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.
The righteous has perished, And there is none laying [it] to heart, And men of kindness are gathered, Without any considering that from the face of evil The righteous one is gathered.
2 He shall come [to his fathers] in peace: they shall repose in their resting-place, every one that walketh in his uprightness.
He enters into peace, they rest on their beds, [Each] is going straightforward.
3 But ye draw near hither, sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot.
“And you, come near here, O sons of a sorceress, seed of an adulterer, Even you commit whoredom.
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,
Against whom do you sport yourselves? Against whom do you enlarge the mouth [And] prolong the tongue? Are you not children of transgression? A false 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 are inflamed among oaks, under every green tree, Slaughtering the children in valleys, Under clefts of 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]?
Your portion [is] among the smooth things of a brook, They [are] your lot, You have also poured out an oblation to them, You have caused a present to ascend, Am I comforted in these things?
7 Upon a high and lofty mountain hast thou placed thy couch: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.
On a mountain, high and exalted, You have set your bed, You have also gone up there to make a sacrifice.
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 door, and the post, You have set up your memorial, For you have removed from Me, and go up, You have enlarged your bed, And cut [a covenant] with them, You have loved their bed, the station you saw,
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 go joyfully to the king in ointment, And multiply your perfumes, And send your ambassadors far off, And humble yourself to Sheol. (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 have labored in the greatness of your way, You have not said, It is desperate. You have found the life of your hand, Therefore you have not been sick.
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!
And of whom have you been afraid, and fear, That you lie, and have not remembered Me? You have not laid [it] to your heart, Am I not silent, even from of old? And you do not fear Me?
12 I, I ever tell thee [what deeds would be] thy righteousness; but thy works—these indeed will not profit thee.
I declare your righteousness, and your works, And they do 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, let your gatherings deliver you, And wind carries all of them away, Vanity takes away, And whoever is trusting in Me inherits the land, And possesses 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 He has said, “Raise up, raise up, prepare a way, Lift a stumbling-block 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.
For thus said the high and exalted One, Inhabiting eternity, and His Name [is] holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, And with the bruised and humble of spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of bruised ones,
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.
For I do not strive for all time, nor am I angry forever, For the spirit is feeble before Me, And the souls I have made.
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.
For the iniquity of his dishonest gain, I have been angry, and I strike him, Hiding—and am angry, And he goes on turning back in the way of his heart.
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 I heal him, indeed, I lead him, And repay comforts to him and to his mourning ones.
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.
Producing the fruit of the lips, Peace, peace, to the far off, and to the near, And I have healed him,” said YHWH.
20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can never be at rest, but its waters cast up mire and dirt.
And the wicked [are] as the driven out sea, For it is not able to rest, And its waters cast out filth and mire.
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
“There is no peace,” said my God, “for the wicked!”
