Isaiah 56-66

Legacy Standard Bible

“^(A)Keep justice and do righteousness,
For My ^(B)salvation is about to come
And My righteousness to be revealed.
² How ^(C)blessed is the man who does this,
And the son of man who ^(D)takes hold of it,
Who ^(E)keeps from profaning the sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
³ Let not the ^(F)foreigner who has joined himself to Yahweh say,
“Yahweh will surely separate me from His people.”
Nor let the ^(G)eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”
⁴ For thus says Yahweh,
“To the eunuchs who ^(H)keep My sabbaths,
And choose what pleases Me,
And ^(I)hold fast My covenant,
⁵ To them I will give in My ^(J)house and within My ^(K)walls a ^[a]memorial,
And a name better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give ^[b]them an everlasting ^(L)name which ^(M)will not be cut off.

57 The righteous man perishes, and no man ^(AE)puts it upon his heart;
And men of lovingkindness are gathered away, while no one understands.
For the righteous man is gathered away from ^(AF)evil,
² He enters into peace;
They rest in their ^[i]beds,
Each one who ^(AG)walked in his upright way.
³ “But draw near, you sons of a ^(AH)soothsayer,
^(AI)Seed of an adulterer and ^[j]a ^(AJ)prostitute.
⁴ Against whom do you jest?
Against whom do you open wide your mouth
And stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of ^(AK)transgression,
Seed of lying,
⁵ Who inflame yourselves among the ^[k](AL)oaks,
^(AM)Under every green tree,
Who ^(AN)slaughter the children in the ^[l]ravines,
Under the clefts of the cliffs?
⁶ Among the ^[m](AO)smooth stones of the ^[n]ravine
Is your portion, ^[o]they are your lot;
Even to them you have ^(AP)poured out a drink offering;
You have made a grain offering.
Shall I ^[p](AQ)relent concerning these things?
⁷ Upon a mountain ^(AR)lofty and lifted up
You have ^(AS)made your bed.
You also went up there to offer sacrifice.
⁸ Behind the door and the doorpost
You have set up your memorial;
Indeed, far removed from Me, you have ^(AT)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 ^[q]bed;
You have looked on their ^[r]manhood.
⁹ You have journeyed to the king with oil
And increased your perfumes;
You have ^(AU)sent your envoys a great distance
And made them go down to Sheol.
¹⁰ You were tired out by the length of your road,
Yet you did not say, ‘^(AV)It is hopeless.’
You found ^[s]renewed strength;
Therefore you did not ^[t]faint.

¹⁴ And it will be said,
“^(BF)Build up, build up, prepare the way,
^[u]Remove every stumbling block out of the way of My people.”
¹⁵ For thus says the One ^(BG)high and lifted up
Who ^(BH)dwells forever, whose name is Holy,
“I ^(BI)dwell on a high and holy place,
And also with the ^(BJ)crushed and lowly of spirit
In order to ^(BK)revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the crushed.
¹⁶ For I will ^(BL)not contend forever,
^(BM)Nor will I always be angry;
For the spirit would grow faint before Me,
And the ^(BN)breath of those whom I have made.
¹⁷ Because of the iniquity of his ^(BO)greedy gain I was angry and struck him;
I hid My face and was angry,
And he went on ^(BP)turning away, in the way of his heart.
¹⁸ I have seen his ways, but I will ^(BQ)heal him;
I will ^(BR)lead him and ^(BS)pay him and his mourners in full with comfort,
¹⁹ Creating the ^[v](BT)praise of the lips.
^(BU)Peace, peace to him who is ^(BV)far and to him who is near,”
Says Yahweh, “and I will heal him.”
²⁰ But the ^(BW)wicked are like the tossing sea,
For it cannot be quiet,
And its waters toss up refuse and mud.
²¹ “^(BX)There is no peace,” says ^(BY)my God, “for the wicked.”

58 “^(BZ)Call out from your throat, do not hold back;
Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their ^(CA)transgression
And to the house of Jacob their sins.
² Yet they ^(CB)seek Me day by day and find pleasure in knowing My ways,
As a nation that has done ^(CC)righteousness
And ^(CD)has not forsaken the judgment of their God.
They ask Me for righteous judgments;
They find pleasure in ^(CE)the nearness of God.
³ ‘Why have we ^(CF)fasted and You do not see?
Why have we afflicted our souls and You do not know?’
Behold, on the ^(CG)day of your fast you find your desire,
And oppress all your workers.
⁴ Behold, you fast for contention and ^(CH)quarreling and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you do today to ^(CI)make your voice heard on high.
⁵ Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to afflict himself?
Is it for bowing ^[w]one’s head like a reed
And for spreading out ^(CJ)sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an ^(CK)acceptable day to Yahweh?
⁶ Is this not the fast which I choose,
To ^(CL)loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To release the bands of ^[x]the yoke,
And to ^(CM)let the oppressed go free
And ^(CN)break every ^[y]yoke?
⁷ Is it not to ^(CO)divide your bread ^[z]with the hungry
And ^(CP)bring the afflicted homeless into the house;
When you see the ^(CQ)naked, you cover him;
And not to ^(CR)hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸ Then your ^(CS)light will break out like the dawn,
And your ^(CT)recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your ^(CU)righteousness will go before you;
The glory of ^(CV)Yahweh will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will ^(CW)call, and Yahweh will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you ^(CX)remove the ^[aa]yoke from your midst,
The ^[ab](CY)pointing of the finger and ^(CZ)speaking wickedness,
¹⁰ And if you ^[ac](DA)offer your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the soul of the afflicted,
Then your ^(DB)light will rise in darkness
And your thick darkness will become like midday.
¹¹ And ^(DC)Yahweh will continually guide you,
And ^(DD)satisfy your soul in scorched places,
And ^(DE)fortify your bones;
And you will be like a ^(DF)watered garden,
And like a ^(DG)spring of water whose waters do not ^[ad]fail.
¹² Those from among you will ^(DH)rebuild the ancient waste places;
You will ^(DI)raise up the foundations of past generation upon generation;
And you will be called the repairer of the ^(DJ)breach,
The restorer of the paths for one to inhabit.

¹³ “If because of the sabbath, you ^(DK)turn your foot
From doing your own desire on My holy day,
And call the sabbath a ^(DL)delight, the holy day of Yahweh honorable,
And honor it, by not doing your ^(DM)own ways,
By not finding your own desire
And ^(DN)speaking your own word,
¹⁴ Then you will take ^(DO)delight in Yahweh,
And I will make you ride ^(DP)on the heights of the earth;
And I will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father,
For the ^(DQ)mouth of Yahweh has spoken.”

59 Behold, ^(DR)the hand of Yahweh is not so short
That it cannot save;
^(DS)Nor is His ear so ^[ae]dull
That it cannot hear.
² But your ^(DT)iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His ^[af]face from you so that He does ^(DU)not hear.
³ For your ^(DV)hands are defiled with blood
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken a ^(DW)lie;
Your tongue mutters unrighteousness.
^4 (DX)No one calls in righteousness, and ^(DY)no one seeks justice in truth.
They ^(DZ)trust in ^[ag]confusion and speak worthlessness;
They ^(EA)conceive trouble and give birth to wickedness.
⁵ They break open vipers’ eggs and ^(EB)weave the spider’s web;
He who eats of their eggs dies,
And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.
⁶ Their webs will not become a garment,
Nor will they ^(EC)cover themselves with their works;
Their ^(ED)works are works of wickedness,
And a ^(EE)deed of violence is in their ^[ah]hands.
^7 (EF)Their feet run to evil,
And they are quick to shed innocent blood;
^(EG)Their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness;
Devastation and destruction are in their highways.
⁸ They do not know the ^(EH)way of peace,
And there is ^(EI)no justice in their tracks;
They have made their paths crooked,
^(EJ)Whoever treads on ^[ai]them does not know peace.

⁹ Therefore ^(EK)justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not overtake us;
We ^(EL)hope for light, but behold, darkness,
For brightness, but we walk in thick darkness.
¹⁰ We ^(EM)grope along the wall like blind men;
We grope like those who have no eyes;
We ^(EN)stumble at midday as in the twilight,
Among those who are vigorous we are ^(EO)like dead men.
¹¹ All of us growl like bears,
And ^(EP)moan sadly like doves;
We hope for ^(EQ)justice, but there is none,
For salvation, but it is far from us.
¹² For our ^(ER)transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our ^(ES)sins answer against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And ^[aj]we know our iniquities:
¹³ Transgressing and ^(ET)denying Yahweh,
And turning back from our God,
Speaking ^(EU)oppression and revolt,
Conceiving in and ^(EV)uttering from the heart lying words.
^14 (EW)Justice is turned back,
And ^(EX)righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And rightness cannot enter.
¹⁵ So it is that truth is missing;
And he who turns aside from evil ^(EY)makes himself plunder.
Then Yahweh saw,
And it was evil in His eyes ^(EZ)that there was no justice.
¹⁶ And He saw that there was ^(FA)no man,
And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His ^(FB)own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.
¹⁷ He put on ^(FC)righteousness like a breastplate,
And a ^(FD)helmet of salvation on His head;
And He put on ^(FE)garments of vengeance for clothing
And wrapped Himself with ^(FF)zeal as a mantle.
^18 (FG)According to ^[ak]what they deserve, ^[al]so He will pay in full,
Wrath to His adversaries, ^[am]what is deserved to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will ^[an]pay what they deserve.
¹⁹ So they will fear the name of Yahweh from the ^(FH)west
And His glory from the ^(FI)rising of the sun,
For He will ^(FJ)come like a ^[ao]rushing stream
Which the wind of Yahweh makes flee.
²⁰ “A ^(FK)Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who ^(FL)turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares Yahweh.

60 “^(FP)Arise, shine, for your ^(FQ)light has come,
And the ^(FR)glory of Yahweh has risen upon you.
² For behold, ^(FS)darkness will cover the earth
And dense gloom the peoples;
But Yahweh will rise upon you,
And His ^(FT)glory will appear upon you.
^3 (FU)Nations will come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.

61 The ^(HU)Spirit of Lord Yahweh is upon me
Because Yahweh has anointed me
To ^(HV)bring good news to the ^[ax](HW)afflicted;
He has sent me to ^(HX)bind up the brokenhearted,
To ^(HY)proclaim release to captives
And ^[ay]freedom to prisoners,
² To ^(HZ)proclaim the favorable year of Yahweh
And the ^(IA)day of vengeance of our God,
To ^(IB)comfort all who mourn,
³ To ^(IC)grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a headdress instead of ashes,
The ^(ID)oil of rejoicing instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called ^[az](IE)oaks of righteousness,
The planting of Yahweh, that He may show forth His beautiful glory.

62 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet,
Until her ^(IX)righteousness goes forth like brightness,
And her ^(IY)salvation like a torch that is burning.
² The ^(IZ)nations will see your righteousness,
And all kings your glory;
And you will be called by a new ^(JA)name
Which the mouth of Yahweh will designate.
³ You will also be a ^(JB)crown of glory in the hand of Yahweh,
And a turban of royalty in the hand of your God.
⁴ It will no longer be said to you, “^[bc](JC)Forsaken,”
Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “^[bd]Desolate”;
But you will be called, “^[be]My delight is in her,”
And your land, “^[bf](JD)Married”;
For ^(JE)Yahweh takes pleasure in you,
And to Him your land will be married.
⁵ For as a young man marries a virgin,
So your sons will marry you;
And as the ^[bg]bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So your ^(JF)God will rejoice over you.

63 Who is this who comes from ^(JY)Edom,
With ^(JZ)garments of ^[bk]glowing colors from ^(KA)Bozrah,
This One who is majestic in His clothing,
^[bl]Marching in the greatness of His power?
“It is I who speak in righteousness, ^(KB)mighty to save.”
² Why is Your clothing red,
And Your garments like the one who ^(KC)treads in the wine press?
³ “^(KD)I have trodden the wine trough alone,
And from the peoples there was no man with Me.
I also ^(KE)trod them in My anger
And ^(KF)trampled them in My wrath;
And ^(KG)their ^[bm]lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments,
And I ^[bn]stained all My clothes.
⁴ For the ^(KH)day of vengeance was in My heart,
And My year of redemption has come.
⁵ I looked, and there was ^(KI)no one to help,
And I was astonished, and there was no one to uphold;
So My ^(KJ)own arm brought salvation to Me,
And My wrath upheld Me.
⁶ I ^(KK)trod down the peoples in My anger
And made them ^(KL)drunk in My wrath,
And I brought down their lifeblood to the earth.”

⁷ I shall bring to remembrance the ^(KM)lovingkindnesses of Yahweh, the praises of Yahweh,
According to all the ways that Yahweh has dealt bountifully with us,
And the abundant ^(KN)goodness toward the house of Israel,
Which He has dealt bountifully to them according to His ^(KO)compassion
And according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses.
⁸ And He said, “Surely, they are ^(KP)My people,
Sons who will not deal falsely.”
So He became their ^(KQ)Savior.
⁹ In all their distress ^[bo](KR)He was distressed,
And the ^(KS)angel of His presence saved them;
In His ^(KT)love and in His mercy He ^(KU)redeemed them,
And He ^(KV)lifted them and carried them all the ancient days.
¹⁰ But they ^(KW)rebelled
And grieved His ^(KX)Holy Spirit;
Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy;
He fought against them.
¹¹ Then ^(KY)His people remembered the ancient days, of Moses.
Where is ^(KZ)He who brought them up out of the sea with the ^[bp]shepherds of His flock?
Where is He who ^(LA)put His Holy Spirit in the midst of ^[bq]them,
¹² Who caused His ^(LB)glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses,
Who ^(LC)split the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name,
¹³ Who led them through the depths?
Like the horse in the wilderness, they did not ^(LD)stumble;
¹⁴ As the cattle which go down into the valley,
The Spirit of ^(LE)Yahweh gave ^[br]them rest.
So You ^(LF)led Your people,
To make for Yourself a glorious name.

^15 (LG)Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious ^(LH)habitation;
Where are Your ^(LI)zeal and Your mighty deeds?
The ^(LJ)tumults within You and Your compassion are restrained toward me.
¹⁶ For You are our ^(LK)Father, though ^(LL)Abraham does not know us
And Israel does not recognize us.
You, O Yahweh, are our Father,
Our ^(LM)Redeemer from everlasting is Your name.
¹⁷ Why, O Yahweh, do You ^(LN)cause us to stray from Your ways
And ^(LO)stiffen our heart from fearing You?
^(LP)Return for the sake of Your slaves, the tribes of Your inheritance.
¹⁸ Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for a little while;
Our adversaries have ^(LQ)trodden it down.
¹⁹ We have become like those over whom You have never ruled,
Like those who were not called by Your name.

65 “I permitted Myself to be sought by ^(MS)those who did not ask for Me;
I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’
To a nation which ^(MT)did not call on My name.
^2 (MU)I have spread out My hands all day long to a ^(MV)rebellious people,
Who walk in the way which is not good, ^[bv]following their own ^(MW)thoughts,
³ A people who continually ^(MX)provoke Me to My face,
Offering sacrifices in ^(MY)gardens and ^(MZ)burning incense on bricks,
⁴ Who sit among graves and spend the night in secret places,
Who ^(NA)eat swine’s flesh,
And the broth of offensive meat is in their pots,
⁵ Who say, ‘^(NB)Keep to yourself, do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!’
These are smoke in My ^[bw]nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.
⁶ Behold, it is written before Me:
I will ^(NC)not keep silent, but ^(ND)I will repay;
I will even repay into their bosom,
⁷ Both ^[bx]their own ^(NE)iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together,” says Yahweh.
“Because they have ^(NF)burned incense on the mountains
And ^(NG)reproached Me on the hills,
Therefore I will ^(NH)measure their former work into their bosom.”

“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not make it a ruin, for there is ^[by]benefit in it,’
So I will act on behalf of My slaves
In order ^(NI)not to make ^[bz]all of them a ruin.
⁹ I will bring forth a ^(NJ)seed from Jacob,
And a ^(NK)possessor of My mountains from Judah;
Even ^(NL)My chosen ones shall possess it,
And ^(NM)My slaves will dwell there.
^10 (NN)Sharon will be a pasture land for flocks,
And the ^(NO)valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
For My people who ^(NP)seek Me.
¹¹ But you who ^(NQ)forsake Yahweh,
Who forget My ^(NR)holy mountain,
Who set a table for ^[ca]Fortune,
And who fill cups with mixed wine for ^[cb]Destiny,
¹² I will destine you for the ^(NS)sword,
And all of you will bow down to the ^(NT)slaughter,
Because I called, but you ^(NU)did not answer;
I spoke, but you did not hear.
And you did what was evil in My eyes
And chose that in which I was not pleased.”

“Behold, My slaves will ^(NV)eat, but you will be ^(NW)hungry.
Behold, My slaves will ^(NX)drink, but you will be ^(NY)thirsty.
Behold, My slaves will ^(NZ)be glad, but you will be ^(OA)put to shame.
¹⁴ Behold, My slaves will ^(OB)shout joyfully with a merry heart,
But you will ^(OC)cry out with a pained heart,
And you will wail with a broken spirit.
¹⁵ You will leave your name for a ^[cc](OD)curse to My chosen ones,
And Lord Yahweh will put you to death.
But ^[cd]My slaves will be called by ^(OE)another name,
¹⁶ Because he who ^[ce]is blessed in the earth
Will ^[cf]be blessed by the ^(OF)God of truth,
And he who swears in the earth
Will ^(OG)swear by the God of truth;
Because the former distresses are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My sight!

¹⁷ “For behold, I am creating a ^(OH)new heavens and a new earth;
And the ^(OI)former things will not be remembered or come upon the heart.
¹⁸ But be ^(OJ)joyful and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
And her people for joy.
¹⁹ I will also ^(OK)rejoice in Jerusalem and be joyful in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of ^(OL)weeping and the voice of crying.
²⁰ No longer will there be ^[cg]in it an infant who lives but a few days,
Or an old man who does ^(OM)not fulfill his days;
For the youth will die at the age of one hundred,
And the ^[ch](ON)one who does not reach the age of one hundred
Will be thought accursed.
²¹ They will ^(OO)build houses and inhabit them;
They will also ^(OP)plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²² They will not build and ^(OQ)another inhabit;
They will not plant and another eat;
For ^(OR)as the ^[ci]lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,
And My chosen ones will ^(OS)wear out the work of their hands.
²³ They will ^(OT)not labor in vain,
Or bear children for terror;
For they are the ^(OU)seed of those blessed by Yahweh,
And their offspring with them.

“^(PB)Heaven is My throne, and the earth is the footstool of My feet.
Where then is a ^(PC)house you could build for Me?
And where is a place that ^[cj]I may rest?
² For ^(PD)My hand made all these things,
Thus all these things came into being,” declares Yahweh.
“But to this one I will look,
To him who is humble and ^(PE)contrite of spirit, and who ^(PF)trembles at My word.

¹⁰ “Be ^(PX)glad with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who ^(PY)love her;
Be exceedingly ^(PZ)joyful with her, all you who mourn over her,
¹¹ That you may nurse and ^(QA)be satisfied with her comforting breasts,
That you may suck and be delighted with her ^(QB)bountiful bosom.”
¹² For thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I stretch out ^(QC)peace to her like a river,
And the ^(QD)glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
And you will ^[cm]be nursed; you will be ^(QE)carried on the ^[cn]hip and played with on the knees.
¹³ As one whom his mother comforts, so I will ^(QF)comfort you;
And you will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
¹⁴ Then you will ^(QG)see this, and your ^(QH)heart will be joyful,
And your ^(QI)bones will flourish like the new grass;
And the ^(QJ)hand of Yahweh will be made known to His slaves,
But He will be ^(QK)indignant toward His enemies.
¹⁵ For behold, Yahweh will come in ^(QL)fire
And His ^(QM)chariots like the whirlwind,
To return His anger with wrath,
And His rebuke with flames of fire.
¹⁶ For Yahweh will execute judgment by ^(QN)fire
And by His ^(QO)sword on all flesh,
And those slain by Yahweh will be many.
¹⁷ “Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the ^(QP)gardens,
^[co]Following one in the center,
Who eat ^(QQ)swine’s flesh, detestable things, and mice,
Will ^(QR)come to an end altogether,” declares Yahweh.

²² “For just as the ^(RE)new heavens and the new earth
Which I make will endure before Me,” declares Yahweh,
“So your ^(RF)seed and your ^(RG)name will endure.
²³ And it shall be from ^(RH)new moon to new moon
And from sabbath to sabbath,
All ^[cu]mankind will come to ^(RI)worship before Me,” says Yahweh.
²⁴ “Then they will go forth and look
On the ^(RJ)corpses of the men
Who have ^[cv](RK)transgressed against Me.
For their ^(RL)worm will not die
^(RM)And their fire will not be quenched;
And they will be an object of ^(RN)contempt to all ^[cw]mankind.”