Isaiah 57

Israel’s Futile Idolatry

57The righteous man perishes,

and no one lays it to heart;

^rdevout men are taken away,

while no one understands.

For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;

^2she enters into peace;

they rest ^tin their beds

who walk in their uprightness.

³But you, draw near,

sons of the sorceress,

^uoffspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.

⁴Whom are you mocking?

Against whom ^vdo you open your mouth wide

and stick out your tongue?

Are you not children of ^wtransgression,

^xthe offspring of deceit,

⁵you who burn with lust among ^ythe oaks,¹

under every green tree,

^zwho slaughter your children in the valleys,

under the clefts of the rocks?

⁶Among the smooth stones of ^athe valley is your portion;

they, they, are your lot;

to them you have poured out a drink offering,

you have brought a grain offering.

Shall I relent for these things?

^7bOn a high and lofty mountain

you have set your bed,

and there you went up to offer sacrifice.

⁸Behind the door and the doorpost

you have set up your memorial;

for, deserting me, ^cyou have uncovered your bed,

you have gone up to it,

^dyou have made it wide;

and you have made a covenant for yourself with them,

you have loved their bed,

you have looked on nakedness.²

⁹You journeyed to the king with oil

and multiplied your perfumes;

^eyou sent your envoys far off,

and sent down even to Sheol.

¹⁰You were wearied with the length of your way,

^fbut you did not say, “It is hopeless”;

you found new life for your strength,

and so you were not faint.³

^11gWhom did you dread and fear,

^hso that you lied,

and did not remember me,

did not lay it to heart?

ⁱHave I not held my peace, even for a long time,

and you do not fear me?

¹²I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,

but they will not profit you.

^13jWhen you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!

The wind will carry them all off,

a breath will take them away.

^kBut he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land

and shall inherit ^lmy holy mountain.

Comfort for the Contrite

¹⁴And it shall be said,

^m“Build up, build up, prepare the way,

remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”

¹⁵For thus says ⁿthe One who is high and lifted up,

who inhabits eternity, whose name is ^oHoly:

^p“I dwell in the high and holy place,

and also ^qwith him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,

^rto revive the spirit of the lowly,

and to revive the heart of the contrite.

^16sFor I will not contend forever,

nor will I always be angry;

for the spirit would grow faint before me,

and the breath of life that I made.

¹⁷Because of the iniquity of his ^tunjust gain I was angry,

I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,

but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.

¹⁸I have seen his ways, ^ubut I will heal him;

I will lead him ^vand restore comfort to him and his mourners,

^19wcreating ^xthe fruit of the lips.

^yPeace, peace, ^zto the far and to the near,” says the Lord,

^u“and I will heal him.

^20aBut the wicked are like the tossing sea;

for it cannot be quiet,

and its waters toss up mire and dirt.

^21bThere is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”