All Nations Can Be Saved

56 The Lord says, “Hold on to what is right and fair. Do what is right and good. My saving power will soon come, and I will show what is right. ² How happy is the man who does this, and the son of man who takes hold of it! How happy is he who keeps the Day of Rest holy, and keeps his hand from doing wrong.” ³ Let not the man from a strange land who has joined the Lord say, “For sure the Lord will keep me away from His people.” Let not the man who had been made so that he could not have children say, “See, I am a dry tree.” ⁴ To these the Lord says, “If these servants keep My Days of Rest and choose what pleases Me, and hold on to My agreement, ⁵ I will give them something in My house and within My walls to be remembered. I will give them a name better than that of sons and daughters, a name that will be forever and never be cut off.

⁶ “And those from a strange land who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him and to love His name, to be His servants, and keep the Day of Rest holy, and keep My agreement, ⁷ even those I will bring to My holy mountain and give them joy in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and gifts will be received on My altar. For My house will be called a house of prayer for all people.” ⁸ The Lord God Who gathers the people of Israel from other lands says, “I will gather yet others to them, besides those already gathered.”

Israel’s Sinful Leaders

⁹ All you animals of the field, all you animals among the trees, come to eat. ¹⁰ The men of Israel who keep watch are blind to trouble. They know very little. They are all dogs that cannot make noise. They dream and lie down, and love to sleep. ¹¹ The dogs are hungry and never have enough. The shepherds have no understanding. They have all turned to their own way, each one wanting to get things for himself that are not his. ¹² “Come,” they say, “let us get wine. Let us drink much strong drink. And tomorrow will be even better than today.”

False Gods Must Be Put Away

57 “The man who is right and good dies, and no one cares. Very good men are taken away, while no one understands. But the man who is right with God is taken away from what is sinful, ² and goes where there is peace. They have rest in their graves, each one who walked in the right way. ³ But come here, you sons of a witch, children of a man who does sex sins and a woman who sells the use of her body. ⁴ Against whom are you making fun? Against whom do you open your mouth wide and put out your tongue? Are you not children of sin, the young ones of lies? ⁵ You burn with desire with your false gods under every green tree. You put your children on the altar of your false gods in the valleys under high rocks that hang over. ⁶ Your part is among the smooth stones of the valley. They are what you get. You have poured out drink gifts to them and given grain gifts. Should I be pleased about these things? ⁷ You have made your bed on a high mountain. And you went up there to give your gifts in worship. ⁸ You have put up your false gods behind the door on the other side. You have turned away from Me and have taken the covering off yourself. You have gone up and made your bed wide. You have made an agreement for yourselves with them. You have loved their bed, and have looked upon their bodies. ⁹ You have traveled to the king with oil and much perfume. You have sent your men with gifts a very long way, and made them go down to the place of the dead. ¹⁰ You were tired because your road was so long, yet you did not say, ‘There is no hope.’ You found new strength, so you did not become weak.

¹¹ “Of whom were you afraid, when you lied, and did not remember Me or think about Me? Have I not been quiet for a long time, so you are not afraid of Me? ¹² I will make known how right you are and what you have done, but it will not help you. ¹³ When you cry out, let the false gods that you have take you out of trouble. The wind will carry them away. A breath will take them away. But he who comes to Me to be safe will receive the land. My holy mountain will be his.”

God’s Promise for Help

¹⁴ It will be said, “Build up, build up, make the way ready. Take everything out of the way of My people.” ¹⁵ For the high and honored One Who lives forever, Whose name is Holy, says, “I live in the high and holy place. And I also live with those who are sorry for their sins and have turned from them and are not proud. I give new strength to the spirit of those without pride, and also to those whose hearts are sorry for their sins. ¹⁶ I will keep on fighting against you, and will not always be angry, for then your spirit would become weak before Me, the ones to whom I gave life. ¹⁷ Because of the sin of his desire to get more of everything, I was angry. I punished him and hid My face in anger. He went on sinning, following the way of his own heart. ¹⁸ I have seen his ways and will heal him. I will lead him and give comfort to him and to those who have sorrow for him. ¹⁹ I will make the lips to praise. Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near,” says the Lord, “and I will heal him.” ²⁰ But the sinful are like the troubled sea, for it cannot rest. Its waters throw up mud and dirt. ²¹ “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the sinful.”

Going without Food Pleases God

58 “Cry with a loud voice. Do not hold back. Raise your voice like a horn, and show My people their wrong-doing and the family of Jacob their sins. ² Yet they look for Me day by day, and are happy to know My ways, as a nation that has done what is right and good, and has not turned away from the Law of their God. They ask Me to be fair in what I decide, and they are happy to come near to God. ³ They say, ‘Why have we gone without food, and You do not see it? Why have we put away our pride, and You do not know it?’ See, on the day you do not eat, you do what you want to do, and make it hard for all your workers. ⁴ See, while you go without food you argue and fight and hit with a sinful hand. Going without food as you do today will not help your voice to be heard on high. ⁵ Is it a time without eating like this that I choose, a day for a man to put away his pride? Is it for bowing his head like a piece of grass, and to spread ashes and cloth made from hair for his bed? Will you call this time without eating a day that pleases the Lord? ⁶ Is not the time without eating which I choose, a time to take off the chains of sin, and to take the heavy load of sin off the neck? Is it not a time to let those who suffer under a sinful power go free, and to break every load from their neck? ⁷ Is it not a time to share your food with the hungry, and bring the poor man into your house who has no home of his own? Is it not a time to give clothes to the person you see who has no clothes, and a time not to hide yourself from your own family? ⁸ Then your light will break out like the early morning, and you will soon be healed. Your right and good works will go before you. And the shining-greatness of the Lord will keep watch behind you. ⁹ Then you will call, and the Lord will answer. You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take the weight of sin away, and stop putting the blame on others and stop speaking sinful things, ¹⁰ and if you give what you have to the hungry, and fill the needs of those who suffer, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your darkness will be like the brightest time of day. ¹¹ The Lord will always lead you. He will meet the needs of your soul in the dry times and give strength to your body. You will be like a garden that has enough water, like a well of water that never dries up. ¹² And your cities which were destroyed long ago will be built again. You will set up the stones of the bases of the old buildings. You will be called the one who builds again the broken walls, and who makes the streets on which people live like new.

¹³ “If you keep from doing what pleases you on the Day of Rest, on My holy day and call the Day of Rest a happy time, and respect the holy day of the Lord, and if you honor it by turning from your own ways, and from following your own desire and by not talking in a foolish way, ¹⁴ then you will have joy in the Lord. I will cause you to ride on the high places of the earth. And I will feed you with the best from the land given to your father Jacob. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

3 When we could wait no longer, we decided it was best to stay in the city of Athens alone. ² And we sent Timothy to you. He works with us for God, teaching the Good News of Christ. We sent him to give strength and comfort to your faith. ³ We do not want anyone to give up because of troubles. You know that we can expect troubles. ⁴ Even when we were with you, we told you that much trouble would come to us. It has come as you can see. ⁵ For this reason, I could wait no longer. I sent Timothy to find out about your faith. I was afraid the devil had tempted you. Then our work with you would be wasted.

⁶ But Timothy has come to us from you. He brought good news about your faith and love. It is good to know that you think well of us and that you would like to see us. We would like to see you also. ⁷ Christian brothers, word about your faith has made us happy even while we are suffering and are in much trouble. ⁸ It is life to us to know that your faith in the Lord is strong. ⁹ How can we give God enough thanks for you for all the joy you give us? ¹⁰ We keep on praying night and day that we may see you again. We want to help your faith to be complete. ¹¹ May our God and Father Himself and the Lord Jesus Christ take us on our way to you. ¹² May the Lord make you grow in love for each other and for everyone. We have this kind of love for you. ¹³ May our God and Father make your hearts strong and without blame. May your hearts be without sin in God’s sight when our Lord Jesus comes again with all those who belong to Him.