< Isaiah 57 >
1 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 enters into peace, they rest on their beds, [Each] is going straightforward.
3 “And you, come near here, O sons of a sorceress, seed of an adulterer, Even you commit whoredom.
4 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 Who are inflamed among oaks, under every green tree, Slaughtering the children in valleys, Under clefts of the rocks.
6 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 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 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 go joyfully to the king in ointment, And multiply your perfumes, And send your ambassadors far off, And humble yourself to Sheol. (Sheol )
10 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 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 declare your righteousness, and your works, And they do not profit you.
13 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 has said, “Raise up, raise up, prepare a way, Lift a stumbling-block out of the way of My people.”
15 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 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 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 have seen his ways, and I heal him, indeed, I lead him, And repay comforts to him and to his mourning ones.
19 Producing the fruit of the lips, Peace, peace, to the far off, and to the near, And I have healed him,” said YHWH.
20 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,” said my God, “for the wicked!”
