Isaiah 57

English Standard Version Anglicised

57 The righteous man perishes,
    and no one lays it to heart;
^(A)devout men are taken away,
    while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;
^{2     (B)}he enters into peace;
they rest ^(C)in their beds
    who walk in their uprightness.
³ But you, draw near,
    sons of the sorceress,
    ^(D)offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
⁴ Whom are you mocking?
    Against whom ^(E)do you open your mouth wide
    and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of ^(F)transgression,
    ^(G)the offspring of deceit,
⁵ you who burn with lust among ^(H)the oaks,^[a]
    under every green tree,
^(I)who slaughter your children in the valleys,
    under the clefts of the rocks?
⁶ Among the smooth stones of ^(J)the valley is your portion;
    they, they, are your lot;
to them you have poured out a drink offering,
    you have brought a grain offering.
    Shall I relent for these things?
^7 (K)On a high and lofty mountain
    you have set your bed,
    and there you went up to offer sacrifice.
⁸ Behind the door and the doorpost
    you have set up your memorial;
for, deserting me, ^(L)you have uncovered your bed,
    you have gone up to it,
    ^(M)you have made it wide;
and you have made a covenant for yourself with them,
    you have loved their bed,
    you have looked on nakedness.^[b]
9 You journeyed to the king with oil
    and multiplied your perfumes;
^(N)you sent your envoys far off,
    and sent down even to Sheol.
¹⁰ You were wearied with the length of your way,
    ^(O)but you did not say, “It is hopeless”;
you found new life for your strength,
    and so you were not faint.^[c]
11 (P)Whom did you dread and fear,
    ^(Q)so that you lied,
and did not remember me,
    did not lay it to heart?
^(R)Have I not held my peace, even for a long time,
    and you do not fear me?
¹² I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
    but they will not profit you.
^13 (S)When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!
    The wind will carry them off,
    a breath will take them away.
^(T)But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land
    and shall inherit ^(U)my holy mountain.

¹⁴ And it shall be said,
^(V)“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
    remove every obstruction from my people's way.”
¹⁵ For thus says ^(W)the One who is high and lifted up,
    who inhabits eternity, whose name is ^(X)Holy:
^(Y)“I dwell in the high and holy place,
    and also ^(Z)with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
^(AA)to revive the spirit of the lowly,
    and to revive the heart of the contrite.
^16 (AB)For I will not contend for ever,
    nor will I always be angry;
for the spirit would grow faint before me,
    and the breath of life that I made.
¹⁷ Because of the iniquity of his ^(AC)unjust gain I was angry,
    I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
    but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
¹⁸ I have seen his ways, ^(AD)but I will heal him;
    I will lead him ^(AE)and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
^{19     (AF)}creating ^(AG)the fruit of the lips.
^(AH)Peace, peace, ^(AI)to the far and to the near,” says the Lord,
    ^(AJ)“and I will heal him.
^20 (AK)But the wicked are like the tossing sea;
    for it cannot be quiet,
    and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
^21 (AL)There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”