Israel’s Futile Idolatry
57 The righteous perish,
and no one considers why;
the devout are taken away,
while no one understands
that it is due to evil that the righteous are taken away.(A)
2 Those who walk uprightly enter into peace
and rest on their couches.(B)
3 But as for you, come here,
you children of a sorceress,
you offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute.[a](C)
4 Whom are you mocking?
Against whom do you open your mouth wide
and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
the offspring of deceit—(D)
5 you who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree;
you who slaughter your children in the valleys,
under the clefts of the rocks?(E)
6 Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion;
it is they who are your lot;
to them you have poured out a drink offering;
you have brought a grain offering.
Should these acts cause me to relent?(F)
7 Upon a high and lofty mountain
you have set your bed,
and there you went up to offer sacrifice.(G)
8 Behind the door and the doorpost
you have set up your symbol,
for in deserting me[b] you have uncovered your bed;
you have gone up to it;
you have made it wide;
and you have made a bargain for yourself with them;
you have loved their bed;
you have gazed on their nakedness.[c](H)
9 You journeyed to Molech[d] with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
you sent your envoys far away
and sent them down to Sheol.(I)
10 You grew weary from your many wanderings,
but you did not say, “It is no use!”
You found your desire rekindled,
and so you did not weaken.(J)
11 Whom did you dread and fear
so that you lied
and did not remember me
or give me a thought?
Have I not kept silent and closed my eyes,[e]
and so you do not fear me?(K)
12 I will announce your verdict,
and the objects you made will not help you.
13 When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry them off;
a breath will take them away.
But whoever takes refuge in me shall possess the land
and inherit my holy mountain.(L)
A Promise of Help and Healing
14 It shall be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way;
remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”(M)
15 For thus says the high and lofty one
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place
and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble
and to revive the heart of the contrite.(N)
16 For I will not continually accuse,
nor will I always be angry,
for then the spirits would grow faint before me,
even the souls that I have made.(O)
17 Because of their wicked covetousness I was angry;
I struck them; I hid and was angry,
but they kept turning back to their own ways.(P)
18 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them;
I will lead them and repay them with comfort,
19 creating for their mourners the fruit of the lips.[f]
Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the Lord,
and I will heal them.(Q)
20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea
that cannot keep still;
its waters toss up mire and mud.(R)
21 There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.(S)
Footnotes
- 57.3Heb an adulterer and she prostitutes herself
- 57.8Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 57.8Or phallus; Heb hand
- 57.9Or the king
- 57.11Gk Vg: Heb silent even for a long time
- 57.19Meaning of Heb uncertain
Cross references
- 57.1 : Ps 12.1; Isa 42.25; 47.7, 11
- 57.2 : Isa 26.7
- 57.3 : Isa 1.21; Mt 16.4
- 57.4 : Isa 48.8
- 57.5 : Lev 18.21; 2 Kings 16.3, 4; Jer 7.31
- 57.6 : Jer 3.9; 5.9, 29; 7.18
- 57.7 : Ezek 16.16; 23.14
- 57.8 : Ezek 16.26, 28; 23.7, 18
- 57.9 : Ezek 23.16, 40
- 57.10 : Isa 47.13; Jer 2.25
- 57.11 : v 1; Ps 50.21; Isa 51.12; Jer 2.32
- 57.13 : Isa 25.4; 60.21; 65.9; Jer 22.20
- 57.14 : Isa 62.10; Jer 18.15
- 57.15 : Ps 14.2, 3; 34.18; 51.17; Isa 40.28; 52.13; 61.1; 66.1
- 57.16 : Gen 6.3; Job 34.14; Ps 85.5; 103.9; Isa 42.5; Mic 7.18
- 57.17 : Isa 1.4; Jer 6.13
- 57.19 : Isa 52.12; 53.5; 61.1–3; Acts 2.39; Eph 2.17; Heb 13.15
- 57.20 : Job 18.5–14
- 57.21 : Isa 48.22