Isaiah 57
Common English Bible
57 The righteous person perishes,
and no one takes it to heart.
Loyal people are gathered together,
and no one understands that because of evil
the righteous one passed away.
2 They will find peace;
those who walk in straight paths
will find rest on their burial beds.
Accusations against idolators
3 Come here, you children of sorcery,
offspring of adultery and prostitution!
4 Whom are you mocking?
Against whom do you open your mouth wide
and stick out your tongue?
Aren’t you children of rebellion, offspring of lies,
5 who console yourselves with idols under every green tree,
who slaughter children in the valleys, under the rocky cliffs?
6 You belong with the smooth talkers[a] in the valley;
they, they are your lot.
For them you poured out a drink offering,
and presented a grain offering.
Should I condone these things?
7 On a very high mountain you made your bed.
You went up there to offer a sacrifice.
8 Behind the door and the doorpost
you placed your symbols.
You abandoned me and lay down,
making room in your bed
and making deals for yourself with them.[b]
You loved their bed;
you saw their nakedness.
9 You went down to Molech[c] with oil,
and you slathered on your ointments;
you sent your messengers far away,
sent them down to the underworld.[d]
10 Worn out by all your efforts,
yet you wouldn’t say, “This is useless.”
You found new strength;
therefore, you weren’t tired.
11 Whom did you dread and fear so that you lied,
didn’t remember me or give me a thought?
Isn’t it because I was silent and closed my eyes
that you stopped fearing me?
12 I will bring evidence about your righteousness and your actions;
they won’t help you.
13 When you cry out,
let those things you’ve gathered save you!
The wind will lift them all;
one breath will take them away.
but those taking refuge in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.
Peace for the remorseful
14 It will be said: “Survey, survey; build a road!
Remove barriers from my people’s road!”
15 The one who is high and lifted up,
who lives forever, whose name is holy, says:
I live on high, in holiness,
and also with the crushed[e] and the lowly,
reviving the spirit of the lowly,
reviving the heart of those who have been crushed.[f]
16 I won’t always accuse,
nor will I be enraged forever.
It is my own doing that their spirit is exhausted—
I gave them breath!
17 I was enraged about their illegal profits;
I struck them; in rage I withdrew from them.
Yet they went on wandering wherever they wanted.
18 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them.
I will guide them,
and reward them with comfort.
And for those who mourn,
19 I will create reason for praise:[g]
utter prosperity to those far and near,
and I will heal them, says the Lord.
20 But the wicked are like the churning sea that can’t keep still.
They churn up from their waters muck and mud.
21 There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 57:6 Or smooth things
- Isaiah 57:8 Heb uncertain
- Isaiah 57:9 Or the king
- Isaiah 57:9 Heb Sheol
- Isaiah 57:15 Or contrite
- Isaiah 57:15 Or contrite
- Isaiah 57:19 Heb uncertain
Isaiah 57
English Standard Version
Israel's Futile Idolatry
57 The righteous man perishes,
and no one lays it to heart;
(A)devout men are taken away,
while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;
2 (B)he enters into peace;
they rest (C)in their beds
who walk in their uprightness.
3 But you, draw near,
sons of the sorceress,
(D)offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
4 Whom are you mocking?
Against whom (E)do you open your mouth wide
and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of (F)transgression,
(G)the offspring of deceit,
5 you who burn with lust among (H)the oaks,[a]
under every green tree,
(I)who slaughter your children in the valleys,
under the clefts of the rocks?
6 Among the smooth stones of (J)the valley is your portion;
they, they, are your lot;
to them you have poured out a drink offering,
you have brought a grain offering.
Shall I relent for these things?
7 (K)On a high and lofty mountain
you have set your bed,
and there you went up to offer sacrifice.
8 Behind the door and the doorpost
you have set up your memorial;
for, deserting me, (L)you have uncovered your bed,
you have gone up to it,
(M)you have made it wide;
and you have made a covenant for yourself with them,
you have loved their bed,
you have looked on nakedness.[b]
9 You journeyed to the king with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
(N)you sent your envoys far off,
and sent down even to Sheol.
10 You were wearied with the length of your way,
(O)but you did not say, “It is hopeless”;
you found new life for your strength,
and so you were not faint.[c]
11 (P)Whom did you dread and fear,
(Q)so that you lied,
and did not remember me,
did not lay it to heart?
(R)Have I not held my peace, even for a long time,
and you do not fear me?
12 I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
but they will not profit you.
13 (S)When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry them all off,
a breath will take them away.
(T)But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land
and shall inherit (U)my holy mountain.
Comfort for the Contrite
14 And it shall be said,
(V)“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
remove every obstruction from my people's way.”
15 For thus says (W)the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is (X)Holy:
(Y)“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also (Z)with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
(AA)to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
16 (AB)For I will not contend forever,
nor will I always be angry;
for the spirit would grow faint before me,
and the breath of life that I made.
17 Because of the iniquity of his (AC)unjust gain I was angry,
I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
18 I have seen his ways, (AD)but I will heal him;
I will lead him (AE)and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
19 (AF)creating (AG)the fruit of the lips.
(AH)Peace, peace, (AI)to the far and to the near,” says the Lord,
(AJ)“and I will heal him.
20 (AK)But the wicked are like the tossing sea;
for it cannot be quiet,
and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
21 (AL)There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 57:5 Or among the terebinths
- Isaiah 57:8 Or on a monument (see 56:5); Hebrew on a hand
- Isaiah 57:10 Hebrew and so you were not sick
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
