Isaiah 56 - 61 - Legacy Standard Bible

Isaiah 56 - 61

Salvation for the Foreigner

Thus says Yahweh,

“Keep justice and do righteousness,

For My salvation is about to come

And My righteousness to be revealed.

How blessed is the man who does this,

And the son of man who takes hold of it,

Who keeps from profaning the sabbath,

And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to Yahweh say,

“Yahweh will surely separate me from His people.”

Nor let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”

For thus says Yahweh,

“To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths,

And choose what pleases Me,

And hold fast My covenant,

To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial,

And a name better than that of sons and daughters;

I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.

“Also the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh,

To minister to Him, and to love the name of Yahweh,

To be His slaves, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath

And takes hold of My covenant,

Even those I will bring to My holy mountain

And make them glad in My house of prayer.

Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar;

For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”

Lord Yahweh, who gathers the banished of Israel, declares,

“Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.”

All you beasts of the field,

All you beasts in the forest,

Come to eat.

His watchmen are blind;

All of them know nothing.

All of them are mute dogs unable to bark,

Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber;

And the dogs have a strong appetite; they do not know satisfaction.

And they are shepherds who do not know understanding;

They have all turned to their own way,

Each one to his greedy gain, to the last one.

“Come,” they say, “let us take wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink;

And tomorrow will be like today—beyond exceedingly great.”

Evil Leaders Rebuked

The righteous man perishes, and no man puts it upon his heart;

And men of lovingkindness are gathered away, while no one understands.

For the righteous man is gathered away from evil,

He enters into peace;

They rest in their beds,

Each one who walked in his upright way.

“But draw near, you sons of a soothsayer,

Seed of an adulterer and a prostitute.

Against whom do you jest?

Against whom do you open wide your mouth

And stick out your tongue?

Are you not children of transgression,

Seed of lying,

Who inflame yourselves among the oaks,

Under every green tree,

Who slaughter the children in the ravines,

Under the clefts of the cliffs?

Among the smooth stones of the ravine

Is your portion, they are your lot;

Even to them you have poured out a drink offering;

You have made a grain offering.

Shall I relent concerning these things?

Upon a mountain lofty and lifted up

You have made your bed.

You also went up there to offer sacrifice.

Behind the door and the doorpost

You have set up your memorial;

Indeed, far removed from Me, you have uncovered yourself,

And have gone up and made your bed wide,

And you have cut a covenant for yourself with them;

You have loved their bed;

You have looked on their manhood.

You have journeyed to the king with oil

And increased your perfumes;

You have sent your envoys a great distance

And made them go down to Sheol.

You were tired out by the length of your road,

Yet you did not say, ‘It is hopeless.’

You found renewed strength;

Therefore you did not faint.

“Of whom were you anxious and fearful

When you lied and did not remember Me,

Nor even put Me upon your heart?

Was I not silent even for a long time

So you do not fear Me?

I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,

But they will not profit you.

When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you.

But the wind will lift all of them up,

And a breath will take them away.

But he who takes refuge in Me will inherit the land

And will possess My holy mountain.”

Yahweh Revives the Spirit of the Lowly

And it will be said,

“Build up, build up, prepare the way,

Remove every stumbling block out of the way of My people.”

For thus says the One high and lifted up

Who dwells forever, whose name is Holy,

“I dwell on a high and holy place,

And also with the crushed and lowly of spirit

In order to revive the spirit of the lowly

And to revive the heart of the crushed.

For I will not contend forever,

Nor will I always be angry;

For the spirit would grow faint before Me,

And the breath of those whom I have made.

Because of the iniquity of his greedy gain I was angry and struck him;

I hid My face and was angry,

And he went on turning away, in the way of his heart.

I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;

I will lead him and pay him and his mourners in full with comfort,

Creating the praise of the lips.

Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near,”

Says Yahweh, “and I will heal him.”

But the wicked are like the tossing sea,

For it cannot be quiet,

And its waters toss up refuse and mud.

“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

Fasting as Yahweh Chooses

“Call out from your throat, do not hold back;

Raise your voice like a trumpet,

And declare to My people their transgression

And to the house of Jacob their sins.

Yet they seek Me day by day and find pleasure in knowing My ways,

As a nation that has done righteousness

And has not forsaken the judgment of their God.

They ask Me for righteous judgments;

They find pleasure in the nearness of God.

‘Why have we fasted and You do not see?

Why have we afflicted our souls and You do not know?’

Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire,

And oppress all your workers.

Behold, you fast for contention and quarreling and to strike with a wicked fist.

You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.

Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to afflict himself?

Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed

And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed?

Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to Yahweh?

Is this not the fast which I choose,

To loosen the bonds of wickedness,

To release the bands of the yoke,

And to let the oppressed go free

And break every yoke?

Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry

And bring the afflicted homeless into the house;

When you see the naked, you cover him;

And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Then your light will break out like the dawn,

And your recovery will speedily spring forth;

And your righteousness will go before you;

The glory of Yahweh will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer;

You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

If you remove the yoke from your midst,

The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,

And if you offer your soul to the hungry

And satisfy the soul of the afflicted,

Then your light will rise in darkness

And your thick darkness will become like midday.

And Yahweh will continually guide you,

And satisfy your soul in scorched places,

And fortify your bones;

And you will be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

Those from among you will rebuild the ancient waste places;

You will raise up the foundations of past generation upon generation;

And you will be called the repairer of the breach,

The restorer of the paths for one to inhabit.

Keeping the Sabbath

“If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot

From doing your own desire on My holy day,

And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of Yahweh honorable,

And honor it, by not doing your own ways,

By not finding your own desire

And speaking your own word,

Then you will take delight in Yahweh,

And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;

And I will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father,

For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.”

Separation from Yahweh

Behold, the hand of Yahweh is not so short

That it cannot save;

Nor is His ear so dull

That it cannot hear.

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,

And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

For your hands are defiled with blood

And your fingers with iniquity;

Your lips have spoken a lie;

Your tongue mutters unrighteousness.

No one calls in righteousness, and no one seeks justice in truth.

They trust in confusion and speak worthlessness;

They conceive trouble and give birth to wickedness.

They break open vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web;

He who eats of their eggs dies,

And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.

Their webs will not become a garment,

Nor will they cover themselves with their works;

Their works are works of wickedness,

And a deed of violence is in their hands.

Their feet run to evil,

And they are quick to shed innocent blood;

Their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness;

Devastation and destruction are in their highways.

They do not know the way of peace,

And there is no justice in their tracks;

They have made their paths crooked,

Whoever treads on them does not know peace.

Trangressing and Denying Yahweh

Therefore justice is far from us,

And righteousness does not overtake us;

We hope for light, but behold, darkness,

For brightness, but we walk in thick darkness.

We grope along the wall like blind men;

We grope like those who have no eyes;

We stumble at midday as in the twilight,

Among those who are vigorous we are like dead men.

All of us growl like bears,

And moan sadly like doves;

We hope for justice, but there is none,

For salvation, but it is far from us.

For our transgressions are multiplied before You,

And our sins answer against us;

For our transgressions are with us,

And we know our iniquities:

Transgressing and denying Yahweh,

And turning back from our God,

Speaking oppression and revolt,

Conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words.

Justice is turned back,

And righteousness stands far away;

For truth has stumbled in the street,

And rightness cannot enter.

So it is that truth is missing;

And he who turns aside from evil makes himself plunder.

Then Yahweh saw,

And it was evil in His eyes that there was no justice.

And He saw that there was no man,

And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;

Then His own arm brought salvation to Him,

And His righteousness upheld Him.

He put on righteousness like a breastplate,

And a helmet of salvation on His head;

And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing

And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.

According to what they deserve, so He will pay in full,

Wrath to His adversaries, what is deserved to His enemies;

To the coastlands He will pay what they deserve.

So they will fear the name of Yahweh from the west

And His glory from the rising of the sun,

For He will come like a rushing stream

Which the wind of Yahweh makes flee.

“A Redeemer will come to Zion,

And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares Yahweh.

21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says Yahweh: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your seed, nor from the mouth of your seed’s seed,” says Yahweh, “from now and forever.”

A Glorified Zion

“Arise, shine, for your light has come,

And the glory of Yahweh has risen upon you.

For behold, darkness will cover the earth

And dense gloom the peoples;

But Yahweh will rise upon you,

And His glory will appear upon you.

Nations will come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

“Lift up your eyes round about and see;

They all gather together; they come to you.

Your sons will come from afar,

And your daughters will be carried on the nurses’ hip.

Then you will see and be radiant,

And your heart will tremble and be large with joy;

Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you,

The wealth of the nations will come to you.

A multitude of camels will cover you,

The young camels of Midian and Ephah;

All those from Sheba will come;

They will bring gold and frankincense,

And will bear good news of the praises of Yahweh.

All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you;

The rams of Nebaioth will minister to you;

They will go up with acceptance on My altar,

And I shall adorn My glorious house with beautiful glory.

Who are these who fly like a cloud

And like the doves to their lattices?

Surely the coastlands will hope in Me;

And the ships of Tarshish will come first,

To bring your sons from afar,

Their silver and their gold with them,

For the name of Yahweh your God,

And for the Holy One of Israel because He has adorned you with beautiful glory.

“Foreigners will build up your walls,

And their kings will minister to you;

For in My wrath I struck you,

And in My favor I have had compassion on you.

Your gates will be open continually;

They will not be closed day or night,

So that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations,

With their kings led in procession.

For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish,

And the nations will surely be laid waste.

The glory of Lebanon will come to you,

The juniper, the box tree, and the cypress together,

To adorn the place of My sanctuary with beautiful glory;

And I shall make the place of My feet glorious.

The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you,

And all those who spurned you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet;

And they will call you the City of Yahweh,

The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

“Instead of being forsaken and hated

With no one passing through,

I will make you an everlasting pride,

A joy from generation to generation.

You will also suck the milk of nations

And suck the breast of kings;

Then you will know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior

And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

Instead of bronze I will bring gold,

And instead of iron I will bring silver,

And instead of wood, bronze,

And instead of stones, iron.

And I will make peace your overseers

And righteousness your taskmasters.

Violence will not be heard again in your land,

Nor devastation or destruction within your borders;

But you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise.

No longer will you have the sun for light by day,

Nor for brightness will the moon give you light;

But you will have Yahweh for an everlasting light,

And your God for your glory.

Your sun will no longer set,

Nor will your moon wane;

For you will have Yahweh for an everlasting light,

And the days of your mourning will be finished.

Then all your people will be righteous;

They will possess the land forever,

The branch of My planting,

The work of My hands,

That I may show forth My beautiful glory.

The smallest one will become a clan,

And the miniscule one a mighty nation.

I, Yahweh, will hasten it in its time.”

Exaltation of the Afflicted

The Spirit of Lord Yahweh is upon me

Because Yahweh has anointed me

To bring good news to the afflicted;

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

To proclaim release to captives

And freedom to prisoners,

To proclaim the favorable year of Yahweh

And the day of vengeance of our God,

To comfort all who mourn,

To grant those who mourn in Zion,

Giving them a headdress instead of ashes,

The oil of rejoicing instead of mourning,

The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.

So they will be called oaks of righteousness,

The planting of Yahweh, that He may show forth His beautiful glory.

Then they will rebuild the ancient waste places;

They will raise up the former desolations;

And they will make new the ruined cities,

The desolations from generation to generation.

Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks,

And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.

But you will be called the priests of Yahweh;

You will be spoken of as ministers of our God.

You will eat the wealth of nations,

And in their glories you will boast.

Instead of your shame you will have a double portion,

And instead of dishonor they will shout for joy over their portion.

Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land;

Everlasting gladness will be theirs.

For I, Yahweh, love justice,

I hate robbery in the burnt offering;

And in truth I will give them their recompense

And cut an everlasting covenant with them.

Then their seed will be known among the nations,

And their offspring in the midst of the peoples.

All who see them will recognize them

Because they are the seed whom Yahweh has blessed.

I will rejoice greatly in Yahweh;

My soul will rejoice in my God,

For He has clothed me with garments of salvation,

He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,

As a bridegroom decks himself with a headdress,

And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its branches,

And as a garden causes the things sown in it to branch out,

So Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise

To branch out before all the nations.