Isaiah 57
1The righteous perish, but no one considers it, 1 and the people of covenant faithfulness are gathered away, but no one understands 1 that the righteous is gathered away from the evil. 1
2He enters into peace; 1 they rest in their beds, those who walk in their uprightness. 1
3But come here, you sons of the sorceress, 1 children of the adulterer and the woman who has prostituted herself. 1
4Whom are you merrily mocking? 1 Against whom are you opening the mouth and sticking out the tongue? 1 Are you not children of rebellion, children of deceit? 1
5You heat yourselves up sleeping together under the oaks, under every green tree, 1 you who kill your children in the dry riverbeds, under the rocky overhangs. 1
6Among the smooth things of the river valley are the things that have been assigned to you. They are the object of your devotion. 1 You pour out your drink offering to them and raise up a grain offering. In these things should I take pleasure? 1
7You prepared your bed on a high mountain; 1 you also went up there to offer sacrifices. 1
8Behind the door and the doorposts you set up your symbols; 1 you deserted me, made yourselves naked, and went up; you made your bed wide. 1 You made a covenant with them; you loved their beds; you saw their private parts. 1
9You went to Molech with oil; you multiplied perfumes. + 57:9 Instead of to Molech , some versions have to the king . 1 You send your ambassadors far away; you went down to Sheol. 1
10You were tired from your long journey, but you never said, “It is hopeless.” 1 You found life in your hand; therefore you did not weaken. 1
11“Whom are you worried about? Whom do you fear so much that has caused you to act so deceitfully, 1 so much that you would not remember me or think about me? 1 Because I was silent for so long, you are no longer afraid of me. 1
12I will proclaim all your righteous acts and tell all that you have done, 1 but they will not help you. 1
13When you cry out, let your collection of idols rescue you. 1 Instead the wind will carry them all away, a breath will carry them all away. 1 Yet he who takes refuge in me will inherit the land and will take possession of my holy mountain. 1
14He will say, 1 'Build, build! Clear a way! Remove all the stumbling blocks from the path of my people!'” 1
15For this is what the high and elevated One says, who lives eternally, whose name is holy, 1 “I live in the exalted and holy place, with him also that is of a crushed and humble spirit, 1 to revive the spirit of the humble ones, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. 1
16For I will not accuse forever, nor will I be angry forever, 1 for then man's spirit would faint before me, the lives that I have made. 1
17Because of the sin of his violent gain, I was angry, and I punished him; I hid my face and was angry, 1 but he went backward in the way of his heart. 1
18I have seen his ways, 1 but I will heal him. I will lead him and comfort and console those who mourn for him, 1
19and I create the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to those who are far off and to those who are near—says Yahweh—I will heal them. 1
20But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, 1 and its waters churn up mire and mud. 1
21There is no peace for the wicked one—says God.”