Isaiah 57:15-59:21
New King James Version
15 For thus says the High and Lofty One
Who inhabits eternity, (A)whose name is Holy:
(B)“I dwell in the high and holy place,
(C)With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
(D)To revive the spirit of the humble,
And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
16 (E)For I will not contend forever,
Nor will I always be angry;
For the spirit would fail before Me,
And the souls (F)which I have made.
17 For the iniquity of (G)his covetousness
I was angry and struck him;
(H)I hid and was angry,
(I)And he went on [a]backsliding in the way of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and (J)will heal him;
I will also lead him,
And restore comforts to him
And to (K)his mourners.
19 “I create (L)the fruit of the lips:
Peace, peace (M)to him who is far off and to him who is near,”
Says the Lord,
“And I will heal him.”
20 (N)But the wicked are like the troubled sea,
When it cannot rest,
Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
21 “There(O) is no peace,”
Says my God, “for the wicked.”
Fasting that Pleases God
58 “Cry aloud, [b]spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
(P)Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek Me daily,
And delight to know My ways,
As a nation that did righteousness,
And did not forsake the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me the ordinances of justice;
They take delight in approaching God.
3 ‘Why(Q) have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen?
Why have we (R)afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’
“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
And [c]exploit all your laborers.
4 (S)Indeed you fast for strife and debate,
And to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You will not fast as you do this day,
To make your voice heard on high.
5 Is (T)it a fast that I have chosen,
(U)A day for a man to afflict his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush,
And (V)to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Would you call this a fast,
And an acceptable day to the Lord?
6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To (W)loose the bonds of wickedness,
(X)To undo the [d]heavy burdens,
(Y)To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
7 Is it not (Z)to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are [e]cast out;
(AA)When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from (AB)your own flesh?
8 (AC)Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
(AD)The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
“If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The [f]pointing of the finger, and (AE)speaking wickedness,
10 If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your [g]darkness shall be as the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
12 Those from among you
(AF)Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of [h]Streets to Dwell In.
13 “If (AG)you turn away your foot from the Sabbath,
From doing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy day of the Lord honorable,
And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,
Nor finding your own pleasure,
Nor speaking your own words,
14 (AH)Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord;
And I will cause you to (AI)ride on the high hills of the earth,
And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.
(AJ)The mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Separated from God
59 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not (AK)shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will (AL)not hear.
3 For (AM)your hands are defiled with [i]blood,
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken lies,
Your tongue has muttered perversity.
4 No one calls for justice,
Nor does any plead for truth.
They trust in (AN)empty words and speak lies;
(AO)They conceive [j]evil and bring forth iniquity.
5 They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web;
He who eats of their eggs dies,
And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.
6 (AP)Their webs will not become garments,
Nor will they cover themselves with their works;
Their works are works of iniquity,
And the act of violence is in their hands.
7 (AQ)Their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed (AR)innocent blood;
(AS)Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
Wasting and (AT)destruction are in their paths.
8 The way of (AU)peace they have not known,
And there is no justice in their ways;
(AV)They have made themselves crooked paths;
Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.
Sin Confessed
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
Nor does righteousness overtake us;
(AW)We look for light, but there is darkness!
For brightness, but we walk in blackness!
10 (AX)We grope for the wall like the blind,
And we grope as if we had no eyes;
We stumble at noonday as at twilight;
We are as dead men in desolate places.
11 We all growl like bears,
And (AY)moan sadly like doves;
We look for justice, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our (AZ)transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our sins testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And as for our iniquities, we know them:
13 In transgressing and lying against the Lord,
And departing from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and uttering (BA)from the heart words of falsehood.
14 Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands afar off;
For truth is fallen in the street,
And equity cannot enter.
15 So truth fails,
And he who departs from evil makes himself a (BB)prey.
The Redeemer of Zion
Then the Lord saw it, and [k]it displeased Him
That there was no justice.
16 (BC)He saw that there was no man,
And (BD)wondered that there was no intercessor;
(BE)Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him;
And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
17 (BF)For He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing,
And was clad with zeal as a cloak.
18 (BG)According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay,
Fury to His adversaries,
Recompense to His enemies;
The coastlands He will fully repay.
19 (BH)So shall they fear
The name of the Lord from the west,
And His glory from the rising of the sun;
When the enemy comes in (BI)like a flood,
The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
20 “The(BJ) Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,”
Says the Lord.
21 “As(BK) for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 57:17 Or turning back
- Isaiah 58:1 do not hold back
- Isaiah 58:3 Lit. drive hard
- Isaiah 58:6 Lit. bonds of the yoke
- Isaiah 58:7 wandering
- Isaiah 58:9 Lit. sending out of
- Isaiah 58:10 Or gloom
- Isaiah 58:12 Lit. Paths
- Isaiah 59:3 bloodshed
- Isaiah 59:4 trouble
- Isaiah 59:15 Lit. it was evil in His eyes
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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