Isaiah 56
1 Thus saith the Lord: Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my justice to be revealed.
Yahweh says [to all the people of Judah], “Do the things that are fair and just, because I will soon come to rescue [DOU] you.
2 Blessed is the man that doth this, and the son of man that shall lay hold on this: that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, that keepeth his hands from doing any evil.
I will bless those who faithfully obey my laws about the Sabbath/rest days. I will bless those who (keep sacred/honor) my Sabbath/rest days, and who do not do any work on those days, and who refrain from [MTY] doing anything that is evil.
3 And let not the son of the stranger, that adhereth to the Lord, speak, saying: The Lord will divide and separate me from his people. And let not the eunuch say: Behold I am a dry tree.
And foreigners who have believed in me should not say, ‘Yahweh will surely not allow me to belong to his people.’ And eunuchs should not say, ‘[Because I am unable to have children, I cannot belong to Yahweh]; I am like [MET] a tree that has completely withered.’
4 For thus saith the Lord to the eunuchs, They that shall keep my sabbaths, and shall choose the things that please me, and shall hold fast my covenant:
They should not say that, because [I], Yahweh, say this to the eunuchs who obey my laws about the Sabbath, and who choose to do the things that please me, and who obey all [the other laws of] the agreement that I [made with the Israeli people]:
5 I will give to them in my house, and within my walls, a place, and a name better than sons and daughters: I will give them an everlasting name which shall never perish.
I will cause to be put inside the walls of my temple a monument [DOU] to them; because of that monument, they will be honored more than they would have if they had children; they will be honored forever.
6 And the children of the stranger that adhere to the Lord, to worship him, and to love his name, to be his servants: every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and that holdeth fast my covenant:
I will also bless those who are not Israelis, who (join themselves to/believe in) me, and who serve me and worship and love me, and who obey my laws about the Sabbath, and who faithfully obey [all the other laws of] the agreement that I [made with the Israeli people].
7 I will bring them into my holy mount, and will make them joyful in my house of prayer: their holocausts, and their victims shall please me upon my altar: for my house shall be called the house of prayer, for all nations.
I will bring them to my sacred hill [in Jerusalem], I will cause them to be [very] joyful in my temple where people pray to me, and I will accept the sacrifices that they completely burn [on my altar] and other sacrifices that they offer. I will do those things for them because I want my temple to be a building where people of all nations pray to me.
8 The Lord God, who gathereth the scattered of Israel, saith: I will still gather unto him his congregation.
[I], Yahweh, the Lord, the one who will bring back the people of Israel who have been (forced to go/exiled) to other countries, say this: 'I will bring [from other countries] many more people to join those Israelis whom I have brought back.'”
9 All ye beasts of the field come to devour, all ye beasts of the forest.
“You [surrounding nations have armies that are like] [MET] animals in the forest; come and attack/destroy [Israel]!
10 His watchmen are all blind, they are all ignorant: dumb dogs not able to bark, seeing vain things, sleeping and loving dreams.
The Israeli leaders [should be like] watchdogs to protect the people, but [it is as though] they are blind. They are stupid. They are all [like] [MET] dogs that cannot bark. [Good watchdogs bark when strangers approach], [but the Israeli leaders do not warn the people that their enemies are coming]. Instead, they just want to lie down and sleep and dream.
11 And meet impudent dogs, they never had enough: the shepherds themselves knew no understanding: all have turned aside into their own way, every one after his own gain, from the first even to the last.
[And they are like] greedy dogs; they never get all that they want. They are [supposed to lead the people, like good] shepherds [lead their flocks], but they are ignorant, and they each do whatever they want to do.
12 Come, let us take wine, and be filled with drunkenness: and it shall be as today, so also tomorrow, and much more.
They say to each other, ‘Come, let’s go and get some wine and [other] alcoholic/strong drinks, and let’s become drunk! And tomorrow we will enjoy drinking even more!’”
