Isaiah 56

New American Standard Bible

Rewards for Obedience to God

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

⁶“Also the ^(N)foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
To attend to His service and to love the name of the Lord,
To be His servants, every one who ^(O)keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it,
And holds firmly to My covenant;
⁷Even ^(P)those I will bring to My ^(Q)holy mountain,
And ^(R)make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on ^(S)My altar;
For ^(T)My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”
⁸The Lord ^[b]God, who ^(U)gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares,
“I will yet gather ^(V)others to ^[c]them, to those already gathered.”

⁹All you ^[d]^(W)wild animals,
All you animals in the forest,
Come to eat.
¹⁰His ^(X)watchmen are ^(Y)blind,
All of them know nothing.
All of them are mute dogs unable to bark,
Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber;
¹¹And the dogs are ^[e]^(Z)greedy, they ^[f]are never satisfied.
And they are shepherds who have ^(AA)no understanding;
They have all ^(AB)turned to their own way,
Each one to his unjust gain, ^[g]without exception.
¹²“Come,” they say, “^[h]let’s get ^(AC)wine, and let’s drink heavily of intoxicating drink;
And ^(AD)tomorrow will be like today, only more so.”