Isaiah 57
1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and pious men are taken away, without one considering that before the evil the righteous is taken away.
See how the just man has perished, and no one lays [it] to heart: and righteous men are taken away, and no one considers: for the righteous has been removed out of the way of injustice.
2 He shall come [to his fathers] in peace: they shall repose in their resting-place, every one that walketh in his uprightness.
His burial shall be in peace: he has been removed out of the way.
3 But ye draw near hither, sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot.
But draw you near hither, you lawless children, the seed of adulterers and the harlot.
4 Over whom will you make yourselves merry? concerning whom will you open wide your mouth, stretch out your tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,
Wherein have you been rioting? and against whom have you opened your mouth, and against whom have you loosed your tongue? are you not children of perdition? a lawless seed?
5 That are inflamed after the idols under every green tree; that slaughter the children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks?
who call upon idols under the leafy trees, slaying your children in the valleys amongst the rocks?
6 Of the smooth stones of the valley is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured out a drink-offering, hast thou offered a meat-offering. Shall I for these things repent me [of the evil]?
That is your portion, this is your lot: and to them have you poured forth drink-offerings, and to these have you offered meat-offerings. Shall I not therefore be angry for these things?
7 Upon a high and lofty mountain hast thou placed thy couch: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.
On a lofty and high mountain, there is your bed, and there you carried up your meat-offerings:
8 And behind the doors and the door-posts hast thou placed thy [mark of] remembrance; for [departing] from me, thou hast laid open, and art gone up, —hast enlarged thy couch, and made thee a covenant with some of them; thou hast loved their lying with thee, hast selected a fitting place.
and behind the posts of your door you did place your memorials. Did you think that if you should depart from me, you would gain? you have loved those that lay with you;
9 And thou didst show thyself unto the king without ointment, and thou didst multiply thy perfumes, and thou didst send out thy messengers even into the far-off distance, and didst debase thyself even down to the nether world. (Sheol h7585)
and you have multiplied your whoredom with them, and you have increased the number of them that are far from you, and have sent ambassadors beyond your borders, and have been debased even to hell. (Sheol h7585)
10 Though thou art wearied by the length of thy way, yet saidst thou not, It is useless: thou hadst found enough for thy hand; therefore didst thou feel no care.
You has wearied yourself with your many ways; yet you said not, I will cease to strengthen myself: for you has done these things; therefore you has not supplicated me.
11 And of whom hadst thou dread or fear, that thou becamest false, and didst not remember me, nor lay it to thy heart? is it not so? I kept silence, and this from earliest times, and therefore thou fearest me not!
Through dread of whom have you feared, and lied against me, and has not remembered, nor considered me, nor regarded me, yes, though when I see you I pass you by, yet you has not feared me.
12 I, I ever tell thee [what deeds would be] thy righteousness; but thy works—these indeed will not profit thee.
And I will declare your righteousness, and your sins, which shall not profit you.
13 When thou criest, let thy masses of idols deliver thee; but all of them will the wind carry away, a breath will take them off; but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain.
When you cry out, let them deliver you in your affliction: for all these the wind shall take, and the tempest shall carry [them] away: but they that cleave to me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain.
14 And he will say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, clear out the way, lift up every stumbling block out of the way of my people.
And they shall say, Clear the ways before him, and take up the stumbling blocks out of the way of my people.
15 For thus hath said the high and lofty One, who inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, In the high and holy place do I dwell, yet also with the contrite and humble of spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Thus says the Most High, who dwells on high for ever, Holy in the holies, is his name, the Most High resting in the holies, and giving patience to the faint-hearted, and giving life to the broken-hearted:
16 For not to eternity will I contend, neither will I be for ever wroth: when the spirit from before me is overwhelmed, and the souls which I have made.
I will not take vengeance on you for ever, neither will I be always angry with you: for my Spirit shall go forth from me, and I have created all breath.
17 Because of the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and I smote him, hiding my face, and was wroth: while he went on frowardly in the way of his own heart.
On account of sin for a little while I grieved him, and struck him, and turned away my face from him; and he was grieved, and he went on sorrowful in his ways.
18 I [now] see his ways, and I will heal him; and I will guide him, and bestow full comforts on him and on his mourners;
I have seen his ways, and healed him, and comforted him, and given him true comfort;
19 Creating the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to him that is afar off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him.
peace upon peace to them that are far off, and to them that are near: and the Lord has said, I will heal them.
20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can never be at rest, but its waters cast up mire and dirt.
But the unrighteous shall be tossed as troubled waves, and shall not be able to rest.
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
There is no joy to the ungodly, said God.
