56:1 Thus says Yahweh, “Keep justice, and do righteousness; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
56:2 Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast; who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
56:3 Neither let the foreigner, who has joined himself to Yahweh, speak, saying, “Yahweh will surely separate me from his people;” neither let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”
56:4 For thus says Yahweh, “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant:
56:5 to them I will give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
56:6 Also the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh, to minister to him, and to love the name of Yahweh, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast my covenant;
56:7 even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
56:8 The Lord Yahweh, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “Yet will I gather others to him, besides his own who are gathered.”
56:9 All you animals of the field, come to devour, all you animals in the forest.
56:10 His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they can’t bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
56:11 Yes, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds who can’t understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter.
56:12 “Come,” say they, “I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, great beyond measure.”
57:1 The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil.
57:2 He enters into peace; they rest in their beds, each one who walks in his uprightness.
57:3 “But draw near here, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the prostitute.
57:4 Against whom do you sport yourselves? Against whom do you make a wide mouth, and stick out your tongue? Aren’t you children of disobedience, a seed of falsehood,
57:5 you who inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree; who kill the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
57:6 Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion; they, they are your lot; you have even poured a drink offering to them. You have offered an offering. Shall I be appeased for these things?
57:7 On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed; there also you went up to offer sacrifice.
57:8 Behind the doors and the posts you have set up your memorial: for you have uncovered to someone besides me, and have gone up; you have enlarged your bed, and made you a covenant with them: you loved their bed where you saw it.
57:9 You went to the king with oil, and increased your perfumes, and sent your ambassadors far off, and debased yourself even to Sheol.
57:10 You were wearied with the length of your way; yet you didn’t say, ‘It is in vain.’ You found a reviving of your strength; therefore you weren’t faint.
57:11 “Of whom have you been afraid and in fear, that you lie, and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart? Haven’t I held my peace even of long time, and you don’t fear me?
57:12 I will declare your righteousness; and as for your works, they shall not profit you.
57:13 When you cry, let those who you have gathered deliver you; but the wind shall take them, a breath shall carry them all away: but he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain.”
57:14 He will say, “Cast up, cast up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people.”
57:15 For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
57:16 For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always angry; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls who I have made.
57:17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I angry, and struck him; I hid myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.
57:18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.
57:19 I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near,” says Yahweh; “and I will heal them.”
57:20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can’t rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.
57:21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”