Isaiah 56-57
Holman Christian Standard Bible
A House of Prayer for All
56 This is what the Lord says:
Preserve justice and do what is right,(A)
for My salvation is coming soon,
and My righteousness will be revealed.(B)
2 Happy is the man who does this,
anyone who maintains this,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil.(C)
3 No foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord
should say,
“The Lord will exclude me from His people”;(D)
and the eunuch should not say,
“Look, I am a dried-up tree.”(E)
4 For the Lord says this:
“For the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,
and choose what pleases Me,
and hold firmly to My covenant,
5 I will give them, in My house and within My walls,
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters.
I will give each of them an everlasting name
that will never be cut off.(F)
6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord
minister to Him, love the name of Yahweh
and become His servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold firmly to My covenant—
7 I will bring them to My holy mountain(G)
and let them rejoice in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be acceptable on My altar,(H)
for My house will be called a house of prayer
for all nations.”(I)
8 This is the declaration of the Lord God,
who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
“I will gather to them still others
besides those already gathered.”(J)
Unrighteous Leaders Condemned
9 All you animals of the field and forest,
come and eat!
10 Israel’s[a] watchmen are blind, all of them,
they know nothing;
all of them are mute dogs,
they cannot bark;
they dream, lie down,
and love to sleep.
11 These dogs have fierce appetites;
they never have enough.
And they are shepherds
who have no discernment;
all of them turn to their own way,
every last one for his own gain.(K)
12 “Come, let me get some wine,
let’s guzzle some beer;
and tomorrow will be like today,
only far better!”(L)
57 The righteous one perishes,
and no one takes it to heart;
faithful men are swept away,
with no one realizing
that the righteous one is swept away
from the presence[b] of evil.
2 He will enter into peace—
they will rest on their beds[c]—
everyone who lives uprightly.
Pagan Religion Denounced
3 But come here,
you sons of a sorceress,
offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute![d]
4 Who is it you are mocking?
Who is it you are opening your mouth
and sticking out your tongue at?
Isn’t it you, you rebellious children,(M)
you race of liars,
5 who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree,(N)
who slaughter children in the wadis
below the clefts of the rocks?(O)
6 Your portion is among the smooth stones of the wadi;
indeed, they are your lot.
You have even poured out a drink offering to them;
you have offered a grain offering;
should I be satisfied with these?
7 You have placed your bed
on a high and lofty mountain;(P)
you also went up there to offer sacrifice.
8 You have set up your memorial
behind the door and doorpost.
For away from Me, you stripped,
went up, and made your bed wide,(Q)
and you have made a bargain[e] for yourself with them.
You have loved their bed;
you have gazed on their genitals.[f][g]
9 You went to the king with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
you sent your couriers far away(R)
and sent them down even to Sheol.
10 You became weary on your many journeys,
but you did not say, “I give up!”(S)
You found a renewal of your strength;[h]
therefore you did not grow weak.
11 Who was it you dreaded and feared,
so that you lied and didn’t remember Me
or take it to heart?
Have I not kept silent for such a long time[i](T)
and you do not fear Me?
12 I will expose your righteousness,
and your works—they will not profit you.
13 When you cry out,
let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry all of them off,
a breath will take them away.
But whoever takes refuge in Me
will inherit the land(U)
and possess My holy mountain.(V)
Healing and Peace
14 He said,
“Build it up, build it up, prepare the way,
remove every obstacle from My people’s way.”(W)
15 For the High and Exalted One
who lives forever, whose name is Holy(X) says this:
“I live in a high and holy place,
and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit,(Y)
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and revive the heart of the oppressed.(Z)
16 For I will not accuse you forever,
and I will not always be angry;(AA)
for then the spirit would grow weak before Me,
even the breath of man, which I have made.
17 Because of his sinful greed I was angry,(AB)
so I struck him; I was angry and hid;[j]
but he went on turning back to the desires of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort
to him and his mourners,(AC)
19 creating words of praise.”[k](AD)
The Lord says,
“Peace, peace to the one who is far or near,(AE)
and I will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea,(AF)
for it cannot be still,
and its waters churn up mire and muck.
21 There is no peace for the wicked,”
says my God.(AG)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 56:10 Or His, or Its
- Isaiah 57:1 Or away because
- Isaiah 57:2 Either their deathbeds or their graves
- Isaiah 57:3 Lit and she acted as a prostitute
- Isaiah 57:8 Lit you cut
- Isaiah 57:8 Lit hand
- Isaiah 57:8 In Hb, the word hand is probably a euphemism for “genitals.”
- Isaiah 57:10 Lit found life of your hand
- Isaiah 57:11 LXX reads And I, when I see you, I pass by
- Isaiah 57:17 Lit him; hiding and I am angry
- Isaiah 57:19 Lit creating fruit of the lips
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
