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Isaiah 56
New International Version
Isaiah 56
New International Version
Salvation for Others
56 This is what the Lord says:
“Maintain justice(A)
and do what is right,(B)
for my salvation(C) is close at hand
and my righteousness(D) will soon be revealed.
2 Blessed(E) is the one who does this—
the person who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath(F) without desecrating it,
and keeps their hands from doing any evil.”
3 Let no foreigner(G) who is bound to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.”(H)
And let no eunuch(I) complain,
“I am only a dry tree.”
4 For this is what the Lord says:
“To the eunuchs(J) who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant(K)—
5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls(L)
a memorial(M) and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name(N)
that will endure forever.(O)
6 And foreigners(P) who bind themselves to the Lord
to minister(Q) to him,
to love the name(R) of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath(S) without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant—
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain(T)
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices(U)
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations.(V)”(W)
8 The Sovereign Lord declares—
he who gathers the exiles of Israel:
“I will gather(X) still others to them
besides those already gathered.”
God’s Accusation Against the Wicked
9 Come, all you beasts of the field,(Y)
come and devour, all you beasts of the forest!
10 Israel’s watchmen(Z) are blind,
they all lack knowledge;(AA)
they are all mute dogs,
they cannot bark;
they lie around and dream,
they love to sleep.(AB)
11 They are dogs with mighty appetites;
they never have enough.
They are shepherds(AC) who lack understanding;(AD)
they all turn to their own way,(AE)
they seek their own gain.(AF)
12 “Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine!(AG)
Let us drink our fill of beer!
And tomorrow will be like today,
or even far better.”(AH)
Isaiah 56
Expanded Bible
Isaiah 56
Expanded Bible
All Nations Will Obey the Lord
56 This is what the Lord says:
“·Give justice to all people [Promote justice],
and ·do what is right [practice righteousness],
because my salvation ·will come to you soon [draws near].
Soon ·everyone will know that I do what is right [my righteousness will be revealed].
2 The person who ·obeys the law about [keeps from defiling] the Sabbath
will be blessed,
and the ·person [L son of man] who ·does no [keeps his hand from doing] evil
will be blessed.”
3 Foreigners who have ·joined [committed to] the Lord should not say,
“The Lord will ·not accept me with [L exclude/separate me from] his people [14:1].”
The eunuch should not say,
“·Because I cannot have children, the Lord will not accept me [L Look, I am a dry tree].”
4 This is what the Lord says:
“This is for the eunuchs who ·obey the law about the Sabbath [keep my Sabbaths]
and ·do what I want [choose what pleases me]
and ·keep [hold firmly to] my ·agreement [covenant]:
5 I will ·make their names remembered [L set up a memorial/monument and a name]
within my ·Temple [L house] and its walls.
It will be better for them than ·children [L sons and daughters].
I will give them a name that will last forever,
that will ·never be forgotten [L not be cut off].
6 As for the foreigners who ·join [commit themselves to] the Lord
to ·worship [minister to] him and love ·him [L his name],
to serve him,
to ·obey the law about [keep from defiling] the Sabbath,
and to ·keep [hold firmly to] my ·agreement [covenant]:
7 I will bring these people to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
The offerings and sacrifices
they place on my altar will ·please me [be accepted],
because my Temple will be called
a house for prayer for people from all nations [Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46].”
8 The Lord God says—
he who gathers the ·Israelites that were forced to leave their country [outcasts/exiles of Israel]:
“I will ·bring together [gather] other people
to join those who are already gathered.”
Israel’s Leaders Are Evil
9 All you ·animals [beasts] of the field,
all you animals of the forest, come to ·eat [devour].
10 ·The leaders who are to guard the people [L His watchmen; 62:6] are blind;
they ·don’t know what they are doing [lack knowledge; are ignorant].
All of them are like ·quiet [mute; or muzzled] dogs
that ·don’t know how to [cannot] bark.
They lie down and dream
and love to sleep.
11 They are like ·hungry [greedy; ravenous] dogs
that are never satisfied.
They are like shepherds
who ·don’t know what they are doing [lack understanding; are ignorant; Ezek. 34:2–3].
They all have gone their own way;
·all they want to do is satisfy themselves [each seeks their own gain/profit].
12 They say, “Come, let’s drink some wine;
let’s ·drink all the [fill ourselves with] ·beer [T strong drink; C alcoholic beverage made from grain] we want.
And tomorrow ·we will do this again [will be like today],
·or, maybe we will have an even better time [even better; or it will be very great indeed; L very much abundantly great].”
Isaiah 56
New English Translation
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.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
Expanded Bible (EXB)
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
New English Translation (NET)
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