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True Religion

58 Shout the message!
    Don't hold back.
Say to my people Israel:
You've sinned! You've turned
    against the Lord.
Day after day, you worship him
and seem eager to learn
    his teachings.
You act like a nation
that wants to do right
    by obeying his laws.
You ask him about justice,
and say you enjoy
    worshiping the Lord.

You wonder why the Lord
    pays no attention
when you go without eating
    and act humble.
But on those same days
    that you give up eating,
you think only of yourselves[a]
    and abuse your workers.
You even get angry
    and ready to fight.
No wonder God won't listen
    to your prayers!

Do you think the Lord
    wants you to give up eating
and to act as humble
    as a bent-over bush?
Or to dress in sackcloth
    and sit in ashes?
Is this really what he wants
    on a day of worship?

I'll tell you
what it really means
    to worship the Lord.
Remove the chains of prisoners
    who are bound unjustly.
Free those who are abused!
(A) Share your food with everyone
    who is hungry;
share your home
    with the poor and homeless.
Give clothes to those in need;
don't turn away your relatives.

Then your light will shine
like the dawning sun, and you
    will quickly be healed.
Your honesty[b] will protect you
    as you advance,
and the glory of the Lord
    will defend you from behind.
When you beg the Lord for help,
    he will answer, “Here I am!”

Don't mistreat others
or falsely accuse them
    or say something cruel.
10 Give your food to the hungry
    and care for the homeless.
Then your light will shine
    in the dark;
your darkest hour will be
    like the noonday sun.

11 The Lord will always guide you
and provide good things to eat
    when you are in the desert.
He will make you healthy.
You will be like a garden
    that has plenty of water
or like a stream
    that never runs dry.
12 You will rebuild those houses
    left in ruins for years;
you will be known
as a builder and repairer
    of city walls and streets.

13 But first, you must start
respecting the Sabbath
    as a joyful day of worship.
You must stop doing and saying
whatever you please
    on this special day.
14 Then you will truly enjoy
    knowing the Lord.
He will let you rule
    from the highest mountains
and bless you with the land
of your ancestor Jacob.
    The Lord has spoken!

Social Injustice Is Condemned

59 The Lord hasn't lost
    his powerful strength;
he can still hear
    and answer prayers.
Your sins are the roadblock
    between you and your God.
That's why he doesn't answer
your prayers
    or let you see his face.

Your talk is filled with lies
    and plans for violence;
every finger on your hands
    is covered with blood.
You falsely accuse others
    and tell lies in court;
sin and trouble are the names
    of your children.
You eat the deadly eggs
    of poisonous snakes,
and more snakes crawl out
    from the eggs left to hatch.
You weave spider webs,
but you can't make clothes
    with those webs
    or hide behind them.

You're sinful and brutal.
(B) You hurry off to do wrong
    or murder innocent victims.
All you think about is sin;
you leave ruin and destruction
    wherever you go.
You don't know how
to live in peace
    or to be fair with others.
The roads you make are crooked;
your followers cannot find peace.

The People Confess Their Sins

No one has come to defend us
    or to bring about justice.
We hoped for a day of sunshine,
but all we found
    was a dark, gloomy night.
10 We feel our way along,
    as if we were blind;
we stumble at noon,
    as if it were night.
We can see no better
    than someone dead.[c]

11 We growl like bears
    and mourn like doves.
We hope for justice and victory,
    but they escape us.
12 How often have we sinned
and turned against you,
    the Lord God?
Our sins condemn us!
    We have done wrong.
13 We have rebelled and refused
    to follow you.
Our hearts were deceitful,
    and so we lied;
we planned to abuse others
    and turn our backs on you.

14 Injustice is everywhere;
    justice seems far away.
Truth is chased out of court;
    honesty is shoved aside.
15 Everyone tells lies;
those who turn from crime
    end up ruined.

The Lord Will Rescue His People

When the Lord noticed
that justice had disappeared,
    he became very displeased.
16 (C) It disgusted him even more
to learn that no one
    would do a thing about it.
So with his own powerful arm,
    he won victories for truth.
17 (D) Justice was the Lord's armor;
    saving power was his helmet;
anger and revenge
    were his clothes.

18 Now the Lord will get furious
    and do to his enemies,
both near and far,
    what they did to his people.
19 He will attack like a flood
    in a mighty windstorm.
Nations in the west and the east
will then honor and praise
    his wonderful name.
20 (E) The Lord has promised to rescue
    the city of Zion
and Jacob's descendants
    who turn from sin.

21 The Lord says: “My people,
I promise to give you my Spirit
    and my message.
These will be my gifts to you
    and your families forever.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”

A New Day for Jerusalem

60 Jerusalem, stand up! Shine!
    Your new day is dawning.
The glory of the Lord
    shines brightly on you.
The earth and its people
    are covered with darkness,
but the glory of the Lord
    is shining upon you.
Nations and kings
will come to the light
    of your dawning day.

Crowds Are Coming to Jerusalem

The Lord said:

(F) Open your eyes! Look around!
    Crowds are coming.
Your sons are on their way
    from distant lands;
your daughters are being carried
    like little children.
When you see this,
    your faces will glow;
your hearts will pound
    and swell with pride.[d]
Treasures from across the sea
and the wealth of nations
    will be brought to you.
Your country will be covered
with caravans of young camels
    from Midian and Ephah.[e]
The people of Sheba[f]
will bring gold and spices
    in praise of me, the Lord.
Every sheep of Kedar
    will come to you;
rams from Nebaioth[g]
    will be yours as well.
I will accept them as offerings
    and bring honor to my temple.

What is that sailing by
like clouds
    or like doves flying home?
On those distant islands
your people are waiting
    for me, the Lord.[h]
Seagoing ships[i] lead the way
to bring them home
    with their silver and gold.
I, the holy Lord God of Israel,
do this to honor your people,
    so they will honor me.

Jerusalem Will Be Rebuilt

The Lord said:

10 Jerusalem, your city walls
    will be rebuilt by foreigners;
their rulers will become
    your slaves.
I punished you in my anger;
now I will be kind
    and treat you with mercy.

11 (G) Your gates will be open
    day and night
to let the rulers of nations
lead their people to you
    with all their treasures.
12 Any nation or kingdom
that refuses to serve you
    will be wiped out.
13 Wood from Lebanon's best trees
will be brought to you—
    the pines, the firs,
    and the cypress trees.
It will be used in my temple
to make beautiful the place
    where I rest my feet.

14 (H) The descendants of enemies
who hated and mistreated you
    will kneel at your feet.
They will say, “You are Zion,
the city of the Lord,
    the holy One of Israel.”

15 You were hated and deserted,
    rejected by everyone.
But I will make you beautiful,
a city to be proud of
    for all time to come.
16 You will drain the wealth
    of kings and foreign nations.
You will know that I,
the mighty Lord God of Israel,
    have saved and rescued you.

17 I will bring bronze and iron
    in place of wood and stone;
in place of bronze and iron,
    I will bring gold and silver.
I will appoint peace and justice
    as your rulers and leaders.
18 Violence, destruction, and ruin
will never again be heard of
    within your borders.
“Victory” will be the name
    you give to your walls;
“Praise” will be the name
    you give to your gates.

19 (I) You won't need the light
    of the sun or the moon.
I, the Lord your God,
will be your eternal light
    and bring you honor.
20 Your sun will never set
    or your moon go down.
I, the Lord, will be
    your everlasting light,
and your days of sorrow
    will come to an end.
21 Your people will live right
    and always own the land;
they are the trees I planted
    to bring praise to me.
22 Even the smallest family
    will be a powerful nation.
I am the Lord,
and when the time comes,
    I will quickly do all this.

Footnotes

  1. 58.3 you think … yourselves: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  2. 58.8 honesty: Or “honest leader.”
  3. 59.10 We can … dead: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  4. 60.5 swell with pride: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  5. 60.6 Midian … Ephah: Midian was the ancestor of a nomadic tribe of the Arabian desert, east of the Gulf of Aqaba. Ephah was a clan within the tribe of Midian.
  6. 60.6 Sheba: Perhaps a place in what is now southwest Arabia. The Queen of Sheba brought gifts to Solomon (1 Kings 10.1-13).
  7. 60.7 Kedar … Nebaioth: Regions in northern Arabia.
  8. 60.9 On … Lord: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  9. 60.9 Seagoing ships: See the note at 2.16.

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