Beginning
People Will Return to Jerusalem
54 The Lord says, “Sing, Jerusalem.
You are like a woman who never gave birth to children.
Start singing and shout for joy.
You never felt the pain of giving birth.
But you will have more children
than the woman who has a husband.
2 Make your tent bigger.
Stretch it out and make it wider.
Do not hold back.
Make the ropes longer.
Make its stakes stronger.
3 Do this because you will begin growing very much.
Your children will take over other nations.
And they will again live in cities that once were destroyed.
4 “Don’t be afraid because you will not be ashamed.
Don’t be embarrassed because you will not be disgraced.
You will forget the shame you felt earlier.
You will not remember the shame you felt when you lost your husband.
5 This is because the God who made you is like your husband.
His name is the Lord of heaven’s armies.
The Holy One of Israel is the one who saves you.
He is called the God of all the earth.
6 You were like a woman whose husband left her.
And you were very sad.
You were like a wife who married young
and then her husband left her.
But the Lord called you to be his,”
says your God.
7 God says, “I left you, but only for a short time.
But with great kindness I will bring you back again.
8 I became very angry
and hid from you for a short time.
But I will show you mercy with kindness forever,”
says the Lord your close relative who saves you.
9 The Lord says, “This is like the time of Noah.
I promised then
that I would never flood the world again.
In the same way, I promise
I will not be angry with you or punish you again.
10 The mountains may disappear,
and the hills may come to an end.
But my love will never disappear.
My promise of peace will not come to an end,”
says the Lord who shows mercy to you.
11 “You poor city. Storms have hurt you,
and you have not been comforted.
But I will rebuild you using turquoise stones.
I will build your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will use rubies to build your walls.
I will use shining jewels for the gates.
I will build all your outer walls from precious jewels.
13 All your children will be taught by the Lord.
And they will have much peace.
14 I will build you using fairness.
You will be safe from those who would hurt you.
So you will have nothing to fear.
Nothing will come to make you afraid.
15 I will not send anyone to attack you.
And you will defeat those who do attack you.
16 “See, I made the blacksmith.
He fans the fire to make it hotter.
And he makes the kind of tool he wants.
In the same way I have made the destroyer to destroy.
17 So no weapon that is used against you will defeat you.
You will show that those who speak against you are wrong.
These are the good things my servants receive.
Their victory comes from me,” says the Lord.
God Gives What Is Good
55 The Lord says, “All you who are thirsty,
come and drink.
Those of you who do not have money,
come, buy and eat!
Come buy wine and milk.
You don’t need money; it will cost you nothing.
2 Why spend your money on something that is not real food?
Why work for something that doesn’t really satisfy you?
Listen closely to me, and you will eat what is good.
You will enjoy the food that satisfies your soul.
3 Come to me and listen.
Listen to me so you may live.
I will make an agreement with you that will last forever.
I will give you the blessings I promised to David.
4 I made David a witness of my power for all nations.
I made him a ruler and commander of many nations.
5 You will call for nations that you don’t yet know.
And these nations will run to you.
This will happen because of the Lord your God.
The Holy One of Israel honors you.”
6 So you should look for the Lord before it is too late.
You should call to him while he is near.
7 Evil people should stop being evil.
They should stop thinking bad thoughts.
They should return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them.
They should come to our God, because he will freely forgive them.
8 The Lord says, “Your thoughts are not like my thoughts.
Your ways are not like my ways.
9 Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways.
And my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.
10 Rain and snow fall from the sky.
They don’t return without watering the ground.
They cause the plants to sprout and grow.
And the plants make seeds for the farmer.
And from these seeds people have bread to eat.
11 The words I say do the same thing.
They will not return to me empty.
They make the things happen that I want to happen.
They succeed in doing what I send them to do.
12 “So you will go out with joy.
You will be led out in peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song before you.
All the trees in the fields will clap their hands.
13 Large cypress trees will grow where thornbushes were.
Myrtle trees will grow where weeds were.
These things will be a reminder of the Lord’s promise.
And this reminder will never be destroyed.”
All Nations Will Obey the Lord
56 This is what the Lord says:
“Give justice to all people.
Do what is right.
Do this because my salvation will come to you soon.
Soon everyone will know that I do what is right.
2 The person who obeys the law about the Sabbath
will be blessed.
And the person who does no evil
will be blessed.”
3 Foreigners have joined the Lord. They should not say,
“The Lord will not accept me with his people.”
The eunuch should not say,
“Because I cannot have children the Lord will not accept me.”
4 This is what the Lord says:
“The eunuchs should obey the law about the Sabbath.
They should do what I want.
They should keep my agreement.
5 If they do, I will make their names remembered
within my Temple and its walls.
It will be better for them than children.
I will give them a name that will last forever.
It will never be forgotten.
6 Foreigners will join the Lord to serve him.
They will worship and love him.
They will worship him.
They will obey the law about the Sabbath.
They will keep the agreement with the Lord.
7 I will bring these people to my holy mountain.
I will give them joy in my house of prayer.
The offerings and sacrifices
they place on my altar will please me.
This is because my Temple will be called
a house for prayer for people from all nations.”
8 The Lord gathers the Israelites who were forced to leave their country.
This is what the Lord God says,
“I will bring other people to those who are already gathered.”
Israel’s Leaders Are Evil
9 All you animals of the field, come to eat.
All you animals of the forest, come to eat.
10 The leaders who are to guard the people are blind.
They don’t know what they are doing.
All of them are like quiet dogs.
They don’t know how to bark.
They lie down and dream.
They love to sleep.
11 They are like hungry dogs.
They are never satisfied.
They are like shepherds
who don’t know what they are doing.
They each have gone their own way.
All they want to do is satisfy themselves.
12 They say, “Come, let’s drink some wine.
Let’s drink all the beer we want.
And tomorrow we will do this again.
Or, maybe we will have even a better time.”
Israel Does Not Follow God
57 Those right with God may die,
but no one pays attention.
Good people are taken away,
but no one understands.
The people who do right are being taken away because of evil.
2 But they are given peace.
The people who live the way God wants them to
find rest in death.
3 “Come here, you magicians!
Come here, you sons of prostitutes and those who take part in adultery!
4 Whom are you making fun of?
Whom are you insulting?
At whom do you stick out your tongue?
You turn against God,
and you are liars.
5 You sin sexually under every green tree
to worship your false gods.
You kill children in the ravines
and sacrifice them in the rocky places.
6 You take the smooth rocks from the ravines.
They are your portion.
You pour drink offerings on them to worship them.
You give grain offerings to them.
Do you think this makes me want to forgive you?
7 You make your bed on every hill and mountain.
And there you offer sacrifices.
8 You have hidden your idols
behind your doors and doorposts.
You have left me, and you have uncovered yourself.
You have pulled back the covers and climbed into bed.
You have made an agreement with
the ones whose beds you love.
And you have looked at their nakedness.
9 You use your oils and perfumes
to look nice for Molech.
You have sent your messengers to faraway lands.
You even tried to send them to where the dead are.
10 You have worked hard to do these things.
But you never gave up.
You found new strength.
So you did not quit.
11 “Whom were you so afraid of
that you lied to me?
You have not remembered me
or even thought about me.
I have been quiet for a long time.
Is that why you are not afraid of me?
12 I will tell about your ‘goodness’ and what you do.
And those things will do you no good.
13 When you cry out for help,
let the false gods you have gathered help you.
The wind will blow them all away.
Just a puff of wind will take them away.
But the person who depends on me will receive the land.
He will have my holy mountain.”
The Lord Will Save His People
14 The Lord says, “Build a road! Build a road! Prepare the way!
Make the way clear for my people.”
15 God lives forever and is holy.
He is high and lifted up, and he says,
“I live in a high and holy place.
But I also live with people who are sad and humble.
I give new life to those who are humble.
I give new life to those whose hearts are broken.
16 I will not accuse forever.
I will not always be angry.
If I continued to be angry, man’s life would grow weak.
Man, whom I created, would die.
17 I was angry because they were dishonest in order to make money.
I punished them and turned away from them in anger.
But they continued to do evil.
18 I have seen what they have done, but I will heal them.
I will guide them and comfort them.
And those who were sad will praise me.
19 I will give peace, real peace, to those far and near.
And I will heal them,” says the Lord.
20 But evil people are like the angry sea.
It cannot rest.
Its waves toss up waste and mud.
21 “There is no peace for evil people,” says my God.
How to Honor God
58 The Lord says, “Shout out loud. Don’t hold back.
Shout out loud like a trumpet.
Tell the people about the things they have done against God.
Tell the family of Jacob about their sins.
2 Then they will come every day looking for me.
And they will want to learn my ways.
They will become a nation that does what is right.
They will obey the commands of their God.
They will ask me to judge them fairly.
They will want God to be near them.
3 They say, ‘To honor you we had special days when we gave up eating.
But you didn’t see.
We humbled ourselves to honor you.
But you didn’t notice.’”
But the Lord says, “You do what pleases yourselves on these special days.
And you are unfair to your workers.
4 On these special days when you do not eat, you argue and fight.
You hit each other with your fists.
You cannot do these things as you do now
and believe I will listen to your prayers.
5 This kind of special day is not what I want.
This is not the way I want people to be sorry for what they have done.
I don’t want people just to bow their heads like a plant.
I don’t want them to wear rough cloth and lie in ashes to show their sadness.
This is what you do on your special days when you do not eat.
But do you think this is what the Lord wants?
6 “I will tell you the kind of special day I want.
I want you to free the people you have put in prison unfairly.
Undo their chains.
Free those to whom you are unfair.
Free them from their hard labor.
7 I want you to share your food with hungry people.
I want you to bring poor, homeless people into your own homes.
When you see someone who has no clothes, give him yours.
Don’t refuse to help your own relatives.
8 If you do these things, your light will shine like the dawn.
Then your wounds will quickly heal.
Your God will walk before you,
and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
9 Then you will call to the Lord, and the Lord will answer you.
You will cry out to the Lord, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
“You should stop making trouble for others.
You should stop using cruel words and pointing your finger at others.
10 You should feed those who are hungry.
You should take care of the needs of those who are troubled.
Then your light will shine in the darkness.
And you will be bright like sunshine at noon.
11 The Lord will always lead you.
He will satisfy your needs in dry lands.
He will give strength to your bones.
You will be like a garden that has much water.
You will be like a spring that never runs dry.
12 Your people will rebuild the old cities that are now in ruins.
You will rebuild the foundations of these ancient cities.
You will be known for repairing the broken places.
You will be known for rebuilding the roads and houses.
13 “You must obey God’s law about the Sabbath.
You must not do what pleases yourselves on that holy day.
You should call the Sabbath a joyful day.
You should honor the Lord’s holy day.
You should honor it by not doing whatever you please on that day.
You should not say whatever you please on that day.
14 Then you will find joy in the Lord.
And I, the Lord, will carry you to the high places above the earth.
I will let you eat the crops of the land your ancestor Jacob had.”
The Lord has said these things.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.