57 The righteous perish,k

and no one takes it to heart;l

the devout are taken away,

and no one understands

that the righteous are taken away

to be spared from evil.m

2 Those who walk uprightlyn

enter into peace;

they find resto as they lie in death.

3 “But you—come here, you children of a sorceress,p

you offspring of adulterersq and prostitutes!r

4 Who are you mocking?

At whom do you sneer

and stick out your tongue?

Are you not a brood of rebels,s

the offspring of liars?

5 You burn with lust among the oakst

and under every spreading tree;u

you sacrifice your childrenv in the ravines

and under the overhanging crags.

6 The idolsw among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion;

indeed, they are your lot.

Yes, to them you have poured out drink offeringsx

and offered grain offerings.

In view of all this, should I relent?y

7 You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill;z

there you went up to offer your sacrifices.a

8 Behind your doors and your doorposts

you have put your pagan symbols.

Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed,

you climbed into it and opened it wide;

you made a pact with those whose beds you love,b

and you looked with lust on their naked bodies.c

9 You went to Moleka d with olive oil

and increased your perfumes.e

You sent your ambassadorsb f far away;

you descended to the very realm of the dead!g

10 You weariedh yourself by such going about,

but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’i

You found renewal of your strength,j

and so you did not faint.

11 “Whom have you so dreaded and fearedk

that you have not been true to me,

and have neither rememberedl me

nor taken this to heart?m

Is it not because I have long been silentn

that you do not fear me?

12 I will expose your righteousness and your works,o

and they will not benefit you.

13 When you cry outp for help,

let your collection of idols saveq you!

The wind will carry all of them off,

a mere breath will blowr them away.

But whoever takes refuges in me

will inherit the landt

and possess my holy mountain.”u

Comfort for the Contrite

14 And it will be said:

“Build up, build up, prepare the road!v

Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”w

15 For this is what the high and exaltedx One says—

he who lives forever,y whose name is holy:

“I live in a highz and holy place,

but also with the one who is contritea and lowly in spirit,b

to revive the spirit of the lowly

and to revive the heart of the contrite.c

16 I will not accused them forever,

nor will I always be angry,e

for then they would faint away because of me—

the very peoplef I have created.

17 I was enraged by their sinful greed;g

I punished them, and hidh my face in anger,

yet they kept on in their willful ways.i

18 I have seen their ways, but I will healj them;

I will guidek them and restore comfortl to Israel’s mourners,

19 creating praise on their lips.m

Peace, peace,n to those far and near,”o

says the Lord. “And I will heal them.”

20 But the wickedp are like the tossing sea,q

which cannot rest,

whose waves cast up mirer and mud.

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

True Fasting

58 “Shout it aloud,u do not hold back.

Raise your voice like a trumpet.v

Declare to my people their rebellionw

and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.x

2 For day after day they seeky me out;

they seem eager to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that does what is right

and has not forsakenz the commands of its God.

They ask me for just decisions

and seem eager for God to come neara them.

3 ‘Why have we fasted,’b they say,

‘and you have not seen it?

Why have we humbledc ourselves,

and you have not noticed?’d

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you pleasee

and exploit all your workers.

4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,f

and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today

and expect your voice to be heardg on high.

5 Is this the kind of fasth I have chosen,

only a day for people to humblei themselves?

Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reedj

and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?k

Is that what you call a fast,

a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 “Is not this the kind of fastingl I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injusticem

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressedn free

and break every yoke?o

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungryp

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelterq—

when you see the naked, to clother them,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?s

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,t

and your healingu will quickly appear;

then your righteousnessa v will go before you,

and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.w

9 Then you will call,x and the Lord will answer;y

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

with the pointing fingerz and malicious talk,a

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,b

then your lightc will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday.d

11 The Lord will guidee you always;

he will satisfy your needsf in a sun-scorched landg

and will strengthenh your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,i

like a springj whose waters never fail.

12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruinsk

and will raise up the age-old foundations;l

you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,m

Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbathn

and from doing as you please on my holy day,

if you call the Sabbath a delighto

and the Lord’s holy day honorable,

and if you honor it by not going your own way

and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,p

14 then you will find your joyq in the Lord,

and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heightsr of the land

and to feast on the inheritances of your father Jacob.”

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.t

Sin, Confession and Redemption

59 Surely the armu of the Lord is not too shortv to save,

nor his ear too dull to hear.w

2 But your iniquities have separatedx

you from your God;

your sins have hidden his face from you,

so that he will not hear.y

3 For your hands are stained with blood,z

your fingers with guilt.a

Your lips have spoken falsely,b

and your tongue mutters wicked things.

4 No one calls for justice;c

no one pleads a case with integrity.

They relyd on empty arguments, they utter lies;e

they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.f

5 They hatch the eggs of vipersg

and spin a spider’s web.h

Whoever eats their eggs will die,

and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.

6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;

they cannot cover themselves with what they make.i

Their deeds are evil deeds,

and acts of violencej are in their hands.

7 Their feet rush into sin;

they are swift to shed innocent blood.k

They pursue evil schemes;l

acts of violence mark their ways.m

8 The way of peace they do not know;n

there is no justice in their paths.

They have turned them into crooked roads;o

no one who walks along them will know peace.p

9 So justice is far from us,

and righteousness does not reach us.

We look for light, but all is darkness;q

for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.

10 Like the blindr we grope along the wall,

feeling our way like people without eyes.

At midday we stumbles as if it were twilight;

among the strong, we are like the dead.t

11 We all growl like bears;

we moan mournfully like doves.u

We look for justice, but find none;

for deliverance, but it is far away.

12 For our offensesv are many in your sight,

and our sins testifyw against us.

Our offenses are ever with us,

and we acknowledge our iniquities:x

13 rebelliony and treachery against the Lord,

turning our backsz on our God,

inciting revolt and oppression,a

uttering liesb our hearts have conceived.

14 So justicec is driven back,

and righteousnessd stands at a distance;

truthe has stumbled in the streets,

honesty cannot enter.

15 Truthf is nowhere to be found,

and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased

that there was no justice.g

16 He saw that there was no one,h

he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;i

so his own arm achieved salvationj for him,

and his own righteousnessk sustained him.

17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,l

and the helmetm of salvation on his head;

he put on the garmentsn of vengeanceo

and wrapped himself in zealp as in a cloak.

18 According to what they have done,

so will he repayq

wrath to his enemies

and retribution to his foes;

he will repay the islandsr their due.

19 From the west,s people will fear the name of the Lord,

and from the rising of the sun,t they will revere his glory.u

For he will come like a pent-up flood

that the breathv of the Lord drives along.a

20 “The Redeemerw will come to Zion,x

to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”y

declares the Lord.

21 “As for me, this is my covenantz with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit,a who is on you, will not depart from you,b and my words that I have put in your mouthc will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

The Glory of Zion

60 “Arise,d shine, for your lighte has come,

and the gloryf of the Lord rises upon you.

2 See, darknessg covers the earth

and thick darknessh is over the peoples,

but the Lord rises upon you

and his glory appears over you.

3 Nationsi will come to your light,j

and kingsk to the brightness of your dawn.

4 “Lift up your eyes and look about you:

All assemblel and come to you;

your sons come from afar,m

and your daughtersn are carried on the hip.o

5 Then you will look and be radiant,p

your heart will throb and swell with joy;q

the wealthr on the seas will be brought to you,

to you the riches of the nations will come.

6 Herds of camelss will cover your land,

young camels of Midiant and Ephah.u

And all from Shebav will come,

bearing gold and incensew

and proclaiming the praisex of the Lord.

7 All Kedar’sy flocks will be gathered to you,

the rams of Nebaioth will serve you;

they will be accepted as offeringsz on my altar,a

and I will adorn my glorious temple.b

8 “Who are thesec that fly along like clouds,d

like doves to their nests?

9 Surely the islandse look to me;

in the lead are the ships of Tarshish,a f

bringingg your children from afar,

with their silver and gold,h

to the honori of the Lord your God,

the Holy Onej of Israel,

for he has endowed you with splendor.k

10 “Foreignersl will rebuild your walls,

and their kingsm will serve you.

Though in anger I struck you,

in favorn I will show you compassion.o

11 Your gatesp will always stand open,

they will never be shut, day or night,

so that people may bring you the wealth of the nationsq—

their kingsr led in triumphal procession.

12 For the nation or kingdom that will not serves you will perish;

it will be utterly ruined.t

13 “The glory of Lebanonu will come to you,

the juniper, the fir and the cypress together,v

to adorn my sanctuary;w

and I will glorify the place for my feet.x

14 The children of your oppressorsy will come bowing before you;

all who despise you will bow downz at your feet

and will call you the Citya of the Lord,

Zionb of the Holy Onec of Israel.

15 “Although you have been forsakend and hated,

with no one travelinge through,

I will make you the everlasting pridef

and the joyg of all generations.

16 You will drink the milk of nations

and be nursedh at royal breasts.

Then you will knowi that I, the Lord, am your Savior,j

your Redeemer,k the Mighty One of Jacob.l

17 Instead of bronze I will bring you gold,m

and silver in place of iron.

Instead of wood I will bring you bronze,

and iron in place of stones.

I will make peacen your governor

and well-being your ruler.o

18 No longer will violencep be heard in your land,

nor ruin or destructionq within your borders,

but you will call your walls Salvationr

and your gates Praise.s

19 The sun will no more be your light by day,

nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,

for the Lord will be your everlasting light,t

and your God will be your glory.u

20 Your sunv will never set again,

and your moon will wane no more;

the Lord will be your everlasting light,

and your days of sorroww will end.

21 Then all your people will be righteousx

and they will possessy the land forever.

They are the shoot I have planted,z

the work of my hands,a

for the display of my splendor.b

22 The least of you will become a thousand,

the smallest a mighty nation.c

I am the Lord;

in its time I will do this swiftly.”d