Isaiah 57:14-21

New International Reader's Version

“Build up the road! Build it up! Get it ready!
    Remove anything that would keep my people from coming back.”
¹⁵ The God who is highly honored lives forever.
    His name is holy. He says,
“I live in a high and holy place.
    But I also live with anyone who turns away from their sins.
    I live with anyone who is not proud.
I give new life to them.
    I give it to anyone who turns away from their sins.
¹⁶ I will not find fault with my people forever.
    I will not always be angry with them.
If I were, I would cause their spirits to grow weak.
    The people I created would faint away.
¹⁷ I was very angry with them.
    They always longed for more and more of everything.
So I punished them for that sin.
    I turned my face away from them because I was angry.
    But they kept on wanting their own way.
¹⁸ I have seen what they have done.
    But I will heal them.
I will guide them.
    I will give those who mourn in Israel the comfort they had before.
¹⁹     Then they will praise me.
I will give perfect peace to those who are far away and those who are near.
    And I will heal them,” says the Lord.
²⁰ But those who are evil are like the rolling sea.
    It never rests.
    Its waves toss up mud and sand.

²¹ “There is no peace for those who are evil,” says my God.