Isaiah 56
Living Bible
56 Be just and fair to all, the Lord God says. Do what’s right and good, for I am coming soon to rescue you. 2 Blessed is the man who refuses to work during my Sabbath days of rest, but honors them; and blessed is the man who checks himself from doing wrong.
3 And my blessings are for Gentiles, too, when they accept the Lord; don’t let them think that I will make them second-class citizens. And this is for the eunuchs too. They can be as much mine as anyone. 4 For I say this to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths holy, who choose the things that please me and obey my laws: 5 I will give them—in my house, within my walls—a name far greater than the honor they would receive from having sons and daughters. For the name that I will give them is an everlasting one; it will never disappear.
6 As for the Gentiles, the outsiders who join the people of the Lord and serve him and love his name, who are his servants and don’t desecrate the Sabbath, and have accepted his covenant and promises, 7 I will bring them also to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and make them full of joy within my House of Prayer.
I will accept their sacrifices and offerings, for my Temple shall be called “A House of Prayer for All People”! 8 For the Lord God who brings back the outcasts of Israel says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.
9 Come, wild animals of the field; come, tear apart the sheep; come, wild animals of the forest, devour my people.[a] 10 For the leaders of my people—the Lord’s watchmen, his shepherds—are all blind to every danger. They are featherbrained and give no warning when danger comes. They love to lie there, love to sleep, to dream. 11 And they are as greedy as dogs, never satisfied; they are stupid shepherds who only look after their own interest, each trying to get as much as he can for himself from every possible source.
12 “Come,” they say. “We’ll get some wine and have a party; let’s all get drunk. This is really living; let it go on and on, and tomorrow will be even better!”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 56:9 devour my people, implied.
Isaiah 56
New English Translation
The Lord Invites Outsiders to Enter
56 This is what the Lord says,
“Promote[a] justice! Do what is right!
For I am ready to deliver you;
I am ready to vindicate you openly.[b]
2 The people who do this will be blessed,[c]
the people who commit themselves to obedience,[d]
who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,
who refrain from doing anything that is wrong.[e]
3 No foreigner who becomes a follower of[f] the Lord should say,
‘The Lord will certainly[g] exclude me from his people.’
The eunuch should not say,
‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’”
4 For this is what the Lord says:
“For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths
and choose what pleases me
and are faithful to[h] my covenant,
5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument[i]
that will be better than sons and daughters.
I will set up a permanent monument[j] for them that will remain.
6 As for foreigners who become followers of[k] the Lord and serve him,
who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants—
all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,
and who are faithful to[l] my covenant—
7 I will bring them to my holy mountain;
I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me.[m]
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar,
for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray.”[n]
8 The Sovereign Lord says this,
the one who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
“I will still gather them up.”[o]
The Lord Denounces Israel’s Paganism
9 All you wild animals in the fields, come and devour,
all you wild animals in the forest!
10 All their watchmen[p] are blind,
they are unaware.[q]
All of them are like mute dogs,
unable to bark.
They pant,[r] lie down,
and love to snooze.
11 The dogs have big appetites;
they are never full.[s]
They are shepherds who have no understanding;
they all go their own way,
each one looking for monetary gain.[t]
12 Each one says,[u]
‘Come on, I’ll get some wine!
Let’s guzzle some beer!
Tomorrow will be just like today!
We’ll have everything we want!’[v]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 56:1 tn Heb “guard”; KJV “Keep”; NAB “Observe”; NASB “Preserve”; NIV, NRSV “Maintain.”
- Isaiah 56:1 tn Heb “for near is my deliverance to enter, and my vindication [or “righteousness”] to be revealed.”
- Isaiah 56:2 tn Heb “blessed is the man who does this.”
- Isaiah 56:2 tn Heb “the son of mankind who takes hold of it.”
- Isaiah 56:2 tn Heb and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
- Isaiah 56:3 tn Heb “who attaches himself to.”
- Isaiah 56:3 tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
- Isaiah 56:4 tn Heb “and take hold of” (so KJV); NASB “hold fast.”
- Isaiah 56:5 tn Heb “a hand and a name.” For other examples where יָד (yad) refers to a monument, see HALOT 388 s.v.
- Isaiah 56:5 tn Heb “name” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).
- Isaiah 56:6 tn Heb “who attach themselves to.”
- Isaiah 56:6 tn Heb “and take hold of”; NAB “hold to”; NIV, NRSV “hold fast.”
- Isaiah 56:7 tn Heb “in the house of my prayer.”
- Isaiah 56:7 tn Heb “for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”
- Isaiah 56:8 tn The meaning of the statement is unclear. The text reads literally, “Still I will gather upon him to his gathered ones.” Perhaps the preposition ל (lamed) before “gathered ones” introduces the object of the verb, as in Jer 49:5. The third masculine singular suffix on both עָלָיו (ʿalayv) and נִקְבָּצָיו (niqbatsayv) probably refers to “Israel.” In this case one can translate literally, “Still I will gather to him his gathered ones.”
- Isaiah 56:10 sn The “watchmen” are probably spiritual leaders, most likely prophets and priests, responsible for giving the people moral direction.
- Isaiah 56:10 tn Heb “they do not know”; KJV “they are all ignorant”; NIV “they all lack knowledge.”
- Isaiah 56:10 tn The Hebrew text has הֹזִים (hozim), which appears to be derived from an otherwise unattested verbal root הָזָה (hazah). On the basis of alleged cognates, BDB 223 s.v. הָזָה offers the definition “dream, rave” while HALOT 243 s.v. הזה lists “pant.” In this case the dog metaphor of the preceding lines continues. The reference to dogs at the beginning of v. 11 favors the extension of the metaphor. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has חזים (“seers”) here. In this case the “watchmen” are directly identified as prophets and depicted as lazy.
- Isaiah 56:11 sn The phrase never full alludes to the greed of the leaders.
- Isaiah 56:11 tn Heb “for his gain from his end.”
- Isaiah 56:12 tn The words “each one says” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Isaiah 56:12 tn Heb “great, [in] abundance, very much,” i.e., “very great indeed.” See HALOT 452 s.v. יֶתֶר.
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