Old/New Testament

56 Be just and fair to all, the Lord God says. Do what’s right and good, for I am coming soon to rescue you. ² Blessed is the man who refuses to work during my Sabbath days of rest, but honors them; and blessed is the man who checks himself from doing wrong.

³ And my blessings are for Gentiles, too, when they accept the Lord; don’t let them think that I will make them second-class citizens. And this is for the eunuchs too. They can be as much mine as anyone. ⁴ For I say this to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths holy, who choose the things that please me and obey my laws: ⁵ I will give them—in my house, within my walls—a name far greater than the honor they would receive from having sons and daughters. For the name that I will give them is an everlasting one; it will never disappear.

⁶ As for the Gentiles, the outsiders who join the people of the Lord and serve him and love his name, who are his servants and don’t desecrate the Sabbath, and have accepted his covenant and promises, ⁷ I will bring them also to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and make them full of joy within my House of Prayer.

I will accept their sacrifices and offerings, for my Temple shall be called “A House of Prayer for All People”! ⁸ For the Lord God who brings back the outcasts of Israel says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.

⁹ Come, wild animals of the field; come, tear apart the sheep; come, wild animals of the forest, devour my people.^{[a] 10} For the leaders of my people—the Lord’s watchmen, his shepherds—are all blind to every danger. They are featherbrained and give no warning when danger comes. They love to lie there, love to sleep, to dream. ¹¹ And they are as greedy as dogs, never satisfied; they are stupid shepherds who only look after their own interest, each trying to get as much as he can for himself from every possible source.

¹² “Come,” they say. “We’ll get some wine and have a party; let’s all get drunk. This is really living; let it go on and on, and tomorrow will be even better!”

57 The good men perish; the godly die before their time, and no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to realize that God is taking them away from evil days ahead. ² For the godly who die shall rest in peace.

³ But you—come here, you witches’ sons, you offspring of adulterers and harlots! ⁴ Who is it you mock, making faces and sticking out your tongues? You children of sinners and liars! ⁵ You worship your idols with great zeal beneath the shade of every tree and slay your children as human sacrifices down in the valleys, under overhanging rocks. ⁶ Your gods are the smooth stones in the valleys. You worship them, and they, not I, are your inheritance. Does all this make me happy? ^7-8 You have committed adultery on the tops of the mountains, for you worship idols there, deserting me. Behind closed doors you set your idols up and worship someone other than me. This is adultery, for you are giving these idols your love instead of loving me. ⁹ You have taken pleasant incense and perfume to Molech as your gift. You have traveled far, even to hell itself, to find new gods to love. ¹⁰ You grew weary in your search, but you never gave up. You strengthened yourself and went on. ¹¹ Why were you more afraid of them than of me? How is it that you gave not even a second thought to me? Is it because I’ve been too gentle that you have no fear of me?

¹² And then there is your “righteousness” and your “good works”—none of which will save you. ¹³ Let’s see if the whole collection of your idols can help you when you cry to them to save you! They are so weak that the wind can carry them off! A breath can puff them away. But he who trusts in me shall possess the land and inherit my holy mountain. ¹⁴ I will say, Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones. Prepare a glorious highway for my people’s return from captivity.

¹⁵ The high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, the Holy One, says this: I live in that high and holy place where those with contrite, humble spirits dwell; and I refresh the humble and give new courage to those with repentant hearts. ¹⁶ For I will not fight against you forever, nor always show my wrath; if I did, all mankind would perish—the very souls that I have made. ¹⁷ I was angry and smote these greedy men. But they went right on sinning, doing everything their evil hearts desired. ¹⁸ I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them and comfort them, helping them to mourn and to confess their sins. ¹⁹ Peace, peace to them, both near and far, for I will heal them all. ²⁰ But those who still reject me^[b] are like the restless sea, which is never still, but always churns up mire and dirt. ²¹ There is no peace, says my God, for them!

58 Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast; tell my people of their sins! ² Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and are so delighted to hear the reading of my laws—just as though they would obey them—just as though they don’t despise the commandments of their God! How anxious they are to worship correctly; oh, how they love the Temple services!

³ “We have fasted before you,” they say. “Why aren’t you impressed? Why don’t you see our sacrifices? Why don’t you hear our prayers? We have done much penance, and you don’t even notice it!” I’ll tell you why! Because you are living in evil pleasure even while you are fasting, and you keep right on oppressing your workers. ⁴ Look, what good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. ⁵ Is this what I want—this doing of penance and bowing like reeds in the wind, putting on sackcloth and covering yourselves with ashes? Is this what you call fasting?

⁶ No, the kind of fast I want is that you stop oppressing those who work for you and treat them fairly and give them what they earn. ⁷ I want you to share your food with the hungry and bring right into your own homes those who are helpless, poor, and destitute. Clothe those who are cold, and don’t hide from relatives who need your help.

⁸ If you do these things, God will shed his own glorious light upon you. He will heal you; your godliness will lead you forward, goodness will be a shield before you, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. ⁹ Then, when you call, the Lord will answer. “Yes, I am here,” he will quickly reply. All you need to do is to stop oppressing the weak and stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumors!

¹⁰ Feed the hungry! Help those in trouble! Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you shall be as bright as day. ¹¹ And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy you with all good things, and keep you healthy too; and you will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. ¹² Your sons will rebuild the long-deserted ruins of your cities, and you will be known as “The People Who Rebuild Their Walls and Cities.”

¹³ If you keep the Sabbath holy, not having your own fun and business on that day, but enjoying the Sabbath, speaking of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day, and honoring the Lord in what you do, not following your own desires and pleasure nor talking idly— ¹⁴ then the Lord will be your delight, and I will see to it that you ride high and get your full share of the blessings I promised to Jacob, your father. The Lord has spoken.

2 ^1-2 And now, what about the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to meet him? Please don’t be upset and excited, dear brothers, by the rumor that this day of the Lord has already begun. If you hear of people having visions and special messages from God about this, or letters that are supposed to have come from me, don’t believe them. ³ Don’t be carried away and deceived regardless of what they say.

For that day will not come until two things happen: first, there will be a time of great rebellion against God, and then the man of rebellion will come—the son of hell. ⁴ He will defy every god there is and tear down every other object of adoration and worship. He will go in and sit as God in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God. ⁵ Don’t you remember that I told you this when I was with you? ⁶ And you know what is keeping him from being here already; for he can come only when his time is ready.

⁷ As for the work this man of rebellion and hell will do when he comes, it is already going on,^[a] but he himself will not come until the one who is holding him back steps out of the way. ⁸ Then this wicked one will appear, whom the Lord Jesus will burn up with the breath of his mouth and destroy by his presence when he returns. ⁹ This man of sin will come as Satan’s tool, full of satanic power, and will trick everyone with strange demonstrations, and will do great miracles. ¹⁰ He will completely fool those who are on their way to hell because they have said no to the Truth; they have refused to believe it and love it and let it save them, ¹¹ so God will allow them to believe lies with all their hearts, ¹² and all of them will be justly judged for believing falsehood, refusing the Truth, and enjoying their sins.

¹³ But we must forever give thanks to God for you, our brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose from the very first to give you salvation,^[b] cleansing you by the work of the Holy Spirit and by your trusting in the Truth. ¹⁴ Through us he told you the Good News. Through us he called you to share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵ With all these things in mind, dear brothers, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the truth that we taught you in our letters and during the time we were with you.

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting comfort and hope, which we don’t deserve, ¹⁷ comfort your hearts with all comfort, and help you in every good thing you say and do.