Isaiah 56

Isaiah 56

The Covenant Extended to All Who Obey

1Thus says the Lord :[#Isa 46.13; 61.8]

Maintain justice, and do what is right,

for soon my salvation will come

and my deliverance be revealed.

2Happy is the mortal who does this,[#Isa 58.13]

the one who holds it fast,

who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,

and refrains from doing any evil.

3Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,[#v 6 ; Acts 8.27]

“The Lord will surely separate me from his people,”

and do not let the eunuch say,

“I am just a dry tree.”

4For thus says the Lord :[#vv 2, 6]

To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,

who choose the things that please me

and hold fast my covenant,

5I will give, in my house and within my walls,[#v 7 ; Isa 26.1; 48.19; 62.2; 66.20]

a monument and a name

better than sons and daughters;

I will give them an everlasting name

that shall not be cut off.

6And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord ,[#vv 2, 4 ; Isa 60.10; 61.5]

to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord ,

and to be his servants,

all who keep the Sabbath and do not profane it

and hold fast my covenant—

7these I will bring to my holy mountain[#Isa 11.9; 65.25; Mt 21.13; Mk 11.17; Lk 19.46; Rom 12.1; Heb 13.15]

and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar,

for my house shall be called a house of prayer

for all peoples.

8Thus says the Lord God ,[#Isa 11.12; 60.3–11; Jn 10.16]

who gathers the outcasts of Israel:

I will gather others to them

besides those already gathered.

The Corruption of Israel’s Rulers

9All you wild animals,[#Jer 12.9]

all you wild animals in the forest, come to devour!

10Israel’s sentinels are blind;[#Isa 29.9–14; Nah 3.18; #56.10 Heb His]

they are all without knowledge;

they are all silent dogs

that cannot bark,

dreaming, lying down,

loving to slumber.

11The dogs have a mighty appetite;

they never have enough.

The shepherds also have no understanding;

they have all turned to their own way,

to their own gain, one and all.

12“Come,” they say, “let us get wine;[#56.12 Q ms Syr Vg Tg: MT me]

let us fill ourselves with strong drink.

And tomorrow will be like today,

great beyond measure.”

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Published by: National Council of the Churches of Christ