Isaiah 56

The Covenant Extended to All Who Obey

⁵⁶Thus says the Lord:

Maintain justice, and do what is right,

for soon my salvation will come

and my deliverance be revealed.^*

²Happy is the mortal who does this,

the one who holds it fast,

who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,

and refrains from doing any evil.^*

³Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,

“The Lord will surely separate me from his people,”

and do not let the eunuch say,

“I am just a dry tree.”^*

⁴For thus says the Lord:

To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,

who choose the things that please me

and hold fast my covenant,^*

⁵I will give, in my house and within my walls,

a monument and a name

better than sons and daughters;

I will give them an everlasting name

that shall not be cut off.^*

⁶And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,

to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,

and to be his servants,

all who keep the Sabbath and do not profane it

and hold fast my covenant—^*

⁷these I will bring to my holy mountain

and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar,

for my house shall be called a house of prayer

for all peoples.^*

⁸Thus says the Lord God,

who gathers the outcasts of Israel:

I will gather others to them

besides those already gathered.^r*

The Corruption of Israel’s Rulers

⁹All you wild animals,

all you wild animals in the forest, come to devour!^*

¹⁰Israel’s^s sentinels are blind;

they are all without knowledge;

they are all silent dogs

that cannot bark,

dreaming, lying down,

loving to slumber.^*

¹¹The dogs have a mighty appetite;

they never have enough.

The shepherds also have no understanding;

they have all turned to their own way,

to their own gain, one and all.

¹²“Come,” they say, “let us^t get wine;

let us fill ourselves with strong drink.

And tomorrow will be like today,

great beyond measure.”