Isaiah 57
57
LVII
1The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart;
And godly men are taken away, none considering
That out of the way of evil the righteous is taken away.
2He shall go in peace;
They shall rest on their beds,
Everyone that walketh in the straight path before him.
3But draw ye near hither, O sons of the sorceress!
The seed of the adulterer and the harlot.
4Of whom do ye make your sport?
At whom do ye widen the mouth, and put out the tongue?
Are ye not children of apostasy, a seed of falsehood,
5Who burn with the lust of idols under every green tree;
Who slay the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
6Among the smooth stones of the valley is thy portion;
They, they are thy lot;
Even to them hast thou poured a drink-offering,
Thou hast offered a meat-offering.
Can I be comforted by these things?
7Upon a high and lofty mountain hast thou set thy bed:
Even thither hast thou gone up to offer sacrifice.
8Behind the door also, and the door-post, hast thou set up thy memorial,
For thou hast uncovered thyself to another than me;
Thou hast gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed;
And thou hast obtained for thee an agreement from them:
Thou hast loved their bed,
The place which thou hast chosen.
9And thou wentest to the king with ointment,
And didst multiply thy perfumes;
And didst send thy messengers far off,
And didst debase thyself even unto Hades.
10In the length of thy journeys thou didst weary thyself;
Yet thou saidst not, It is hopeless:
Thou didst find the life of thy hand;
Therefore, thou hast not been dispirited.
11And of whom hast thou been fearful or afraid, that thou shouldest deal falsely, and not remember me,
Nor lay it to thine heart?
Have I not been silent, and that for a long time?
Is that it, therefore, that thou fearedst me not?
12I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works;
But they shall not profit thee.
13When thou criest, let thine associates deliver thee:
But the wind shall carry them all away; a breath of air shall take them off.
But he that trusteth in me shall possess the land,
And shall inherit my holy mountain.
14And it shall be said: Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way;
Remove the stumbling-block from the way of my people.
15For thus saith the high and lofty One,
Who inhabiteth eternity, and whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place,
With him also that 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 always contend,
Neither will I be angry for ever:
For the spirit would languish away from before me,
And the souls which I have made.
17For the iniquity of his avarice was I angry, and smote him;
I hid me, and I was angry:
But he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.
18I have seen his ways, and I will heal him; I will also be his guide; and I will restore comforts unto him,
And to his mourners.
19I create the fruit of the lips:
Peace, peace, to him that is afar off,
And to him that is near, saith Jehovah; and I will heal him.
20But the wicked are like the troubled sea,
Which cannot rest;
And whose waters cast up filth and mire.
21There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
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Isaiah 57: TEG
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.
Isaiah 57
57
Israel Does Not Follow God
1All the good people are gone,
and no one even noticed.
The loyal followers were gathered up,
but no one knows why.
The reason they were gathered up
is that trouble is coming.
2But peace will come too,
and those who trust him will get to rest in their own beds.
3“Come here, you children of witches.
Your father committed adultery,
and your mother was unfaithful.
4You are children out of control, full of lies.
You make fun of me.
You make faces
and stick out your tongue at me.#57:4 make faces … at me This probably refers to the god Bel, which is usually shown making a face and sticking out his tongue.
5All you want is to worship false gods
under every green tree.
You kill children by every stream
and sacrifice them in the rocky places.
6You love to worship the smooth rocks in the rivers.
You pour wine on them to worship them.
You give sacrifices to them, but those rocks are all you get.
Do you think this makes me happy?
7You make your bed on every hill
and high mountain.#57:7 every hill and high mountain The people worshiped false gods in these places. The people thought these false gods would give them good crops and more children.
You go up to those places
and offer sacrifices.
8You hide the things that help you remember me
behind the doors and doorframes.#57:8 doorframes The Israelites were supposed to put special things on their doorframes to help them remember God. See Deut. 6:9.
You were with me,
but you got up to go to them.
You spread out your bed
and gave yourself to them.#57:8 gave yourself to them Or “and made agreements with them.”
You love their beds
and enjoy looking at their naked bodies.#57:8 naked bodies This is a wordplay. The Hebrew word also means “memorial,” as in Isa. 56:5.
9You use your oils and perfumes
to look nice for Molech.
You sent your messengers to faraway lands,
and this will bring you down to the place of death.#57:9 this will … death Or “You even send them down to Sheol.”
10All of them made you tired,
but you never gave up.
You found new strength,
because you enjoyed them.
11You did not remember me.
You did not even notice me!
So who were you worrying about?
Who were you afraid of?
Why did you lie?
Look, I have been quiet for a long time.
Is that why you didn’t honor me?
12I could tell about your ‘good works’ and all the ‘religious’ things you do,
but that will not help you.
13When you need help,
you cry to those false gods that you have gathered around you.
Let them help you!
But I tell you, the wind will blow them all away.
A puff of wind will blow them all away.
But the one who depends on me
will get the land I promised
and enjoy my holy mountain.#57:13 holy mountain Mount Zion, one of the mountains Jerusalem was built on.”
The Lord Will Save His People
14Clear the road! Clear the road!
Make the way clear for my people!
15God is high and lifted up.
He lives forever.
His name is holy.
He says, “I live in a high and holy place,
but I also live with people who are humble and sorry for their sins.
I will give new life to those who are humble in spirit.
I will give new life to those who are sorry for their sins.
16I will not accuse my people forever.
I will not always be angry.
If I continued to show my anger,
then the human spirit, the life I gave them, would die before me.
17Israel’s evil greed made me angry,
so I punished them.
I turned away from them
because I was angry.
But they continued to do wrong.
They did whatever they wanted.
18I have seen their way of life, but I will heal them.
I will guide and comfort them and those who mourn for them.
19I will teach them a new word: peace.
I will give peace to those who are near and to those who are far away.
I will heal them.”
The Lord himself said this.
20But evil people are like the angry ocean.
They cannot be quiet and peaceful.
They are angry, and like the ocean,
they stir up mud.
21My God says,
“There is no peace for evil people.”
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