Isaiah 57
57
1The righteous perish,
and no one lays it to heart.
Merciful men are taken away,
and no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil.
2He enters into peace.
They rest in their beds,
each one who walks in his uprightness.
3“But draw near here, you sons of a sorceress,
you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes.
4Whom do you mock?
Against whom do you make a wide mouth
and stick out your tongue?
Aren’t you children of disobedience
and offspring of falsehood,
5you who inflame yourselves among the oaks,
under every green tree;
who kill the children in the valleys,
under the clefts of the rocks?
6Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion.
They, they are your lot.
You have even poured a drink offering to them.
You have offered an offering.
Shall I be appeased for these things?
7On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed.
You also went up there to offer sacrifice.
8You have set up your memorial behind the doors and the posts,
for you have exposed yourself to someone besides me,
and have gone up.
You have enlarged your bed
and made you a covenant with them.
You loved what you saw on their bed.
9You went to the king with oil,
increased your perfumes,
sent your ambassadors far off,
and degraded yourself even to Sheol.#57:9 Sheol is the place of the dead.
10You were wearied with the length of your ways;
yet you didn’t say, ‘It is in vain.’
You found a reviving of your strength;
therefore you weren’t faint.
11“Whom have you dreaded and feared,
so that you lie,
and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart?
Haven’t I held my peace for a long time,
and you don’t fear me?
12I will declare your righteousness;
and as for your works, they will not benefit you.
13When you cry,
let those whom you have gathered deliver you,
but the wind will take them.
A breath will carry them all away,
but he who takes refuge in me will possess the land,
and will inherit my holy mountain.”
14He will say, “Build up, build up, prepare the way!
Remove the stumbling-block out of the way of my people.”
15For the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity,
whose name is Holy, says:
“I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
16For I will not contend forever, neither will I always be angry;
for the spirit would faint before me,
and the souls whom I have made.
17I was angry because of the iniquity of his covetousness and struck him.
I hid myself and was angry;
and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.
18I have seen his ways, and will heal him.
I will lead him also,
and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.
19I create the fruit of the lips:
Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near,”
says Yahweh; “and I will heal them.”
20But the wicked are like the troubled sea;
for it can’t rest and its waters cast up mire and mud.
21“There is no peace”, says my God,
“for the wicked.”
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Isaiah 57: WEBUS
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Isaiah 57
57
1Good people pass away;
the godly often die before their time.
But no one seems to care or wonder why.
No one seems to understand
that God is protecting them from the evil to come.
2For those who follow godly paths
will rest in peace when they die.
Idolatrous Worship Condemned
3“But you—come here, you witches’ children,
you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
4Whom do you mock,
making faces and sticking out your tongues?
You children of sinners and liars!
5You 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.
6Your 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?
7You have committed adultery on every high mountain.
There you have worshiped idols
and have been unfaithful to me.
8You 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.
9You have gone to Molech#57:9a Or to the king.
with olive oil and many perfumes,
sending your agents far and wide,
even to the world of the dead.#57:9b Hebrew to Sheol.
10You 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?
12Now I will expose your so-called good deeds.
None of them will help you.
13Let’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.”
God Forgives the Repentant
14God says, “Rebuild the road!
Clear away the rocks and stones
so my people can return from captivity.”
15The high and lofty one who lives in eternity,
the Holy One, says this:
“I live in the high and holy place
with those whose spirits are contrite and humble.
I restore the crushed spirit of the humble
and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.
16For I will not fight against you forever;
I will not always be angry.
If I were, all people would pass away—
all the souls I have made.
17I was angry,
so I punished these greedy people.
I withdrew from them,
but they kept going on their own stubborn way.
18I have seen what they do,
but I will heal them anyway!
I will lead them.
I will comfort those who mourn,
19bringing words of praise to their lips.
May they have abundant peace, both near and far,”
says the Lord, who heals them.
20“But those who still reject me are like the restless sea,
which is never still
but continually churns up mud and dirt.
21There is no peace for the wicked,”
says my God.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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