Isaiah 55:6-56:8

English Standard Version

⁶^(A)“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call upon him while he is near;
⁷let the wicked forsake his way,
    and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
    and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
⁸For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
⁹^(B)For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰^(C)“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    ^(D)giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
¹¹so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but ^(E)it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

¹²^(F)“For you shall go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
^(G)the mountains and the hills before you
    shall break forth into singing,
    and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
¹³^(H)Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
    instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
    an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Salvation for Foreigners

56 Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
^(I)for soon my salvation will come,
    and my righteousness be revealed.
²Blessed is the man who does this,
    and the son of man who holds it fast,
^(J)who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,
    and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

³Let not ^(K)the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
    “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
    “Behold, I am ^(L)a dry tree.”
⁴For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs ^(M)who keep my Sabbaths,
    who choose the things that please me
    and hold fast my covenant,
⁵^(N)I will give in my house and within my walls
    a ^(O)monument and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
^(P)I will give them an everlasting name
    that shall not be cut off.

⁶“And ^(Q)the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
    to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
everyone ^(R)who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
    and holds fast my covenant—
⁷^(S)these I will bring to ^(T)my holy mountain,
    and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
^(U)their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar;
for ^(V)my house shall be called a house of prayer
    for all peoples.”
⁸The Lord God,
    ^(W)who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
^(X)“I will gather yet others to him
    besides those already gathered.”