Isaiah
57
- The righteous perish, and no one ponders
it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the
righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.
- Those who walk uprightly enter into peace;
they find rest as they lie in death.
- "But you -- come here, you sons of
a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes
!
- Whom are you mocking? At whom do you sneer
and stick out your tongue? Are you not a brood of rebels, the offspring of
liars ?
- You burn with lust among the oaks and under
every spreading tree; you sacrifice your children in the ravines and under
the overhanging crags.
- The idols among the smooth stones of the
ravines are your portion; they, they are your lot. Yes, to them you have poured
out drink offerings and offered grain offerings. In the light of these things,
should I relent ?
- You have made your bed on a high and lofty
hill; there you went up to offer your sacrifices.
- Behind your doors and your doorposts you
have put your pagan symbols. Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed, you climbed
into it and opened it wide; you made a pact with those whose beds you love,
and you looked on their nakedness.
- You went to Molech with olive oil and increased
your perfumes. You sent your ambassadors far away; you descended to the grave
itself !
- You were wearied by all your ways, but you
would not say, 'It is hopeless.' You found renewal of your strength, and so
you did not faint.
- "Whom have you so dreaded and feared
that you have been false to me, and have neither remembered me nor pondered
this in your hearts? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do
not fear me ?
- I will expose your righteousness and your
works, and they will not benefit you.
- When you cry out for help, let your collection
of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will
blow them away. But the man who makes me his refuge will inherit the land
and possess my holy mountain."
- And it will be said: "Build up, build
up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people."
- For this is what the high and lofty One
says -- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and
holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive
the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.
- I will not accuse forever, nor will I always
be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me -- the breath
of man that I have created.
- I was enraged by his sinful greed; I punished
him, and hid my face in anger, yet he kept on in his willful ways.
- I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will guide him and restore comfort to him,
- creating praise on the lips of the mourners
in Israel. Peace, peace, to those far and near," says the LORD. "And
I will heal them."
- But the wicked are like the tossing sea,
which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.
- "There is no peace," says my God,
"for the wicked."
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