Isaiah 56–58

Chapter 56

¹Thus says the Lord:

“Keep justice, and do righteousness,

for soon my salvation will come,

and my deliverance be revealed.

²Blessed is the man who does this,

and the son of man who holds it fast,

who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it,

and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

³Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,

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

and let not the eunuch say,

“Behold, I am 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

which shall not be cut off.

⁶“And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,

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

and to be his servants,

every one who keeps the sabbath, and does not profane it,

and holds 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 yet others to him

besides those already gathered.”^c

⁹All you beasts of the field, come to devour—

all you beasts in the forest.

¹⁰His watchmen are blind,

they are all without knowledge;

they are all dumb dogs,

they 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,

each to his own gain, one and all.

¹²“Come,” they say, “let us get wine,

let us fill ourselves with strong drink;

and tomorrow will be like this day,

great beyond measure.”

Chapter 57

¹The righteous man perishes,

and no one lays it to heart;

devout men are taken away,

while no one understands.

For the righteous man is taken away from calamity,

²he enters into peace;

they rest in their beds

who walk in their uprightness.

³But you, draw near hither,

sons of the sorceress,

offspring of the adulterer and the harlot.

⁴Of whom are you making sport?

Against whom do you open your mouth wide

and put out your tongue?

Are you not children of transgression,

the offspring of deceit,

⁵you who burn with lust among the oaks,

under every green tree;

who slay your children in the valleys,

under the clefts of the rocks?

⁶Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion;

they, they, are your lot;

to them you have poured out a drink offering,

you have brought a cereal offering.

Shall I be appeased for these things?

⁷Upon a high and lofty mountain

you have set your bed,

and thither you went up to offer sacrifice.

⁸Behind the door and the doorpost

you have set up your symbol;

for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed,

you have gone up to it,

you have made it wide;

and you have made a bargain for yourself with them,

you have loved their bed,

you have looked on nakedness.^e

⁹You journeyed to Molech^f with oil

and multiplied your perfumes;

you sent your envoys far off,

and sent down even to Sheol.

¹⁰You were wearied with the length of your way,

but you did not say, “It is hopeless”;

you found new life for your strength,

and so you were not faint.

¹¹Whom did you dread and fear,

so that you lied,

and did not remember me,

did not give me a thought?

Have I not held my peace, even for a long time,

and so you do not fear me?

¹²I will tell of your righteousness and your doings,

but they will not help you.

¹³When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!

The wind will carry them off,

a breath will take them away.

But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land,

and shall inherit my holy mountain.

¹⁴And it shall be said,

“Build up, build up, prepare the way,

remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”

¹⁵For thus says the high and lofty One

who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

“I dwell in the high and holy place,

and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit,

to revive the spirit of the humble,

and to revive the heart of the contrite.

¹⁶For I will not contend for ever,

nor will I always be angry;

for from me proceeds the spirit,

and I have made the breath of life.

¹⁷Because of the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry,

I smote him, I hid my face and was angry;

but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.

¹⁸I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;

I will lead him and requite him with comfort,

creating for his mourners the fruit of the lips.

¹⁹Peace, peace, to the far and to the near, says the Lord;

and I will heal him.

²⁰But the wicked are like the tossing sea;

for it cannot rest,

and its waters toss up mire and dirt.

²¹There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.”

Chapter 58

¹“Cry aloud, spare not,

lift up your voice like a trumpet;

declare to my people their transgression,

to the house of Jacob their sins.

²Yet they seek me daily,

and delight to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that did righteousness

and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;

they ask of me righteous judgments,

they delight to draw near to God.

³‘Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not?

Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?’

Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,

and oppress all your workers.

⁴Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight

and to hit with wicked fist.

Fasting like yours this day

will not make your voice to be heard on high.

⁵Is such the fast that I choose,

a day for a man to humble himself?

Is it to bow down his head like a rush,

and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?

Will you call this a fast,

and a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶“Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of wickedness,

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

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

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover him,

and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

⁸Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up speedily;

your righteousness shall go before you,

the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

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

you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am.

“If you take away from the midst of you the yoke,

the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,

¹⁰if you pour yourself out for the hungry

and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,

then shall your light rise in the darkness

and your gloom be as the noonday.

¹¹And the Lord will guide you continually,

and satisfy your desire with good things,^h

and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water,

whose waters fail not.

¹²And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;

you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,

the restorer of streets to dwell in.

¹³“If you turn back your foot from the sabbath,

from doing your pleasureⁱ on my holy day,

and call the sabbath a delight

and the holy day of the Lord honorable;

if you honor it, not going your own ways,

or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;

¹⁴then you shall take delight in the Lord,

and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;

I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”