Isaiah 57

The righteous are taken away

The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.a ²Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.b

God condemns their idols

³“But you—come here, you children of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes! ⁴Who are you mocking? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue? Are you not a brood of rebels, the offspring of liars? ⁵You burn with lust among the oaks and under every spreading tree; you sacrifice your children in the ravines and under the overhanging crags.

⁶The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion; indeed, they are your lot. Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings and offered grain offerings. In view of all this, should I relent? ⁷You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill; there you went up to offer your sacrifices. ⁸Behind your doors and your doorposts you have put your pagan symbols. Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed, you climbed into it and opened it wide; you made a pact with those whose beds you love, and you looked with lust on their naked bodies.

⁹You went to Molek with olive oil and increased your perfumes. You sent your ambassadors far away; you descended to the very realm of the dead! ¹⁰You wearied yourself by such going about, but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’ You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint. ¹¹“Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have not been true to me, and have neither remembered me nor taken this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?

¹²I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you. ¹³When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But whoever takes refuge in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.”

I dwell with the contrite

¹⁴And it will be said: “Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”c ¹⁵For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.d ¹⁶I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of me— the very people I have created.e

¹⁷I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways. ¹⁸I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners,f ¹⁹creating praise on their lips. Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the Lord. “And I will heal them.”g ²⁰But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.

²¹“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”h