Isaiah 56

New King James Version

Salvation for the Gentiles

56 Thus says the Lord:

“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
^(A)For My salvation is about to come,
And My righteousness to be revealed.
²Blessed is the man who does this,
And the son of man who lays hold on it;
^(B)Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

³Do not let ^(C)the son of the foreigner
Who has joined himself to the Lord
Speak, saying,
“The Lord has utterly separated me from His people”;
Nor let the ^(D)eunuch say,
“Here I am, a dry tree.”
⁴For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,
And choose what pleases Me,
And hold fast My covenant,
⁵Even to them I will give in ^(E)My house
And within My walls a place ^(F)and a name
Better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give ^[a]them an everlasting name
That shall not be cut off.

⁶“Also the sons of the foreigner
Who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him,
And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants—
Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And holds fast My covenant—
⁷Even them I will ^(G)bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My ^(H)house of prayer.
^(I)Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be ^(J)accepted on My altar;
For ^(K)My house shall be called a house of prayer ^(L)for all nations.”
⁸The Lord God, ^(M)who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says,
^(N)“Yet I will gather to him
Others besides those who are gathered to him.”

Israel’s Irresponsible Leaders

⁹^(O)All you beasts of the field, come to devour,
All you beasts in the forest.
¹⁰His watchmen are ^(P)blind,
They are all ignorant;
^(Q)They are all dumb dogs,
They cannot bark;
^[b]Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
¹¹Yes, they are ^(R)greedy^[c] dogs
Which ^(S)never^[d] have enough.
And they are shepherds
Who cannot understand;
They all look to their own way,
Every one for his own gain,
From his own territory.
¹²“Come,” one says, “I will bring wine,
And we will fill ourselves with intoxicating ^(T)drink;
^(U)Tomorrow will be ^(V)as today,
And much more abundant.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 56:5 Lit. him
Isaiah 56:10 Or Dreaming
Isaiah 56:11 Lit. strong of soul
Isaiah 56:11 Lit. do not know satisfaction

Jeremiah 10

New King James Version

Idols and the True God

10 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.

²Thus says the Lord:

^(A)“Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;
Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven,
For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.
³For the customs of the peoples are ^[a]futile;
For ^(B)one cuts a tree from the forest,
The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
⁴They decorate it with silver and gold;
They ^(C)fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not topple.
⁵They are upright, like a palm tree,
And ^(D)they cannot speak;
They must be ^(E)carried,
Because they cannot go by themselves.
Do not be afraid of them,
For ^(F)they cannot do evil,
Nor can they do any good.”

⁶Inasmuch as there is none ^(G)like You, O Lord
(You are great, and Your name is great in might),
⁷^(H)Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?
For this is Your rightful due.
For ^(I)among all the wise men of the nations,
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
⁸But they are altogether ^(J)dull-hearted and foolish;
A wooden idol is a ^[b]worthless doctrine.
⁹Silver is beaten into plates;
It is brought from Tarshish,
And ^(K)gold from Uphaz,
The work of the craftsman
And of the hands of the metalsmith;
Blue and purple are their clothing;
They are all ^(L)the work of skillful men.
¹⁰But the Lord is the true God;
He is ^(M)the living God and the ^(N)everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth will tremble,
And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.

¹¹Thus you shall say to them: ^(O)“The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth ^(P)shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”

¹²He ^(Q)has made the earth by His power,
He has ^(R)established the world by His wisdom,
And ^(S)has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.
¹³^(T)When He utters His voice,
There is a ^[c]multitude of waters in the heavens:
^(U)“And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”

¹⁴^(V)Everyone is ^(W)dull-hearted, without knowledge;
^(X)Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image;
^(Y)For his molded image is falsehood,
And there is no breath in them.
¹⁵They are futile, a work of errors;
In the time of their punishment they shall perish.
¹⁶^(Z)The Portion of Jacob is not like them,
For He is the Maker of all things,
And ^(AA)Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
^(AB)The Lord of hosts is His name.

The Coming Captivity of Judah

¹⁷^(AC)Gather up your wares from the land,
O ^[d]inhabitant of the fortress!

¹⁸For thus says the Lord:

“Behold, I will ^(AD)throw out at this time
The inhabitants of the land,
And will distress them,
^(AE)That they may find it so.”

¹⁹^(AF)Woe is me for my hurt!
My wound is severe.
But I say, ^(AG)“Truly this is an infirmity,
And ^(AH)I must bear it.”
²⁰^(AI)My tent is plundered,
And all my cords are broken;
My children have gone from me,
And they are ^(AJ)no more.
There is no one to pitch my tent anymore,
Or set up my curtains.

²¹For the shepherds have become dull-hearted,
And have not sought the Lord;
Therefore they shall not prosper,
And all their flocks shall be ^(AK)scattered.
²²Behold, the noise of the report has come,
And a great commotion out of the ^(AL)north country,
To make the cities of Judah desolate, a ^(AM)den of jackals.

²³O Lord, I know the ^(AN)way of man is not in himself;
It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.
²⁴O Lord, ^(AO)correct me, but with justice;
Not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing.
²⁵^(AP)Pour out Your fury on the Gentiles, ^(AQ)who do not know You,
And on the families who do not call on Your name;
For they have eaten up Jacob,
^(AR)Devoured him and consumed him,
And made his dwelling place desolate.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 10:3 Lit. vanity
Jeremiah 10:8 vain teaching
Jeremiah 10:13 Or noise
Jeremiah 10:17 Or you who dwell under siege

Ezekiel 34

New King James Version

Irresponsible Shepherds

34 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: ^(A)“Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? ³^(B)You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you ^(C)slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. ⁴^(D)The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor ^(E)sought what was lost; but with ^(F)force and ^[a]cruelty you have ruled them. ⁵^(G)So they were ^(H)scattered because there was no shepherd; ^(I)and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. ⁶My sheep ^(J)wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.”

⁷‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸“As I live,” says the Lord God, “surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock ^(K)became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, ^(L)but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock”— ⁹therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord! ¹⁰Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am ^(M)against the shepherds, and ^(N)I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall ^(O)feed themselves no more; for I will ^(P)deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.”

God, the True Shepherd

¹¹‘For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. ¹²As a ^(Q)shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on ^(R)a cloudy and dark day. ¹³And ^(S)I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, ^[b]in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. ¹⁴^(T)I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. ^(U)There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord God. ¹⁶^(V)“I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy ^(W)the fat and the strong, and feed them ^(X)in judgment.”

¹⁷‘And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord God: ^(Y)“Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats. ¹⁸Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the ^[c]residue of your pasture—and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet? ¹⁹And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet.”

²⁰‘Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: ^(Z)“Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep. ²¹Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad, ²²therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. ²³I will establish one ^(AA)shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—^(AB)My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴And ^(AC)I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David ^(AD)a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.

²⁵^(AE)“I will make a covenant of peace with them, and ^(AF)cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they ^(AG)will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶I will make them and the places all around ^(AH)My hill ^(AI)a blessing; and I will ^(AJ)cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be ^(AK)showers of blessing. ²⁷Then ^(AL)the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have ^(AM)broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who ^(AN)enslaved them. ²⁸And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but ^(AO)they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. ²⁹I will raise up for them a ^(AP)garden^[d] of renown, and they shall ^(AQ)no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, ^(AR)nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore. ³⁰Thus they shall know that ^(AS)I, the Lord their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are ^(AT)My people,” says the Lord God.’