Isaiah 57

¹The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil [to come].

²He enters into peace; they rest in their beds, each one who walks in his uprightness.

³"But draw near here, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the prostitute.

⁴Against whom do you sport yourselves? Against whom do you make a wide mouth, and stick out your tongue? Aren't you children of disobedience, a seed of falsehood,

⁵you who inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree; who kill the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?

⁶Among the smooth [stones] of the valley is your portion; they, they are your lot; you have even poured a drink offering to them. You have offered an offering. Shall I be appeased for these things?

⁷On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed; there also you went up to offer sacrifice.

⁸Behind the doors and the posts you have set up your memorial: for you have uncovered to someone besides me, and have gone up; you have enlarged your bed, and made you a covenant with them: you loved their bed where you saw it.

⁹You went to the king with oil, and did increase your perfumes, and did send your ambassadors far off, and debased yourself even to Sheol.

¹⁰You were wearied with the length of your way; yet you didn't say, 'It is in vain.' You found a reviving of your strength; therefore you weren't faint.

¹¹"Of whom have you been afraid and in fear, that you lie, and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart? Haven't I held my peace even of long time, and you don't fear me?

¹²I will declare your righteousness; and as for your works, they shall not profit you.

¹³When you cry, let those who you have gathered deliver you; but the wind shall take them, a breath shall carry them all away: but he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain."

¹⁴He will say, "Cast up, cast up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people."

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

¹⁶For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always angry; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls who I have made.

¹⁷For the iniquity of his covetousness was I angry, and struck him; I hid [my face] and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.

¹⁸I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.

¹⁹I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near," says Yahweh; "and I will heal them."

²⁰But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can't rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.

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