Isaiah 56
56
A House of Prayer for All
1This is what the Lord says:
Preserve justice and do what is right, # Gn 18:19; Ps 106:3; Pr 21:3
for My salvation is coming soon,
and My righteousness will be revealed. # Ps 98:2; Is 46:13; 51:5; Rm 1:17; 3:21
2Happy is the man who does this,
anyone who maintains this,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil. # Is 58:13
3No foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord
should say,
“The Lord will exclude me from His people”; # Is 14:1; 56:6
and the eunuch should not say,
“Look, I am a dried-up tree.” # Dt 23:1
4For the Lord says this:
“For the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,
and choose what pleases Me,
and hold firmly to My covenant,
5I will give them, in My house and within My walls,
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters.
I will give each of them an everlasting name
that will never be cut off. # Is 55:13; Rv 2:17
6And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord
minister to Him, love the name of Yahweh
and become His servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold firmly to My covenant —
7I will bring them to My holy mountain # Is 2:2-3
and let them rejoice in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be acceptable on My altar, # Mal 1:11
for My house will be called a house of prayer
for all nations.” # Jr 7:11; Mt 21:13; Mk 11:17; Lk 19:46
8This is the declaration of the Lord God,
who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
“I will gather to them still others
besides those already gathered.” # Is 11:12; 60:3-11; 66:18-21; Jn 10:16
Unrighteous Leaders Condemned
9All you animals of the field and forest,
come and eat!
10Israel’s # Or His, or Its watchmen are blind, all of them,
they know nothing;
all of them are mute dogs,
they cannot bark;
they dream, lie down,
and love to sleep.
11These dogs have fierce appetites;
they never have enough.
And they are shepherds
who have no discernment;
all of them turn to their own way,
every last one for his own gain. # Jr 10:21; 23:1; 50:6; Ezk 34:2
12“Come, let me get some wine,
let’s guzzle some beer;
and tomorrow will be like today,
only far better! ” # Lk 12:19; 1Co 15:32
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Isaiah 56: HCSB
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© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 56
56
God's People will Include All Nations
1The LORD says to his people, “Do what is just and right, for soon I will save you. 2I will bless those who always observe the Sabbath and do not misuse it. I will bless those who do nothing evil.”
3A foreigner who has joined the LORD's people should not say, “The LORD will not let me worship with his people.”
A man who has been castrated should never think that because he cannot have children, he can never be part of God's people. 4The LORD says to such a man, “If you honour me by observing the Sabbath and if you do what pleases me and faithfully keep my covenant, 5then your name will be remembered in my Temple and among my people longer than if you had sons and daughters. You will never be forgotten.”
6And the LORD says to those foreigners who become part of his people, who love him and serve him, who observe the Sabbath and faithfully keep his covenant: 7#Mt 21.13; Mk 11.17; Lk 19.46“I will bring you to Zion, my sacred hill,#56.7 sacred hill: See 2.3. give you joy in my house of prayer, and accept the sacrifices you offer on my altar. My Temple will be called a house of prayer for the people of all nations.”
8The Sovereign LORD, who has brought his people Israel home from exile, has promised that he will bring still other people to join them.
Israel's Leaders are Condemned
9The LORD has told the foreign nations to come like wild animals and devour his people. 10He says, “All the leaders, who are supposed to warn my people, are blind! They know nothing. They are like watchdogs that don't bark — they only lie about and dream. How they love to sleep! 11They are like greedy dogs that never get enough. These leaders have no understanding. They each do as they please and seek their own advantage. 12‘Let's get some wine,’ these drunkards say, ‘and drink all we can hold! Tomorrow will be even better than today!’ ”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.