Isaiah 57
57
Chapter 57
1When somebody who worships God dies,
nobody else may think much about it.
An honest person may suddenly die.
Nobody really understands what is happening.
God takes away his servants,
so that evil things will not hurt them any more.
2When somebody who has lived in a good way dies,
he goes to a place where there is peace.
In death, people like that rest on their beds.
3The Lord says,
‘But you magicians, come here!
You use magic to learn about future times.
You are the family of an adulteress and a prostitute.
4Who do you think you are laughing at?
Who are you insulting?
Who are you pointing at with your tongue?
You are people who have turned against God.
You love to tell lies.
5You worship your idols among the big trees,
and you have sex at the same time. #57:5 They worshipped false gods that they thought would give them many children. So they had sex in a wrong way when they met together.
You kill your children as sacrifices to your false gods.
You do that beside streams
and in caves among the rocks.
6You take big stones from the streams,
and they become your idols.
They are the gods that you love to worship.
You pour drink offerings over them.
You offer grain to them.
Because of what you do,
should I not punish you?
7You go up to the tops of high hills,
and you lie down there to have sex.
You go there to offer sacrifices to your gods.
8You put your images behind the doors of your rooms.
Then you turn your backs to me,
and you get into bed with your false gods.
You have made an agreement with them.
You pay money to have sex with your lovers.
You love to see their bare bodies.
9You take olive oil as a gift to your king,
and also many perfumes. #57:9 ‘your king’ may be Molech, the false god that they worshipped.
You send your people far away
to get news of other gods.
You even talk to the spirits of dead people.
10You become very tired,
because you travel so far.
But you would never say,
“This is useless!”
Instead, you find new strength,
and you do not stop.
11What idol are you so afraid of,
that you choose to deceive me?
You seem to have forgotten about me.
You do not think about me at all.
Have I been silent for too long?
Is that why you no longer respect me?
12Now I will speak against the things that you do.
You think that they are good and right,
but those things will not help you.
13Shout for help, if you like.
See if your group of idols can help you!
The wind will blow them all away.
Even a breath will carry them away.
But if people trust me to help them,
this land will belong to them.
They will worship me on my holy mountain.’ #57:13 ‘my holy mountain’ means Mount Zion in Jerusalem, where Solomon built God's temple.
The Lord promises to help his people
14The Lord says,
‘Build a road! Make it ready for my people to travel on!
Remove everything that would cause them to fall.’
15The Mighty God is far higher than all others. He rules from above and he lives for ever. His name is holy. He says,
‘I live in a high and holy place.
But I am also with anyone who is humble
and who is sorry when he does wrong things.
I will comfort people who are like that,
and I will give them hope.
16I will not always speak against my people.
I will not be angry with them for ever.
I do not want them to lose hope completely.
I myself gave life to them.
17I was angry with them because they were greedy,
which was a sin.
So I punished them.
I was angry and I turned away from them.
But they still refused to obey me.
They continued to do what they wanted to do.
18I have seen what they are doing.
But I will make them well again.
I will be a guide for them,
and I will comfort them again.
Then people who are sad and they are weeping
19will sing songs to praise me!
I will give them a reason to do that.
I will bring peace to all my people,
those who are far away,
and those who are near.
Yes, I will make them completely well again.’
That is what the Lord says.
20‘But wicked people are like a rough sea
with dangerous waves.
It cannot stay still.
Its waves throw up mud and dirt.
21There will never be peace for wicked people.’
That is what my God says.
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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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