Isaiah 57
1 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.
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 in their beds, those who walk in their uprightness.
He enters into peace, they rest on their beds, [Each] is going straightforward.
3 But come here, you sons of the sorceress, children of the adulterer and the woman who has prostituted herself.
“And you, come near here, O sons of a sorceress, seed of an adulterer, Even you commit whoredom.
4 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?
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 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.
Who are inflamed among oaks, under every green tree, Slaughtering the children in valleys, Under clefts of the rocks.
6 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?
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 You prepared your bed on a high mountain; you also went up there to offer sacrifices.
On a mountain, high and exalted, You have set your bed, You have also gone up there to make a sacrifice.
8 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.
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 You went to Molech with oil; you multiplied perfumes. You send your ambassadors far away; you went down to Sheol. (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 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.
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 “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.
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 will proclaim all your righteous acts and tell all that you have done, but they will not help you.
I declare your righteousness, and your works, And they do not profit you.
13 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.
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 He will say, 'Build, build! Clear a way! Remove all the stumbling blocks from the path 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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, but I will heal him. I will lead him and comfort and console those who mourn for him,
I have seen his ways, and I heal him, indeed, I lead him, And repay comforts to him and to his mourning ones.
19 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.
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 tossing sea, which cannot rest, and its waters churn up mire and mud.
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 for the wicked one—says God.”
“There is no peace,” said my God, “for the wicked!”
