UST GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR EZRA NEH EST JOB PSA PROV ECC SNG ISA JER LAM EZE DAN HOS JOEL AMOS OBA YNA MIC NAH HAB ZEP HAG ZEC MAL MAT MARK LUKE YHN ACTs ROM 1 COR 2 COR GAL EPH PHP COL 1 TH 2 TH 1 TIM 2 TIM TIT PHM HEB YAC 1 PET 2 PET 1 YHN 2 YHN 3 YHN YUD REV

ISA C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36 C37 C38 C39 C40 C41 C42 C43 C44 C45 C46 C47 C48 C49 C50 C51 C52 C53 C54 C55 C56 C57 C58 C59 C60 C61 C62 C63 C64 C65 C66

UST ISA Chapter 57

◄ ISA 57 ► ║ ═ ©

57 People who do what is right and honor God’s agreement sometimes die,

but others do not think carefully about why that happens.

They do not realize that God takes good people away

so they will not have to experience bad things.

2 When people who have lived in the right way die,

they lie peacefully in their graves.

3 Yahweh says, “But some of you practice sorcery.

You Israelites should be faithful to me,

but instead you worship idols.

Now listen to me!

4 You are sinning against me,

but you are pretending that you are not.

That is just as if you are mocking me

and gaping at me and sticking your tongues out at me!

5 You commit sexual immorality in oak groves

and under many great trees.

You even sacrifice your children to idols in stream beds,

below rocky cliffs.

6 You select smooth stones from stream beds

and you set them up and worship them as your gods!

You also pour out wine as an offering to them,

and you bring grain as an offering to them.

I should not refrain from punishing you for doing these things!

7 You go up to hilltop shrines to offer sacrifices to false gods.

You are being unfaithful to me when you do that.

8 You also keep things in your own homes that you remind you of those gods.

Indeed, you abandon me and pledge your loyalty to false gods.

In that way, you are like a wife who is unfaithful to her husband,

who goes and has sexual relations with another man

and enjoys being with him.

9 You bring olive oil and many perfumes as gifts to Molech.

You look throughout the world for further gods to worship.

You even deal with spirits of the place where dead people are.

10 You wear yourselves out with these efforts,

but you do not say, ‘This is useless.’

You realize that you have a little more strength to keep going,

so you do not give up.

11 You seem to more afraid of some other god than of me!

That is why you do not worship me or even think about me

but pretend that you are still loyal to me.

I have not acted to punish sinful people for a long time,

and that seems to be why you do not fear me.

12 But now I will describe the true character of what you have been doing,

which you claim is right,

and it will be clear that you deserve punishment.

13 Go ahead and cry to your collection of idols for help,

but you will find that they do not save you.

They are so worthless that it is as if

the wind could blow them all away.

It is as if a single breath could carry them off.

However, those who trust in me will live in the land.

They will worship me on Mount Zion,

where I am present in a special way.”

14 Someone will say,

“Help the people be loyal to Yahweh again!

Remove every obstacle that keeps us Israelites from worshiping him!”

15 Yahweh is greater than everything.

He has always existed, and his character is holy.

This is what he says.

“I dwell in a high, holy place.

But I also live with people who are humble and sorry for their sins.

I encourage people who are humble,

and I give hope to people who are sorry for their sins.

16 I will not keep accusing my people,

and I will not keep being angry with them.

If I did that, it would discourage them.

They would feel that they could not please me.

Then the people I created would give up.

17 People did wicked things in order to get money.

That made me angry, and I punished them.

Because I was angry, I withdrew from them.

But they kept wanting to do what I did not want them to do.

18 I have seen what they have done,

but I will restore them,

and I will guide them.

I will comfort the Israelites,

especially those who are sorry for their sins.

19 This will lead them to praise me.

I will make things go well for people throughout the community,”

Yahweh says. “I will restore my people.

20 However, if people continue to be wicked,

their lives will be like the choppy sea. It never stops churning.

Its waves constantly pull up muddy dirt.”

21 Our God says, “Things will not go well for wicked people.”