Isaiah 55-57

New American Standard Bible

The Free Offer of Mercy

55 “^[a]You there! Everyone who ^(A)thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have ^(B)no ^[b]money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy ^(C)wine and milk
^(D)Without money and without cost.
²Why do you ^[c]spend money for what is ^(E)not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and ^(F)eat what is good,
And ^(G)delight yourself in abundance.
³^(H)Incline your ear and come to Me.
Listen, that ^[d]you may ^(I)live;
And I will make ^(J)an everlasting covenant with you,
According to the ^(K)faithful mercies ^[e]shown to David.
⁴Behold, I have made ^(L)him a witness to the peoples,
A ^(M)leader and commander for the peoples.
⁵Behold, you will call a ^(N)nation you do not know,
And a nation which does not know you will ^(O)run to you,
Because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel;
For He has ^(P)glorified you.”

⁶^(Q)Seek the Lord while He may be found;
^(R)Call upon Him while He is near.
⁷^(S)Let the wicked abandon his way,
And the unrighteous person his ^(T)thoughts;
And let him ^(U)return to the Lord,
And He will have ^(V)compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will ^(W)abundantly pardon.
⁸“For My thoughts are not ^(X)your thoughts,
Nor are ^(Y)your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
⁹“For ^(Z)as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰For as the ^(AA)rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it produce and sprout,
And providing ^(AB)seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
¹¹So will My ^(AC)word be which goes out of My mouth;
It will ^(AD)not return to Me empty,
Without ^(AE)accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.
¹²For you will go out with ^(AF)joy
And be led in ^(AG)peace;
The ^(AH)mountains and the hills will break into shouts of joy before you,
And all the ^(AI)trees of the field will clap their hands.
¹³Instead of the ^(AJ)thorn bush, the ^(AK)juniper will come up,
And instead of the ^(AL)stinging nettle, the myrtle will come up;
And ^[f]it will be a ^[g]^(AM)memorial to the Lord,
An everlasting ^(AN)sign which ^(AO)will not be eliminated.”

Rewards for Obedience to God

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

⁶“Also the ^(BC)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 ^(BD)keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it,
And holds firmly to My covenant;
⁷Even ^(BE)those I will bring to My ^(BF)holy mountain,
And ^(BG)make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on ^(BH)My altar;
For ^(BI)My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”
⁸The Lord ^[i]God, who ^(BJ)gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares,
“I will yet gather ^(BK)others to ^[j]them, to those already gathered.”

⁹All you ^[k]^(BL)wild animals,
All you animals in the forest,
Come to eat.
¹⁰His ^(BM)watchmen are ^(BN)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 ^[l]^(BO)greedy, they ^[m]are never satisfied.
And they are shepherds who have ^(BP)no understanding;
They have all ^(BQ)turned to their own way,
Each one to his unjust gain, ^[n]without exception.
¹²“Come,” they say, “^[o]let’s get ^(BR)wine, and let’s drink heavily of intoxicating drink;
And ^(BS)tomorrow will be like today, only more so.”

Evil Leaders Rebuked

57 The righteous person perishes, and no one ^(BT)takes it to heart;
And devout people are taken away, while no one understands.
For the righteous person is taken away from ^(BU)evil,
²He enters into peace;
They rest in their ^[p]beds,
Each one who ^(BV)walked in his upright way.
³“But come here, you sons of a ^(BW)sorceress,
^(BX)Offspring of an adulterer and ^[q]a ^(BY)prostitute!
⁴Of whom do you make fun?
Against whom do you open wide your mouth
And stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of ^(BZ)rebellion,
Offspring of deceit,
⁵Who inflame yourselves among the ^(CA)oaks,
^(CB)Under every luxuriant tree,
Who ^(CC)slaughter the children in the ^[r]ravines,
Under the clefts of the rocks?
⁶Among the ^[s]^(CD)smooth stones of the ^[t]ravine
Is your portion, ^[u]they are your lot;
Even to them you have ^(CE)poured out a drink offering,
You have made a grain offering.
Should I ^[v]^(CF)relent of these things?
⁷On a ^(CG)high and lofty mountain
You have ^(CH)made your bed.
You also went up there to offer sacrifice.
⁸Behind the door and the doorpost
You have set up your sign;
Indeed, far removed from Me, you have ^(CI)uncovered yourself,
And have gone up and made your bed wide.
And you have made an agreement for yourself with them,
You have loved their bed,
You have looked at their ^[w]manhood.
⁹You have journeyed to the king with oil
And increased your perfumes;
You have ^(CJ)sent your messengers a great distance
And made them go down to ^[x]Sheol.
¹⁰You were tired out by the length of your road,
Yet you did not say, ‘^(CK)It is hopeless!’
You found ^[y]renewed strength,
Therefore you did not ^[z]faint.

¹¹“Of ^(CL)whom were you worried and fearful
When you lied, and did ^(CM)not remember Me
^[aa]Nor ^(CN)give Me a thought?
Was I not silent, even for a long time,
So you do not fear Me?
¹²I will ^(CO)declare your righteousness and your ^(CP)deeds,
And they will not benefit you.
¹³When you cry out, ^(CQ)let your collection of idols save you.
But the wind will carry them all up,
And a breath will take them away.
But the one who ^(CR)takes refuge in Me will ^(CS)inherit the land
And ^(CT)possess My holy mountain.”

¹⁴And it will be said,
“^(CU)Build up, build up, prepare the way,
Remove every obstacle from the way of My people.”
¹⁵For this is what the ^(CV)high and exalted One
Who ^[ab]^(CW)lives forever, whose name is Holy, says:
“I ^(CX)dwell in a high and holy place,
And also with the ^(CY)contrite and lowly of spirit
In order to ^(CZ)revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite.
¹⁶For I will ^(DA)not contend forever,
^(DB)Nor will I always be angry;
For the spirit would grow faint before Me,
And the ^(DC)breath of those whom I have made.
¹⁷Because of the wrongful act of his ^(DD)unjust gain I was angry and struck him;
I hid My face and was angry,
And he went on ^(DE)turning away, in the way of his heart.
¹⁸I have seen his ways, but I will ^(DF)heal him;
I will ^(DG)lead him and ^(DH)restore comfort to him and to his mourners,
¹⁹Creating the ^[ac]^(DI)praise of the lips.
^(DJ)Peace, peace to him who is ^(DK)far away and to him who is near,”
Says the Lord, “and I will heal him.”
²⁰But the ^(DL)wicked are like the tossing sea,
For it cannot be quiet,
And its waters toss up refuse and mud.
²¹“^(DM)There is no peace,” says ^(DN)my God, “for the wicked.”