Isaiah 56
1 Thus hath said the Lord, Keep ye justice, and do equity; for near is my salvation to come, and my righteousness 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 Happy is the mortal that ever doth this, and the son of man that ever layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath by not violating it, and keepeth his hand 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 say the son of the stranger, that joineth himself unto the Lord, saying, Surely the Lord will exclude me from his people; nor let 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 hath said the Lord concerning the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and make choice of what pleaseth me, and take hold of 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 indeed give unto them in my house and within my walls a place and a name, better than sons and daughters: an everlasting name will I give them, that shall not be cut off.
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 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves unto the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be unto him as servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath by not violating it, and those who take hold of 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 Even these will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the 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 Thus saith the Lord Eternal who gathereth the outcasts of Israel, I will yet gather [others] to him, beside his own gathered [outcasts].
[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, [yea, ] all ye beasts in 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 of them blind, they know nothing; they all are dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreamers, lying down, loving to slumber.
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 But the dogs are of a greedy disposition, they know not how to be satisfied; and those are shepherds that know how to understand: they all turn to their own way, every one after his gain, from all quarters.
[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 ye, I will fetch wine, and let us swallow abundantly of strong drink; and like this day shall it be tomorrow, excellent and in very great abundance.
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!’”
