Isaiah, Chapters 56-59: BIBLE, New American Standard Bible == BIBLE-CENTER

Isaiah, Chapter 56

Thus says the LORD,
“Preserve justice and do righteousness,
For My salvation is about to come
And My righteousness to be revealed.

“How blessed is the man who does this,
And the son of man who takes hold of it;
Who keeps from profaning the sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say,
“The LORD will surely separate me from His people.”
Nor let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”

⁴ For thus says the LORD,“To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths,
And choose what pleases Me,
And hold fast My covenant,

⁵To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial,
And a name better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give^athem an everlasting name which will not be cut off.

⁶

“Also the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
To minister to Him, and to love the name of the LORD,
To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath
And holds fast My covenant;

⁷

Even those I will bring to My holy mountain
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar;
For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”

⁸

The Lord^bGOD, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares,
“Yet others I will gather to^cthem, to those already gathered.”

⁹

All you beasts of the field,
All you beasts in the forest,
Come to eat.

¹⁰

His watchmen are blind,
All of them know nothing.
All of them are mute dogs unable to bark,
^dDreamers lying down, who love to slumber;

¹¹

And the dogs are^egreedy, they^fare not satisfied.
And they are shepherds who have no understanding;
They have all turned to their own way,
Each one to his unjust gain, to the last one.

¹²

“Come,” they say, “let^gus get wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink;
And tomorrow will be like today, only more so.”

Isaiah, Chapter 57

The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart;
And devout men are taken away, while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from evil,

He enters into peace;
They rest in their^abeds,
Each one who walked in his upright way.

“But come here, you sons of a sorceress,
Offspring of an adulterer and^ba prostitute.

⁴

“Against whom do you jest?
Against whom do you open wide your mouth
And stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of rebellion,
Offspring of deceit,

⁵

Who inflame yourselves among the^coaks,
Under every luxuriant tree,
Who slaughter the children in the^dravines,
Under the clefts of the crags?

⁶

“Among the^esmooth stones of the^fravine
Is your portion,^gthey are your lot;
Even to them you have poured out a drink offering,
You have made a grain offering.
Shall I^hrelent concerning these things?

⁷

“Upon a high and lofty mountain
You have made your bed.
You also went up there to offer sacrifice.

⁸

“Behind the door and the doorpost
You have set up your sign;
Indeed, far removed from Me, you have uncovered yourself,
And have gone up and made your bed wide.
And you have made an agreement for yourself with them,
You have loved theirⁱbed,
You have looked on their^jmanhood.

⁹

“You have journeyed to the king with oil
And increased your perfumes;
You have sent your envoys a great distance
And made them go down to^kSheol.

¹⁰

“You were tired out by the length of your road,
Yet you did not say, ‘It is hopeless.’
You found^lrenewed strength,
Therefore you did not^mfaint.

¹¹

“Of whom were you worried and fearful
When you lied, and did not remember Me
ⁿNor give Me a thought?
Was I not silent even for a long time
So you do not fear Me?

¹²

“I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
But they will not profit you.

¹³

“When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you.
But the wind will carry all of them up,
And a breath will take them away.
But he who takes refuge in Me will inherit the land
And will possess My holy mountain.”

¹⁴

And it will be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
Remove every obstacle out of the way of My people.”

¹⁵

For thus says the high and exalted One
Who^olives forever, whose name is Holy,
“I dwell on a high and holy place,
And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite.

¹⁶

“For I will not contend forever,
Nor will I always be angry;
For the spirit would grow faint before Me,
And the breath of those whom I have made.

¹⁷

“Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry and struck him;
I hid My face and was angry,
And he went on turning away, in the way of his heart.

¹⁸

“I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to his mourners,

¹⁹

Creating the^ppraise of the lips.
Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near,”
Says the LORD, “and I will heal him.”

²⁰

But the wicked are like the tossing sea,
For it cannot be quiet,
And its waters toss up refuse and mud.

²¹

“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

Isaiah, Chapter 58

“Cry loudly, do not hold back;
Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their transgression
And to the house of Jacob their sins.

“Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways,
As a nation that has done righteousness
And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God.
They ask Me for just decisions,
They delight in the nearness of God.

‘Why have we fasted and You do not see?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not^anotice?’
Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire,
And drive hard all your workers.

⁴

“Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.

⁵

“Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it for bowing^bone’s head like a reed
And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD?

⁶

“Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?

⁷

“Is it not to divide your bread^cwith the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

⁸

“Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

⁹

“Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The^dpointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,

¹⁰

And if you^egive yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the^fdesire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.

¹¹

“And the LORD will continually guide you,
And satisfy your^gdesire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not^hfail.

¹²

“Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of theⁱstreets in which to dwell.

¹³

“If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable,
And honor it, desisting from your own ways,
From seeking your own pleasure
And speaking your own word,

¹⁴

Then you will take delight in the LORD,
And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Isaiah, Chapter 59

Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short
That it cannot save;
Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear.

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His^aface from you so that He does not hear.

For your hands are defiled with blood
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken falsehood,
Your tongue mutters wickedness.

⁴

No one sues righteously and no one pleads^bhonestly.
They trust in confusion and speak lies;
They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.

⁵

They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web;
He who eats of their eggs dies,
And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.

⁶

Their webs will not become clothing,
Nor will they cover themselves with their works;
Their works are works of iniquity,
And an act of violence is in their^chands.

⁷

Their feet run to evil,
And they hasten to shed innocent blood;
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,
Devastation and destruction are in their highways.

⁸

They do not know the way of peace,
And there is no justice in their tracks;
They have made their paths crooked,
Whoever treads on^dthem does not know peace.

⁹

Therefore justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not overtake us;
We hope for light, but behold, darkness,
For brightness, but we walk in gloom.

¹⁰

We grope along the wall like blind men,
We grope like those who have no eyes;
We stumble at midday as in the twilight,
Among those who are vigorous we are like dead men.

¹¹

All of us growl like bears,
And moan sadly like doves;
We hope for justice, but there is none,
For salvation, but it is far from us.

¹²

For our transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our sins^etestify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And^fwe know our iniquities:

¹³

Transgressing and denying the LORD,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words.

¹⁴

Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And uprightness cannot enter.

¹⁵

Yes, truth is lacking;
And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey.
Now the LORD saw,
And it was^gdispleasing in His sight that there was no justice.

¹⁶

And He saw that there was no man,
And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.

¹⁷

He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing
And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.

¹⁸

According to their^hdeeds,ⁱso He will repay,
Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will^jmake recompense.

¹⁹

So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west
And His glory from the rising of the sun,
For He will come like a^krushing stream
Which the wind of the LORD drives.

²⁰

“A Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD.

²¹ “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your^loffspring, nor from the mouth of your^moffspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now and forever.”


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