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 perish, but no one considers it, and the people of covenant faithfulness are gathered away, but no one understands that the righteous is gathered away from the evil.
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 in their beds, those who walk in their uprightness.
3 But ye draw near hither, sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot.
But come here, you sons of the sorceress, children of the adulterer and the woman who has prostituted herself.
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,
Whom are you merrily mocking? Against whom are you opening the mouth and sticking out the tongue? Are you not children of rebellion, children of deceit?
5 That are inflamed after the idols under every green tree; that slaughter the children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks?
You heat yourselves up sleeping together under the oaks, under every green tree, you who kill your children in the dry riverbeds, under the rocky overhangs.
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]?
Among the smooth things of the river valley are the things that have been assigned to you. They are the object of your devotion. You pour out your drink offering to them and raise up a grain offering. In these things should I take pleasure?
7 Upon a high and lofty mountain hast thou placed thy couch: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.
You prepared your bed on a high mountain; you also went up there to offer sacrifices.
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.
Behind the door and the doorposts you set up your symbols; you deserted me, made yourselves naked, and went up; you made your bed wide. You made a covenant with them; you loved their beds; you saw their private parts.
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)
You went to Molech with oil; you multiplied perfumes. You send your ambassadors far away; you went down 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 were tired from your long journey, but you never said, “It is hopeless.” You found life in your hand; therefore you did not weaken.
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!
“Whom are you worried about? Whom do you fear so much that has caused you to act so deceitfully, so much that you would not remember me or think about me? Because I was silent for so long, you are no longer afraid of me.
12 I, I ever tell thee [what deeds would be] thy righteousness; but thy works—these indeed will not profit thee.
I will proclaim all your righteous acts and tell all that you have done, but they will not help 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 your collection of idols rescue you. Instead the wind will carry them all away, a breath will carry them all away. Yet he who takes refuge in me will inherit the land and will take possession of 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.
He will say, 'Build, build! Clear a way! Remove all the stumbling blocks from the path 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 this is what the high and elevated One says, who lives eternally, whose name is holy, “I live in the exalted and holy place, with him also that is of a crushed and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble ones, and to revive the heart of the contrite 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 will not accuse forever, nor will I be angry forever, for then man's spirit would faint before me, the lives that 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.
Because of the sin of his violent gain, I was angry, and I punished him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went backward 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, but I will heal him. I will lead him and comfort and console those who mourn for him,
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.
and I create the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to those who are far off and to those who are near—says Yahweh—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 wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, and its waters churn up mire and mud.
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
There is no peace for the wicked one—says God.”
