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Idolatrous Worship Condemned

“But you—come here, you witches’ children,
    you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
Whom do you mock,
    making faces and sticking out your tongues?
    You children of sinners and liars!
You worship your idols with great passion
    beneath the oaks and under every green tree.
You sacrifice your children down in the valleys,
    among the jagged rocks in the cliffs.
Your gods are the smooth stones in the valleys.
    You worship them with liquid offerings and grain offerings.
They, not I, are your inheritance.
    Do you think all this makes me happy?
You have committed adultery on every high mountain.
    There you have worshiped idols
    and have been unfaithful to me.
You have put pagan symbols
    on your doorposts and behind your doors.
You have left me
    and climbed into bed with these detestable gods.
You have committed yourselves to them.
    You love to look at their naked bodies.
You have gone to Molech[a]
    with olive oil and many perfumes,
sending your agents far and wide,
    even to the world of the dead.[b]
10 You grew weary in your search,
    but you never gave up.
Desire gave you renewed strength,
    and you did not grow weary.

11 “Are you afraid of these idols?
    Do they terrify you?
Is that why you have lied to me
    and forgotten me and my words?
Is it because of my long silence
    that you no longer fear me?
12 Now I will expose your so-called good deeds.
    None of them will help you.
13 Let’s see if your idols can save you
    when you cry to them for help.
Why, a puff of wind can knock them down!
    If you just breathe on them, they fall over!
But whoever trusts in me will inherit the land
    and possess my holy mountain.”

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Footnotes

  1. 57:9a Or to the king.
  2. 57:9b Hebrew to Sheol.

“But as for you, come here,
    you children of a sorceress,
        you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes![a]
Whom are you mocking?
    And[b] against whom do you make a wide mouth
        and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
    the offspring of lies,
you who burn with lust among the oaks,
    under every spreading tree,
who slaughter your children in the ravines,
    under the clefts of the rocks?

“Among the smooth stones[c] of the ravines is your portion—
    there they are as[d] your lot.
To them you have poured out drink offerings;
    you have brought grain offerings.
        Should I be lenient over such things?

“You have made your bed
    on a high and lofty mountain,
        and you went up to offer sacrifice there.
Behind the doors and the doorposts
    you have set up your pagan sign.”
For in deserting me you have uncovered your bed—
    you have climbed up into it
        and have opened it wide.
And you[e] have made a pact for yourself with them;
    you have loved their bed,
        you have looked on their private parts.[f]
You went to Molech[g] with olive oil
    and increased your perfumes;
you sent your ambassadors far away,
    you sent them down even to Sheol[h] itself!
10 You grew tired with your many wanderings,[i]
    but you wouldn’t say: ‘It is hopeless.’
You found new strength for your desire,
    and so you did not falter.

11 “Whom did you so dread—
    and while you feared me[j]
that you lied,
    and you did not remember me,
        and[k] did not lay to heart these things?[l]
Haven’t I remained silent for a long time,
    and still you don’t fear me?”

12 “I will denounce your righteousness[m] and your works,
    for your collections of idols[n] will not benefit you.
13 When you cry out, let your collection deliver you!
    The wind will carry them all off,
        and[o] a mere breath will sweep them all away.”

God’s Reward for the Faithful

“But whoever[p] takes refuge in me will possess the land,
    and will inherit my holy mountain.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 57:3 So LXX (cf. Syriac); 1QIsaa MT read she has practiced prostitution
  2. Isaiah 57:4 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab MT lack And
  3. Isaiah 57:6 I.e. among the idols
  4. Isaiah 57:6 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsai MT reads they—yes, they!—are; LXX reads there this is
  5. Isaiah 57:8 1QIsaa reads sing.; MT reads pl.
  6. Isaiah 57:8 Lit. their hand; i.e. a euphemism for the male sex organ
  7. Isaiah 57:9 I.e. to the Canaanite deity; or to the king
  8. Isaiah 57:9 I.e. the afterlife
  9. Isaiah 57:10 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads your wandering
  10. Isaiah 57:11 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsad MT LXX read and fear
  11. Isaiah 57:11 So 1QIsaa 4QIsad LXX; MT lacks and
  12. Isaiah 57:11 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsad MT lack thing; LXX reads lay me to heart
  13. Isaiah 57:12 1QIsaa MT; 4QIsad reads justice
  14. Isaiah 57:12 1QIsaa lacks of idols; 4QIsad MT LXX read for they
  15. Isaiah 57:13 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT lacks and
  16. Isaiah 57:13 Lit. But the one; so 4QIsad MT; 1QIsaa reads But one (i.e. without article)