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“But draw near here, you sons of a sorceress,
    you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes.
Whom do you mock?
    Against whom do you make a wide mouth
    and stick out your tongue?
Aren’t you children of disobedience
    and offspring of falsehood,
you who inflame yourselves among the oaks,
    under every green tree;
who kill the children in the valleys,
    under the clefts of the rocks?
Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion.
    They, they are your lot.
You have even poured a drink offering to them.
    You have offered an offering.
    Shall I be appeased for these things?
On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed.
    You also went up there to offer sacrifice.
You have set up your memorial behind the doors and the posts,
    for you have exposed yourself to someone besides me,
    and have gone up.
You have enlarged your bed
    and made you a covenant with them.
    You loved what you saw on their bed.
You went to the king with oil,
    increased your perfumes,
    sent your ambassadors far off,
    and degraded yourself even to Sheol.[a]
10 You were wearied with the length of your ways;
    yet you didn’t say, ‘It is in vain.’
You found a reviving of your strength;
    therefore you weren’t faint.

11 “Whom have you dreaded and feared,
    so that you lie,
    and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart?
Haven’t I held my peace for a long time,
    and you don’t fear me?
12 I will declare your righteousness;
    and as for your works, they will not benefit you.
13 When you cry,
    let those whom you have gathered deliver you;
but the wind will take them.
    a breath will carry them all away:
but he who takes refuge in me will possess the land,
    and will inherit my holy mountain.”

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Footnotes

  1. 57:9 Sheol is the place of the dead.

“But[a] you, come near here, you children of a soothsayer,
    offspring of an adulterer and she who commits fornication.
At whom do you make fun?
    At whom do you open[b] your mouth and stick out[c] your tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
    offspring of deception,
who burn with lust among the oaks,
    under every leafy tree,
who slaughter children in the valleys,
    under the clefts of the rocks?
Your portion is among the smooth stones of the valley;
    they, they are your lot;
indeed, to them you have poured out a drink offering,
    you have brought a food offering.

Shall I relent concerning these things?

You have set your bed upon a high and lofty mountain;
    indeed, you went up there to slaughter sacrifice.
And you have set your symbol behind the door and the doorpost;
    for you depart[d] from me, and you go up;
you make your bed wide, and you make a deal with[e] them,
    you have loved their bed; you have seen their genitals.[f]
And you climbed down to the king with oil,
    and you made your perfumes numerous,
and you sent your envoys far away,[g]
    and you sent down deep[h] to Sheol.
10 You grow weary by the greatness of your way,
    but you did not say, ‘Despairing!’
You found the renewal[i] of your strength,[j]
    therefore you do not grow weak.
11 And of whom were you afraid and feared, that you deceived
    and did not remember me?
    Did you not place it on your heart?
Have I not been silent, even from long ago,
    and so you do not fear me?
12 I myself will declare your righteousness and your works,
    but[k] they will not benefit you.
13 When you cry,[l] let your collection deliver you,
    and the wind will carry all of them away;
    a breath will take them away.
But[m] he who takes refuge in me shall take possession of the land,
    and he shall inherit my holy mountain.”[n]

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 57:3 Or “And”
  2. Isaiah 57:4 Literally “widen”
  3. Isaiah 57:4 Literally “make long”
  4. Isaiah 57:8 The reading tradition (Qere) has “uncover,” which makes no sense in context, but with different vowels it would be “depart”
  5. Isaiah 57:8 Literally “cut off for yourself from”
  6. Isaiah 57:8 Literally “hand”
  7. Isaiah 57:9 Literally “to from far”
  8. Isaiah 57:9 Literally “humiliated”
  9. Isaiah 57:10 Literally “life”
  10. Isaiah 57:10 Literally “hand;” compare the “hand” in verse 8
  11. Isaiah 57:12 Or “and”
  12. Isaiah 57:13 Literally “your crying”
  13. Isaiah 57:13 Or “And”
  14. Isaiah 57:13 Literally “mountain of holiness “