Isaiah 57

57^*The righteous perisheth, and no man ^alayeth it to heart:

And ^†merciful men are ^ctaken away, none considering

^dThat the righteous ^cis taken away ^||from the evil to come.

²He shall ^||enter into peace:

They shall rest in their ^ebeds,

Each one walking ^||in his ^fuprightness.

³But draw near hither, ye sons of ^ffthe sorceress,

^gkThe seed of the adulterer and the whore.

⁴Against whom do ye ^hsport yourselves?

Against whom ⁱmake ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue?

Are ye not children of transgression, ^ka seed of falsehood,

⁵Enflaming yourselves ^||with ^lidols ^llunder every green tree,

^mSlaying the children in the valleys under ⁿthe clifts of the rocks?

⁶Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion;

They, they are thy lot:

Even to them hast thou poured a drink offering,

Thou hast offered a meat offering.

Should I receive comfort in these?

^7oUpon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set ^pthy bed:

Even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.

^8qBehind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up ^rthy remembrance:

For ^sthou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up;

Thou hast enlarged ^pthy bed, and ^||made thee a covenant with them;

^tThou lovedst their bed ^||uwhere thou sawest it.

⁹And ^||wthou wentest to the king with ^xointment,

And ^ydidst increase ^xthy perfumes,

And didst ^zsend thy messengers far off,

And didst debase thyself even unto hell.

^10aThou art wearied in the greatness of thy way;

Yet ^bsaidst thou not, There is no hope:

^cThou hast found the ^||life of thine hand;

Therefore thou wast not grieved.

¹¹And ^dof whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that ^ethou hast lied,

And ^dhast not remembered me, nor ^flaid it to thy heart?

^gHave not I held my peace even of old,

And thou fearest me not?

¹²I will declare thy righteousness,

And thy works; for they shall not profit thee.

¹³When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee;

But the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them:

But ^hhe that putteth his trust in me ⁱshall possess the land,

And shall inherit ^kmy holy mountain;

¹⁴And shall say, ^lCast ye up, cast ye up, ^lmprepare the way,

Take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.

¹⁵For thus saith the high and lofty One

That inhabiteth ⁿeternity, ^owhose name is Holy;

I dwell ^pin the high and ^qholy place,

^rWith him also that is of a contrite and ^shumble spirit,

^tTo revive the spirit of the humble,

And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

^16uFor I will not contend for ever,

Neither will I be always wroth:

For ^vthe spirit ^wshould fail before me,

And ^vthe souls ^xwhich I have made.

¹⁷For the iniquity of ^yhis covetousness ^yywas I wroth, and smote him:

^zI hid me, and was wroth,

And he went on ^†frowardly in the way of his heart.

¹⁸I have seen his ways, and ^awill heal him:

I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to ^bhis mourners.

¹⁹I create ^cthe fruit of the lips;

^dePeace, peace ^fto him that is ^gfar off, and ^fto him that is near, saith the Lord;

And ^aI will heal him.

²⁰But ^hthe wicked are like the troubled sea,

When it cannot rest,

Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

²¹ⁱThere is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.