Isaiah 55:6–56:8

6 kSeek the Lord while He may be lfound,

Call upon Him while He is near.

7 mLet the 2wicked forsake his way,

And the unrighteous man nhis thoughts;

Let him return to the Lord,

oAnd He will have mercy on him;

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

8 “For pMy thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

9 “For qas the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

10 “For ras the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,

And do not return there,

But water the earth,

And make it bring forth and bud,

That it may give seed to the sower

And bread to the eater,

11 sSo shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me 3void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall tprosper in the thing for which I sent it.

12 “For uyou shall go out with joy,

And be led out with peace;

The mountains and the hills

Shall vbreak forth into singing before you,

And wall the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

13 xInstead of ythe thorn shall come up the cypress tree,

And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;

And it shall be to the Lord zfor a name,

For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Salvation for the Gentiles

56 Thus says the Lord:

“Keep justice, and do righteousness,

aFor My salvation is about to come,

And My righteousness to be revealed.

2 Blessed is the man who does this,

And the son of man who lays hold on it;

bWho keeps from defiling the Sabbath,

And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

3 Do not let cthe son of the foreigner

Who has joined himself to the Lord

Speak, saying,

“The Lord has utterly separated me from His people”;

Nor let the deunuch say,

“Here I am, a dry tree.”

4 For thus says the Lord:

“To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,

And choose what pleases Me,

And hold fast My covenant,

5 Even to them I will give in eMy house

And within My walls a place fand a name

Better than that of sons and daughters;

I will give 1them an everlasting name

That shall not be cut off.

6 “Also the sons of the foreigner

Who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him,

And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants—

Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,

And holds fast My covenant—

7 Even them I will gbring to My holy mountain,

And make them joyful in My hhouse of prayer.

iTheir burnt offerings and their sacrifices

Will be jaccepted on My altar;

For kMy house shall be called a house of prayer lfor all nations.”

8 The Lord God, mwho gathers the outcasts of Israel, says,

n“Yet I will gather to him

Others besides those who are gathered to him.”