Add parallel Print Page Options

All Nations Will Follow the Lord

56 The Lord said these things, “Be fair to all people. Do what is right, because soon my salvation will come to you. My goodness will soon be shown to the whole world. I will bless those who refuse to do wrong and who obey the law about the Sabbath.”

Some foreigners will choose to follow the Lord. They should not say, “The Lord will not really accept me like the rest of his people.” A eunuch should not say, “I am only a dry piece of wood. I cannot have any children.

They should not say that because the Lord says, “Some eunuchs obey the laws about the Sabbath. They choose to do what I want, and they follow my agreement.[a] So I will put a memorial stone in my Temple for them. Their name will be remembered in my city! Yes, I will give those eunuchs something better than sons and daughters. I will give them a name that will last forever! They will not be cut off[b] from my people.

“Some foreigners have chosen to follow the Lord. They do this so that they can serve him and love his name and be his servants. They keep the Sabbath as a special day of worship, and they will continue to follow closely my agreement. So I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them happy in my house of prayer. The offerings and sacrifices they give me will please me, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” The Lord God said these things.

The Israelites were forced to leave their country, but the Lord will gather them together again. He says, “I will bring them back together again!”

Wild animals in the forest,
    come and eat.
10 The watchmen[c] are all blind.
    They don’t know what they are doing.
They are like dogs that will not bark.
    They lie on the ground and sleep.
    Oh, they love to sleep.
11 They are like hungry dogs.
    They are never satisfied.
The shepherds don’t know what they are doing.
    Like their sheep, they have all wandered away.
They are greedy.
    All they want is to satisfy themselves.
12 They come and say,
    “I will drink some wine.
    I will drink some beer.
I will do the same thing tomorrow,
    but I will drink even more.”

Israel Does Not Follow God

57 All the good people are gone,
    and no one even noticed.
The loyal followers were gathered up,
    but no one knows why.

The reason they were gathered up
    is that trouble is coming.
But peace will come too,
    and those who trust him will get to rest in their own beds.

“Come here, you children of witches.
    Your father committed adultery,
    and your mother was unfaithful.
You are children out of control, full of lies.
    You make fun of me.
You make faces
    and stick out your tongue at me.[d]
All you want is to worship false gods
    under every green tree.
You kill children by every stream
    and sacrifice them in the rocky places.
You love to worship the smooth rocks in the rivers.
    You pour wine on them to worship them.
You give sacrifices to them, but those rocks are all you get.
    Do you think this makes me happy?
You make your bed on every hill
    and high mountain.[e]
You go up to those places
    and offer sacrifices.
You hide the things that help you remember me
    behind the doors and doorframes.[f]
You were with me,
    but you got up to go to them.
You spread out your bed
    and gave yourself to them.[g]
You love their beds
    and enjoy looking at their naked bodies.[h]
You use your oils and perfumes
    to look nice for Molech.
You sent your messengers to faraway lands,
    and this will bring you down to the place of death.[i]
10 All of them made you tired,
    but you never gave up.
You found new strength,
    because you enjoyed them.
11 You did not remember me.
    You did not even notice me!
So who were you worrying about?
    Who were you afraid of?
    Why did you lie?
Look, I have been quiet for a long time.
    Is that why you didn’t honor me?
12 I could tell about your ‘good works’ and all the ‘religious’ things you do,
    but that will not help you.
13 When you need help,
    you cry to those false gods that you have gathered around you.
    Let them help you!
But I tell you, the wind will blow them all away.
    A puff of wind will blow them all away.
But the one who depends on me
    will get the land I promised
    and enjoy my holy mountain.[j]

The Lord Will Save His People

14 Clear the road! Clear the road!
    Make the way clear for my people!

15 God is high and lifted up.
    He lives forever.
    His name is holy.
He says, “I live in a high and holy place,
    but I also live with people who are humble and sorry for their sins.
I will give new life to those who are humble in spirit.
    I will give new life to those who are sorry for their sins.
16 I will not accuse my people forever.
    I will not always be angry.
If I continued to show my anger,
    then the human spirit, the life I gave them, would die before me.
17 Israel’s evil greed made me angry,
    so I punished them.
I turned away from them
    because I was angry.
But they continued to do wrong.
    They did whatever they wanted.
18 I have seen their way of life, but I will heal them.
    I will guide and comfort them and those who mourn for them.
19 I will teach them a new word: peace.
    I will give peace to those who are near and to those who are far away.
I will heal them.”
    The Lord himself said this.

20 But evil people are like the angry ocean.
    They cannot be quiet and peaceful.
They are angry, and like the ocean,
    they stir up mud.
21 My God says,
    “There is no peace for evil people.”

People Must Be Told to Follow God

58 Shout as loud as you can and don’t stop.
    Shout like a trumpet!
Tell the people what they did wrong.
    Tell the family of Jacob about their sins.
They still come every day to worship me,
    acting as if they want to learn my ways.
They pretend to be a nation that lives right
    and obeys the commands of their God.
They ask me to judge them fairly.
    They want their God to be near them.

They say, “We fast to show honor to you. Why don’t you see us? We starve our bodies to show honor to you. Why don’t you notice us?”

But God says, “You do things to please yourselves on those special days of fasting. And you punish your servants, not your own bodies. You are hungry, but not for food. You are hungry for arguing and fighting, not for bread. You are hungry to hit people with your evil hands. This is not the way to fast if you want your prayers to be heard in heaven! Do you think I want to see people punish their bodies on those days of fasting? Do you think I want people to look sad and bow their heads like dead plants? Do you think I want people to wear mourning clothes and sit in ashes to show their sadness? That is what you do on your days of fasting. Do you think that is what the Lord wants?

“I will tell you the kind of day I want—a day to set people free. I want a day that you take the burdens off others. I want a day when you set troubled people free and you take the burdens from their shoulders. I want you to share your food with the hungry. I want you to find the poor who don’t have homes and bring them into your own homes. When you see people who have no clothes, give them your clothes! Don’t hide from your relatives when they need help.”

If you do these things, your light will begin to shine like the light of dawn. Then your wounds will heal. Your “Goodness” will walk in front of you, and the Glory of the Lord will come following behind you. Then you will call to the Lord, and he will answer you. You will cry out to him, and he will say, “Here I am.”

Stop causing trouble and putting burdens on people. Stop saying things to hurt people or accusing them of things they didn’t do. 10 Feel sorry for hungry people and give them food. Help those who are troubled and satisfy their needs. Then your light will shine in the darkness. You will be like the bright sunshine at noon.

11 The Lord will always lead you and satisfy your needs in dry lands. He will give strength to your bones. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring that never goes dry.

12 Your cities have been destroyed for many years, but you will rebuild them and their foundations will last for a long time. You will be called “Fence Fixer” and “Builder of Roads and Houses.”

13 That will happen when you stop sinning against God’s law about the Sabbath and when you stop doing things to please yourself on that special day. You should call the Sabbath a happy day. You should honor the Lord’s special day by not saying and doing things that you do every other day of the week. 14 Then you could enjoy the Lord. As the Lord himself says, “I could carry you up to the highest mountain and let you enjoy the land that I gave to your father Jacob.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 56:4 agreement This usually means the agreement God made with Israel through Moses. (See “agreement” in the Word List.) Here, it might mean the agreement of Isa. 55:3.
  2. Isaiah 56:5 cut off To be removed from the list of the people of Israel. This included a person’s being forced to leave family, land, and the people of Israel.
  3. Isaiah 56:10 The watchmen Literally, “The seers,” an ancient title for prophets.
  4. Isaiah 57:4 make faces … at me This probably refers to the god Bel, which is usually shown making a face and sticking out his tongue.
  5. Isaiah 57:7 every hill and high mountain The people worshiped false gods in these places. The people thought these false gods would give them good crops and more children.
  6. Isaiah 57:8 doorframes The Israelites were supposed to put special things on their doorframes to help them remember God. See Deut. 6:9.
  7. Isaiah 57:8 gave yourself to them Or “and made agreements with them.”
  8. Isaiah 57:8 naked bodies This is a wordplay. The Hebrew word also means “memorial,” as in Isa. 56:5.
  9. Isaiah 57:9 this will … death Or “You even send them down to Sheol.”
  10. Isaiah 57:13 holy mountain Mount Zion, one of the mountains Jerusalem was built on.

Bible Gateway Recommends

PDT Spanish Paperback Bible
PDT Spanish Paperback Bible
Retail: $9.99
Our Price: $7.99
Save: $2.00 (20%)
3.0 of 5.0 stars
ERV Paperback Bible
ERV Paperback Bible
Retail: $6.99
Our Price: $5.49
Save: $1.50 (21%)
4.5 of 5.0 stars
ERV Economy Bible--flexible cover, black
ERV Economy Bible--flexible cover, black
Retail: $7.99
Our Price: $6.29
Save: $1.70 (21%)
5.0 of 5.0 stars
Swahili New Testament Easy to Read Version (ERV)
Swahili New Testament Easy to Read Version (ERV)
Retail: $5.00
Our Price: $4.19
Save: $0.81 (16%)
ERV Duotone Bible, Burgundy/Tan
ERV Duotone Bible, Burgundy/Tan
Retail: $18.99
Our Price: $13.99
Save: $5.00 (26%)
5.0 of 5.0 stars
ERV Children's Softcover Bible, Case of 28
ERV Children's Softcover Bible, Case of 28
Retail: $279.72
Our Price: $206.99
Save: $72.73 (26%)
4.0 of 5.0 stars