VerseAI

NIV

Isaiah 57

  1. 1<pb/><t>The righteous perish,</t> <t>and no one takes it to heart;</t> <t>the devout are taken away,</t> <t>and no one understands</t> <t>that the righteous are taken away</t> <t>to be spared from evil.</t>
  2. 2<t>Those who walk uprightly</t> <t>enter into peace;</t> <t>they find rest as they lie in death. <pb/></t>
  3. 3<t>“But you—come here, you children of a sorceress,</t> <t>you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!</t>
  4. 4<t>Who are you mocking?</t> <t>At whom do you sneer</t> <t>and stick out your tongue?</t> <t>Are you not a brood of rebels,</t> <t>the offspring of liars?</t>
  5. 5<t>You burn with lust among the oaks</t> <t>and under every spreading tree;</t> <t>you sacrifice your children in the ravines</t> <t>and under the overhanging crags.</t>
  6. 6<t>The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion;</t> <t>indeed, they are your lot.</t> <t>Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings</t> <t>and offered grain offerings.</t> <t>In view of all this, should I relent?</t>
  7. 7<t>You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill;</t> <t>there you went up to offer your sacrifices.</t>
  8. 8<t>Behind your doors and your doorposts</t> <t>you have put your pagan symbols.</t> <t>Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed,</t> <t>you climbed into it and opened it wide;</t> <t>you made a pact with those whose beds you love,</t> <t>and you looked with lust on their naked bodies.</t>
  9. 9<t>You went to Molek<f>[110]</f> with olive oil</t> <t>and increased your perfumes.</t> <t>You sent your ambassadors<f>[111]</f> far away;</t> <t>you descended to the very realm of the dead!</t>
  10. 10<t>You wearied yourself by such going about,</t> <t>but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’</t> <t>You found renewal of your strength,</t> <t>and so you did not faint. <pb/></t>
  11. 11<t>“Whom have you so dreaded and feared</t> <t>that you have not been true to me,</t> <t>and have neither remembered me</t> <t>nor taken this to heart?</t> <t>Is it not because I have long been silent</t> <t>that you do not fear me?</t>
  12. 12<t>I will expose your righteousness and your works,</t> <t>and they will not benefit you.</t>
  13. 13<t>When you cry out for help,</t> <t>let your collection of idols save you!</t> <t>The wind will carry all of them off,</t> <t>a mere breath will blow them away.</t> <t>But whoever takes refuge in me</t> <t>will inherit the land</t> <t>and possess my holy mountain.”</t>
  14. 14<pb/>And it will be said: <pb/><t>“Build up, build up, prepare the road!</t> <t>Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”</t>
  15. 15<t>For this is what the high and exalted One says—</t> <t>he who lives forever, whose name is holy:</t> <t>“I live in a high and holy place,</t> <t>but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit,</t> <t>to revive the spirit of the lowly</t> <t>and to revive the heart of the contrite.</t>
  16. 16<t>I will not accuse them forever,</t> <t>nor will I always be angry,</t> <t>for then they would faint away because of me—</t> <t>the very people I have created.</t>
  17. 17<t>I was enraged by their sinful greed;</t> <t>I punished them, and hid my face in anger,</t> <t>yet they kept on in their willful ways.</t>
  18. 18<t>I have seen their ways, but I will heal them;</t> <t>I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners,</t>
  19. 19<t>creating praise on their lips.</t> <t>Peace, peace, to those far and near,”</t> <t>says the LORD. “And I will heal them.”</t>
  20. 20<t>But the wicked are like the tossing sea,</t> <t>which cannot rest,</t> <t>whose waves cast up mire and mud.</t>
  21. 21<t>“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”</t>