Is it not because pI have 4held My peace from of old
That you do not fear Me?
12 I will declare your righteousness
And your works,
For they will not profit you.
Let your collection of idols deliver you.
But the wind will carry them all away,
A breath will take them.
But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land,
And shall inherit My holy mountain.”
14 And one shall say,
q“Heap it up! Heap it up!
Prepare the way,
Take the stumbling block out of the way of My people.”
15 For thus says the High and Lofty One
Who inhabits eternity, rwhose name is Holy:
s“I dwell in the high and holy place,
tWith him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
uTo revive the spirit of the humble,
And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
16 vFor I will not contend forever,
Nor will I always be angry;
For the spirit would fail before Me,
And the souls wwhich I have made.
17 For the iniquity of xhis covetousness
I was angry and struck him;
yI hid and was angry,
zAnd he went on 5backsliding in the way of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and awill heal him;
I will also lead him,
And restore comforts to him
And to bhis mourners.
19 “I create cthe fruit of the lips:
Peace, peace dto him who is far off and to him who is near,”
Says the Lord,
“And I will heal him.”
20 eBut the wicked are like the troubled sea,
When it cannot rest,
Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
21 “There fis no peace,”
Says my God, “for the wicked.”