Isaiah 57

New International Version

• 1. The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.
• 2. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
• 3. "But you-come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
• 4. Whom are you mocking? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue? Are you not a brood of rebels, the offspring of liars?
• 5. You burn with lust among the oaks and under every spreading tree; you sacrifice your children in the ravines and under the overhanging crags.
• 6. The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion; they, they are your lot. Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings and offered grain offerings. In the light of these things, should I relent?
• 7. You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill; there you went up to offer your sacrifices.
• 8. Behind 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 on their nakedness.
• 9. You went to Molech with olive oil and increased your perfumes. You sent your ambassadors far away; you descended to the grave itself!
• 10. You were wearied by all your ways, 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 been false to me, and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?
• 12. I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you.
• 13. When 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 the man who makes me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain."
• 14. And it will be said: "Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people."
• 15. For this is what the high and lofty One says- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.
• 16. I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me- the breath of man that I have created.
• 17. I was enraged by his sinful greed; I punished him, and hid my face in anger, yet he kept on in his willful ways.
• 18. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him,
• 19. creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel. Peace, peace, to those far and near," says the LORD. "And I will heal them."
• 20. But 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."

New International Version