Isaiah 56

Salvation for the Gentiles

56Thus says the Lord:

“Keep justice, and do righteousness,

^aFor My salvation is about to come,

And My righteousness to be revealed.

²Blessed 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.”

³Do 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.”

⁴For thus says the Lord:

“To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,

And choose what pleases Me,

And hold fast My covenant,

⁵Even 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—

⁷Even 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.”

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

ⁿ“Yet I will gather to him

Others besides those who are gathered to him.”

Israel’s Irresponsible Leaders

^9oAll you beasts of the field, come to devour,

All you beasts in the forest.

¹⁰His watchmen are ^pblind,

They are all ignorant;

^qThey are all dumb dogs,

They cannot bark;

²Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

¹¹Yes, they are ^rgreedy ³dogs

Which ^snever ⁴have enough.

And they are shepherds

Who cannot understand;

They all look to their own way,

Every one for his own gain,

From his own territory.

¹²“Come,” one says, “I will bring wine,

And we will fill ourselves with intoxicating ^tdrink;

^uTomorrow will be ^vas today,

And much more abundant.”