Israel’s Futile Idolatry

57 The righteous perishes,

And no man takes it to heart;

aMerciful men are taken away,

bWhile no one considers

That the righteous is taken away from 1evil.

2 He shall enter into peace;

They shall rest in ctheir beds,

Each one walking in his uprightness.

3 “But come here,

dYou sons of the sorceress,

You offspring of the adulterer and the harlot!

4 Whom do you ridicule?

Against whom do you make a wide mouth

And stick out the tongue?

Are you not children of transgression,

Offspring of falsehood,

5 Inflaming yourselves with gods eunder every green tree,

fSlaying the children in the valleys,

Under the clefts of the rocks?

6 Among the smooth gstones of the stream

Is your portion;

They, they, are your lot!

Even to them you have poured a drink offering,

You have offered a grain offering.

Should I receive comfort in hthese?

7 “On ia lofty and high mountain

You have set jyour bed;

Even there you went up

To offer sacrifice.

8 Also behind the doors and their posts

You have set up your remembrance;

For you have uncovered yourself to those other than Me,

And have gone up to them;

You have enlarged your bed

And 2made a covenant with them;

kYou have loved their bed,

Where you saw their 3nudity.

9 lYou went to the king with ointment,

And increased your perfumes;

You sent your mmessengers far off,

And even descended to Sheol.

10 You are wearied in the length of your way;

nYet you did not say, ‘There is no hope.’

You have found the life of your hand;

Therefore you were not grieved.

11 “And oof whom have you been afraid, or feared,

That you have lied

And not remembered Me,

Nor taken it to your heart?

Is it not because pI have 4held My peace from of old

That you do not fear Me?

12 I will declare your righteousness

And your works,

For they will not profit you.

13 When you cry out,

Let your collection of idols deliver you.

But the wind will carry them all away,

A breath will take them.

But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land,

And shall inherit My holy mountain.”

Healing for the Backslider

14 And one shall say,

q“Heap it up! Heap it up!

Prepare the way,

Take the stumbling block out of the way of My people.”

15 For thus says the High and Lofty One

Who inhabits eternity, rwhose name is Holy:

s“I dwell in the high and holy place,

tWith him who has a contrite and humble spirit,

uTo revive the spirit of the humble,

And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

16 vFor I will not contend forever,

Nor will I always be angry;

For the spirit would fail before Me,

And the souls wwhich I have made.

17 For the iniquity of xhis covetousness

I was angry and struck him;

yI hid and was angry,

zAnd he went on 5backsliding in the way of his heart.

18 I have seen his ways, and awill heal him;

I will also lead him,

And restore comforts to him

And to bhis mourners.

19 “I create cthe fruit of the lips:

Peace, peace dto him who is far off and to him who is near,”

Says the Lord,

“And I will heal him.”

20 eBut the wicked are like the troubled sea,

When it cannot rest,

Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

21 “There fis no peace,”

Says my God, “for the wicked.”

Fasting that Pleases God

58 “Cry aloud, 1spare not;

Lift up your voice like a trumpet;

aTell My people their transgression,

And the house of Jacob their sins.

2 Yet they seek Me daily,

And delight to know My ways,

As a nation that did righteousness,

And did not forsake the ordinance of their God.

They ask of Me the ordinances of justice;

They take delight in approaching God.

3 ‘Why bhave we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen?

Why have we cafflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’

“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,

And 2exploit all your laborers.

4 dIndeed you fast for strife and debate,

And to strike with the fist of wickedness.

You will not fast as you do this day,

To make your voice heard on high.

5 Is eit a fast that I have chosen,

fA day for a man to afflict his soul?

Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush,

And gto spread out sackcloth and ashes?

Would you call this a fast,

And an acceptable day to the Lord?

6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen:

To hloose the bonds of wickedness,

iTo undo the 3heavy burdens,

jTo let the oppressed go free,

And that you break every yoke?

7 Is it not kto share your bread with the hungry,

And that you bring to your house the poor who are 4cast out;

lWhen you see the naked, that you cover him,

And not hide yourself from myour own flesh?

8 nThen your light shall break forth like the morning,

Your healing shall spring forth speedily,

And your righteousness shall go before you;

oThe glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;

You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

“If you take away the yoke from your midst,

The 5pointing of the finger, and pspeaking wickedness,

10 If you extend your soul to the hungry

And satisfy the afflicted soul,

Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,

And your 6darkness shall be as the noonday.

11 The Lord will guide you continually,

And satisfy your soul in drought,

And strengthen your bones;

You shall be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

12 Those from among you

qShall build the old waste places;

You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,

The Restorer of 7Streets to Dwell In.

13 “If ryou turn away your foot from the Sabbath,

From doing your pleasure on My holy day,

And call the Sabbath a delight,

The holy day of the Lord honorable,

And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,

Nor finding your own pleasure,

Nor speaking your own words,

14 sThen you shall delight yourself in the Lord;

And I will cause you to tride on the high hills of the earth,

And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.

uThe mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Separated from God

59 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not ashortened,

That it cannot save;

Nor His ear heavy,

That it cannot hear.

2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God;

And your sins have hidden His face from you,

So that He will bnot hear.

3 For cyour hands are defiled with 1blood,

And your fingers with iniquity;

Your lips have spoken lies,

Your tongue has muttered perversity.

4 No one calls for justice,

Nor does any plead for truth.

They trust in dempty words and speak lies;

eThey conceive 2evil and bring forth iniquity.

5 They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web;

He who eats of their eggs dies,

And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.

6 fTheir webs will not become garments,

Nor will they cover themselves with their works;

Their works are works of iniquity,

And the act of violence is in their hands.

7 gTheir feet run to evil,

And they make haste to shed hinnocent blood;

iTheir thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;

Wasting and jdestruction are in their paths.

8 The way of kpeace they have not known,

And there is no justice in their ways;

lThey have made themselves crooked paths;

Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.

Sin Confessed

9 Therefore justice is far from us,

Nor does righteousness overtake us;

mWe look for light, but there is darkness!

For brightness, but we walk in blackness!

10 nWe grope for the wall like the blind,

And we grope as if we had no eyes;

We stumble at noonday as at twilight;

We are as dead men in desolate places.

11 We all growl like bears,

And omoan sadly like doves;

We look for justice, but there is none;

For salvation, but it is far from us.

12 For our ptransgressions are multiplied before You,

And our sins testify against us;

For our transgressions are with us,

And as for our iniquities, we know them:

13 In transgressing and lying against the Lord,

And departing from our God,

Speaking oppression and revolt,

Conceiving and uttering qfrom the heart words of falsehood.

14 Justice is turned back,

And righteousness stands afar off;

For truth is fallen in the street,

And equity cannot enter.

15 So truth fails,

And he who departs from evil makes himself a rprey.

The Redeemer of Zion

Then the Lord saw it, and 3it displeased Him

That there was no justice.

16 sHe saw that there was no man,

And twondered that there was no intercessor;

uTherefore His own arm brought salvation for Him;

And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.

17 vFor He put on righteousness as a breastplate,

And a helmet of salvation on His head;

He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing,

And was clad with zeal as a cloak.

18 wAccording to their deeds, accordingly He will repay,

Fury to His adversaries,

Recompense to His enemies;

The coastlands He will fully repay.

19 xSo shall they fear

The name of the Lord from the west,

And His glory from the rising of the sun;

When the enemy comes in ylike a flood,

The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

20 “The zRedeemer will come to Zion,

And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,”

Says the Lord.

21 “As afor Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”

The Gentiles Bless Zion

60 Arise, ashine;

For your light has come!

And bthe glory of the Lord is risen upon you.

2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

And deep darkness the people;

But the Lord will arise over you,

And His glory will be seen upon you.

3 The cGentiles shall come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

4 “Lift dup your eyes all around, and see:

They all gather together, ethey come to you;

Your sons shall come from afar,

And your daughters shall be nursed at your side.

5 Then you shall see and become radiant,

And your heart shall swell with joy;

Because fthe abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,

The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.

6 The multitude of camels shall cover your land,

The dromedaries of Midian and gEphah;

All those from hSheba shall come;

They shall bring igold and incense,

And they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord.

7 All the flocks of jKedar shall be gathered together to you,

The rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you;

They shall ascend with kacceptance on My altar,

And lI will glorify the house of My glory.

8 “Who are these who fly like