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ISAIAH INSTITUTE TRANSLATION

  Isaiah

57

Isaiah 57

Jehovah gathers the righteous from among the wicked whose practices turn cultic and perverse.

1 The righteousa disappear,and no man gives it a thought;the godly are gathered out,but no one perceives that from impending calamitythe righteous are withdrawn. 2 They who walk uprightly shall attain peace,and rest in their beds.
3 As for you, come here, you children of the sorceress,offspring of adulterer and harlot! 4 At whose expense do you amuse yourselves?At whom do you open wide the mouthand stick out the tongue?Surely you are born of sin, a spurious brood, 5 who burn with lust among the oaks,under every burgeoning tree,slayers of children in the gulliesunder the crags of rocks. 6 Among the slippery stones of the ravinesshall be your fate; they indeed are your lot.To them you pour out libations and make offerings.How shall I be appeased of such things?
7 On a lofty mountainyou have made prominent your bed,and there you ascend to offer sacrifices. 8 Behind doors and facadesyou have put up your emblems,and have exposed yourself to others than I:mounting your bed, you have laid it wide open.And you bargain with those with whom you love to lie,your hand on their nakedness.b
9 You bathec with oils for the kingand increase your perfumes;you send your solicitors far abroadand debase yourself to the depths.d 10 Though wearied by your excessive ways,you have not admitted despair;you have found livelihood,and therefore have not slackened.
11 Yet on whose account are you uneasy and apprehensive,that you pretend and do not mention me,nor even give me a thought?Is it because I have so long kept silentthat you no longer fear me? 12 But I will expose your fornicationand the wantonness of your exploits. 13 When you cry out in distress,let those who flock to you save you!A wind shall carry all of them off;a vapor shall take them away.
But they who seek refuge in me shall possess the earthand receive an inheritance in my holy mountain.
14 It will be said: Excavate, pave a road!Prepare the way;remove the obstacles from the path of my people!
15 Thus says he who is highly exalted,who abides forever, whose name is sacred:I dwell on high in the holy place,and with him who is humble and lowly in spirit—refreshing the spirits of the lowly,reviving the hearts of the humble. 16 I will not contend forever, nor always be angry;the spirits and souls I have made would faint before me.
17 By his sin of covetousness I was provoked;I struck him and hid my face in angerwhen he strayed by following the ways of his heart. 18 Yet I have seen his conduct and I will heal him;I will guide him and amply console himand those who mourn for him, 19 who partakee of the fruit of the lips:Peace, wellbeing, to those far offand to those who are near,says Jehovah who heals him.
20 But the wicked are like the raging Sea,unable to rest,whose waters heave up mire and mud: 21 there is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.

  • a1 Or, righteous one.
  • b8 Literally, foreparts.
  • c9 From Hebrew root šārâ.
  • d9 Hebrew Sheol, or Hell.
  • e19 Hebrew bôrēᵓ, create, emended to bôrê.


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