Isaiah 57

¹ The righteous man perishes,
and no one takes it to heart;
devout men are taken away,
while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;

² he enters into peace;
they rest in their beds
who walk in their uprightness.

³ But you, draw near here,
you sons of the sorceress,
offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.

⁴ Whom are you mocking?
Against whom do you open wide your mouth
and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
the offspring of deceit,

⁵ you who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree,
who slaughter your children in the valleys,
under the clefts of the rocks?

⁶ Among the smooth stones of 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 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, you have uncovered your bed,
you have gone up to it,
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.

⁹ You journeyed to the king with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
you sent your envoys far off,
and sent down even to Sheol.

¹⁰ You were wearied with the length of your way,
but you did not say, "It is hopeless";
you found new life for your strength,
and so you were not faint.

¹¹ Whom did you dread and fear,
so that you lied,
and did not remember me,
did not give me a thought?
Was I not silent, and from of old,
so that you do not fear me?

¹² I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
but they will not profit you.

¹³ When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry them all off;
a breath will take them away.
But he who takes refuge in me will possess the land
and will inherit my holy mountain.

¹⁴ And it will be said,
"Build up, build up, prepare the way!
Remove the obstacles from the way of my people."

¹⁵ For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
"I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.

¹⁶ For I will not contend forever,
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 unjust gain I was angry;
I struck him; I hid and was angry;
but he went on turning away
in the way of his own heart.

¹⁸ I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,

¹⁹ creating the fruit of the lips.
Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,"
says the LORD, "and I will heal him.

²⁰ But the wicked are like the tossing sea,
for it cannot be quiet,
and its waters toss up mire and dirt.

²¹ "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."