Isaiah 57

Chapter 57

Evil Leaders Rebuked

¹The righteous man perishes, and no man ^atakes it to heart;

And devout men are taken away, while no one understands.

For the righteous man is taken away from ^bevil,

²He enters into peace;

They rest in their ¹beds,

Each one who ^awalked in his upright way.

³“But come here, you sons of a ^asorceress,

^bOffspring of an adulterer and ¹a ^cprostitute.

⁴“Against whom do you jest?

Against whom do you open wide your mouth

And stick out your tongue?

Are you not children of ^arebellion,

Offspring of deceit,

⁵Who inflame yourselves among the ^1aoaks,

^bUnder every luxuriant tree,

Who ^cslaughter the children in the ²ravines,

Under the clefts of the crags?

⁶“Among the ^1asmooth stones of the ²ravine

Is your portion, ³they are your lot;

Even to them you have ^bpoured out a drink offering,

You have made a grain offering.

Shall I ^4crelent concerning these things?

⁷“Upon a ^ahigh and lofty mountain

You have ^bmade your bed.

You also went up there to offer sacrifice.

⁸“Behind the door and the doorpost

You have set up your sign;

Indeed, far removed from Me, you have ^auncovered yourself,

And have gone up and made your bed wide.

And you have made an agreement for yourself with them,

You have loved their ¹bed,

You have looked on their ²manhood.

⁹“You have journeyed to the king with oil

And increased your perfumes;

You have ^asent your envoys a great distance

And made them go down to ¹Sheol.

¹⁰“You were tired out by the length of your road,

Yet you did not say, ‘^aIt is hopeless.’

You found ¹renewed strength,

Therefore you did not ²faint.

¹¹“Of ^awhom were you worried and fearful

When you lied, and did ^bnot remember Me

¹Nor ^cgive Me a thought?

Was I not silent even for a long time

So you do not fear Me?

¹²“I will ^adeclare your righteousness and your ^bdeeds,

But they will not profit you.

¹³“When you cry out, ^alet your collection of idols deliver you.

But the wind will carry all of them up,

And a breath will take them away.

But he who ^btakes refuge in Me will ^cinherit the land

And will ^dpossess My holy mountain.”

¹⁴And it will be said,

“^aBuild up, build up, prepare the way,

Remove every obstacle out of the way of My people.”

¹⁵For thus says the ^ahigh and exalted One

Who ^1blives forever, whose name is Holy,

“I ^cdwell on a high and holy place,

And also with the ^dcontrite and lowly of spirit

In order to ^erevive the spirit of the lowly

And to revive the heart of the contrite.

¹⁶“For I will ^anot contend forever,

^bNor will I always be angry;

For the spirit would grow faint before Me,

And the ^cbreath of those whom I have made.

¹⁷“Because of the iniquity of his ^aunjust gain I was angry and struck him;

I hid My face and was angry,

And he went on ^bturning away, in the way of his heart.

¹⁸“I have seen his ways, but I will ^aheal him;

I will ^blead him and ^crestore comfort to him and to his mourners,

¹⁹Creating the ^1apraise of the lips.

^bPeace, peace to him who is ^cfar and to him who is near,”

Says the Lord, “and I will heal him.”

²⁰But the ^awicked are like the tossing sea,

For it cannot be quiet,

And its waters toss up refuse and mud.

²¹“^aThere is no peace,” says ^bmy God, “for the wicked.”