Isaiah 56

Chapter 56

Rewards for Obedience to God

¹Thus says the Lord,

“^aPreserve 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 the Lord say,

“The Lord will surely separate me from His people.”

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

⁴For thus says the Lord,

“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 memorial,

And a name better than that of sons and daughters;

I will give ¹them an everlasting ^cname which ^dwill not be cut off.

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

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

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

And holds fast My covenant;

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

And ^cmake them joyful 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.”

⁸The Lord ¹God, who ^agathers the dispersed of Israel, declares,

“Yet ^bothers I will gather to ²them, 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 are ^1agreedy, they ²are not satisfied.

And they are shepherds who have ^bno understanding;

They have all ^cturned to their own way,

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

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

And ^btomorrow will be like today, only more so.”