Isaiah 56

CHAPTER 56

Salvation for the Foreigner

¹Thus says Yahweh,

“^aKeep justice and do righteousness,

For My ^bsalvation is about to come

And My righteousness to be revealed.

²“How ^ablessed is the man who does this,

And the son of man who ^btakes hold of it,

Who ^ckeeps from profaning the sabbath,

And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

³Let not the ^aforeigner who has joined himself to Yahweh say,

“Yahweh will surely separate me from His people.”

Nor let the ^beunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”

⁴For thus says Yahweh,

“To the eunuchs who ^akeep My sabbaths,

And choose what pleases Me,

And ^bhold fast My covenant,

⁵To them I will give in My ^ahouse and within My ^bwalls a ¹memorial,

And a name better than that of sons and daughters;

I will give ²them an everlasting ^cname which ^dwill not be cut off.

⁶“Also the ^aforeigners who join themselves to Yahweh,

To minister to Him, and to love the name of Yahweh,

To be His ¹slaves, every one who ^bkeeps from profaning the sabbath

And takes hold of My covenant,

⁷Even ^athose I will bring to My ^bholy mountain

And ^cmake them glad in My house of prayer.

Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on ^dMy altar;

For ^eMy house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”

⁸Lord Yahweh, who ^agathers the banished of Israel, declares,

“Yet ^bothers I will gather to ¹them, to those already gathered.”

⁹All you ^abeasts of the field,

All you beasts in the forest,

Come to eat.

¹⁰His ^awatchmen are ^bblind;

All of them know nothing.

All of them are mute dogs unable to bark,

¹Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber;

¹¹And the dogs have a ^astrong ¹appetite; they do not know satisfaction.

And they are shepherds who ^bdo not know understanding;

They have all ^cturned to their own way,

Each one to his greedy gain, to the last one.

¹²“Come,” they say, “let ¹us take ^awine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink;

And ^btomorrow will be like today—²beyond exceedingly great.”