Isaiah:56-60

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* Thus hath said the Lord , Keep ye justice , and do equity ; for near is my salvation to come , and my righteousness to be revealed . * Happy is the mortal that ever doth this , and the son of man that ever layeth hold on it ; that keepeth the sabbath by not violating it , and keepeth his hand from doing any evil . * And let not say the son of the stranger , that joineth himself unto the Lord , saying , Surely the Lord will exclude me from his people ; nor let the eunuch say , Behold , I am a dry tree . * For thus hath said the Lord concerning the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths , and make choice of what pleaseth me , and take hold of my covenant . * I will indeed give unto them in my house and within my walls a place and a name , better than sons and daughters : an everlasting name will I give them , that shall not be cut off . * Also the sons of the stranger , that join themselves unto the Lord , to serve him , and to love the name of the Lord , to be unto him as servants , every one that keepeth the sabbath by not violating it , and those who take hold of my covenant : * Even these will I bring to my holy mountain , and make them joyful in my house of prayer ; their burnt –offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon my altar ; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations . * Thus saith the Lord Eternal who gathereth the outcasts of Israel , I will yet gather to him , beside his own gathered . * All ye beasts of the field , come to devour , all ye beasts in the forest . * His watchmen are all of them blind , they know nothing ; they all are dumb dogs , they cannot bark ; dreamers , lying down , loving to slumber . * But the dogs are of a greedy disposition , they know not how to be satisfied ; and those are shepherds that know how to understand : they all turn to their own way , every one after his gain , from all quarters . * Come ye , I will fetch wine , and let us swallow abundantly of strong drink ; and like this day shall it be tomorrow , excellent and in very great abundance . * The righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart : and pious men are taken away , without one considering that before the evil the righteous is taken away . * He shall come in peace : they shall repose in their resting –place , every one that walketh in his uprightness . * But ye draw near hither , sons of the sorceress , the seed of the adulterer and the harlot . * Over whom will you make yourselves merry ? concerning whom will you open wide your mouth , stretch out your tongue ? are ye not children of transgression , a seed of falsehood , * That are inflamed after the idols under every green tree ; that slaughter the children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks ? * Of the smooth stones of the valley is thy portion ; they , they are thy lot : even to them hast thou poured out a drink –offering , hast thou offered a meat –offering . Shall I for these things repent me ? * Upon a high and lofty mountain hast thou placed thy couch : even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice . * And behind the doors and the door –posts hast thou placed thy remembrance ; for from me , thou hast laid open , and art gone up ,––hast enlarged thy couch , and made thee a covenant with some of them ; thou hast loved their lying with thee , hast selected a fitting place . * And thou didst show thyself unto the king without ointment , and thou didst multiply thy perfumes , and thou didst send out thy messengers even into the far –off distance , and didst debase thyself even down to the nether world . * Though thou art wearied by the length of thy way , yet saidst thou not , It is useless : thou hadst found enough for thy hand ; therefore didst thou feel no care . * And of whom hadst thou dread or fear , that thou becamest false , and didst not remember me , nor lay it to thy heart ? is it not so ? I kept silence , and this from earliest times , and therefore thou fearest me not ! * I , I ever tell thee thy righteousness ; but thy works ––these indeed will not profit thee . * When thou criest , let thy masses of idols deliver thee ; but all of them will the wind carry away , a breath will take them off ; but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land , and shall inherit my holy mountain . * And he will say , Cast ye up , cast ye up , clear out the way , lift up every stumbling block out of the way of my people . * For thus hath said the high and lofty One , who inhabiteth eternity , whose name is Holy , In the high and holy place do I dwell , yet also with the contrite and humble of spirit , to revive the spirit of the humble , and to revive the heart of the contrite . * For not to eternity will I contend , neither will I be for ever wroth : when the spirit from before me is overwhelmed , and the souls which I have made . * Because of the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth , and I smote him , hiding my face , and was wroth : while he went on frowardly in the way of his own heart . * I see his ways , and I will heal him ; and I will guide him , and bestow full comforts on him and on his mourners ; * Creating the fruit of the lips : Peace , peace to him that is afar off , and to him that is near , saith the Lord ; and I will heal him . * But the wicked are like the troubled sea ; for it can never be at rest , but its waters cast up mire and dirt . * There is no peace , saith my God , to the wicked . * Cry with a full throat , spare not , like the cornet lift up thy voice , and declare unto my people their transgression , and to the house of Jacob their sins . * Yet me do they ever seek day by day , and to know my ways do they always desire ; as a nation that hath done righteousness , and hath not forsaken the ordinance of their God : continually do they ask of me the ordinances of justice ––do they desire to draw nigh unto God . * "Wherefore have we fasted , and thou seest it not ? have we afflicted our soul , and thou regardest it not ?" Behold , on the day of your fasting ye follow your business , and all your acquired gains do ye exact . * Behold , for contention and strife do ye fast , and to smite with the fist of wickedness : ye fast not so at this day , to cause your voice to be heard on high . * Is such then the fast which I can choose ? a day that a man afflicteth his soul ? to bend his head as a bulrush , and to spread sackcloth and ashes for his couch ? wilt thou call this a fast , and a day of acceptability unto the Lord ? * Is not this the fast that I will choose ? to open the snares of wickedness , to undo the bands of the yoke , and to let the oppressed go free , and that ye should break asunder every yoke ? * Is it not to distribute thy bread to the hungry , and that thou bring the afflicted poor into thy house ! when thou seest the naked , that thou clothe him ; and that thou hide not thyself from thy own flesh ? * Then shall break forth as the morning –dawn thy light , and thy healing shall speedily spring forth ; and before thee shall go thy righteousness , the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward . * Then shalt thou call , and the Lord will answer ; thou shalt cry , and he will say , Here am I . If thou remove from the midst of thee the yoke , the stretching out of the finger , and speaking wickedly ; * And if thou pour out to the hungry thy soul , and satisfy the afflicted soul : then shall shine forth in the darkness thy light , and thy obscurity be as the noonday ; * And the Lord will guide thee continually , and will satisfy thy soul in times of famine , and will strengthen thy bones ; and thou shalt be like a well –watered garden , and like a spring of water , the waters of which will never deceive . * And they that spring from thee shall build up the ancient ruins ; the foundations of many generations shalt thou raise up again : and thou shalt be called , The repairer of the breaches , The restorer of paths to the dwelling –place . * If thou restrain thy foot for the sake of the sabbath , not doing thy business on my holy day ; and if thou call the sabbath a delight , the holy day of the Lord , honorable ; and honor it by not doing thy usual pursuits , by not following thy own business , and speaking words : * Then shalt thou find delight in the Lord ; and I will cause thee to tread upon the high places of the earth , and I will cause thee to enjoy the inheritance of Jacob thy father ; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it . * Behold , the Lord ’s hand is not too short to save ; neither his ear too heavy for hearing ; * But your iniquities have ever made a separation between you and your God , and your sins have caused him to hide his face from you , so that he would not hear . * For your hands are defiled with blood , and your fingers with iniquity : your lips have spoken falsehood , your tongue uttereth deception . * No one admonisheth with righteousness , and no one executeth justice in truth ; men trust in naught , and speak lies ; they have conceived mischief , and bring forth wickedness . * Basilisk ’s eggs do they hatch , and spider ’s webs do they weave : he that eateth of their eggs must die , and if one be crushed , a viper will break forth . * Their webs cannot serve for garments , and they cannot clothe themselves with their works : their works are works of wickedness , and the deed of violence is in their hands . * Their feet run to what is evil , and they make haste to shed innocent blood : their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness ; wasting and destruction are on their highways . * The way of peace they know not ; and there is no justice on their tracks : their paths they have made unto themselves crooked ; whosoever walketh therein knoweth not peace . * Therefore is justice far from us , nor will happiness overtake us : we ever hope for light , but behold there is darkness ; for brightness , but in obscurity must we walk . * We grope like the blind on the wall , and as if we had no eyes do we grope : we stumble at noonday as in the twilight ; we are in complete darkness like the dead . * We growl all of us like bears , and like doves do we moan sorely ; we ever hope for justice , but there is none ; for aid , but it is far from us . * For our transgressions are numerous in thy presence , and our sins testify against us ; for of our transgressions are we aware ; and our iniquities ––we know them ; * We transgressed and denied the Lord , and departed away from our God ; we spoke oppression and revolt , conceived and brought forth in our heart words of falsehood . * And justice is forced to turn backward , and righteousness standeth afar off ; for truth stumbled in the street , and equity is not able to enter . * And thus is the truth missing ; and he that departeth from evil is regarded as foolish : and the Lord saw it , and it was displeasing in his eyes that there was no justice . * And he saw that there was no man , and wondered that there was no intercessor ; therefore his arm brought him aid , and his righteousness ,––yea , this sustained him . * And he put on righteousness as a coat of mail , and the helmet of salvation upon his head ; and he put on the garments of vengeance as raiment , and wrapped himself with zeal as with a cloak . * According to the demerits , so will he repay , fury to his adversaries , recompense to his enemies ; to the islands will he repay what they have merited . * And they shall fear from the west the name of the Lord , and from the rising of the sun his glory ; for there shall come distress like the stream which the Spirit of the Lord urgeth forward . * But unto Zion shall come the redeemer , and unto those who return from transgression in Jacob , saith the Lord . * And as for me , this is my covenant with them , saith the Lord , My spirit that is upon thee , and my words which I have put in thy mouth , shall not depart out of thy mouth , nor out of the mouth of thy children , nor out of the mouth of thy children ’s children , saith the Lord , from henceforth and unto all eternity . * Arise , give light , for thy light is come ; and the glory of the Lord is shining forth over thee . * For behold , the darkness shall cover the earth , and a gross darkness the people ; but over thee will shine forth the Lord , and his glory will be seen over thee . * And nations shall walk by thy light , and kings by the brightness of thy shining . * Lift up thy eyes round about and see , they all are assembled , they come to thee , thy sons are coming from afar , and thy daughters are brought along in arms . * Then wilt thou see and be filled with light , and thy heart will dread and be enlarged ; because unto thee shall be turned the abundance of the sea , the riches of nations shall come unto thee . * The multitude of camels shall cover thee , the dromedaries of Midian and ‘Ephah ; they all from Sheba shall come : gold and frankincense shall they carry , and the praises of the Lord shall they announce . * All the flocks of Kedar shall be assembled unto thee , the rams of Nebayoth shall minister unto thee : they shall come for a favorable acceptance upon my altar , and the house of my glory will I glorify . * Who are these that fly like a cloud , and like the doves , to their windows ? * Yea , unto me the isles shall hasten , and the ships of Tharshish at first , to bring thy sons from afar , their silver and their gold with them , unto the name of the Lord thy God , and to the Holy One of Israel ; because he hath glorified thee . * And the sons of the stranger shall build up thy walls , and their kings shall minister unto thee ; for in my wrath did I smite thee , but in my favor have I had mercy on thee . * And thy gates shall stand open continually , day and night shall they not be closed , to bring unto thee the wealth of nations , and their kings led . * For the nation and the kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish ; and the nations shall be utterly destroyed . * The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee , the fir , the cypress , and the box together , to adorn the place of my sanctuary , and the place of my feet will I glorify . * And then shall come unto thee bent down the sons of those who afflicted thee , and there shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet all thy revilers ; and they shall call thee , The city of the Lord , Zion of the Holy One of Israel . * Instead that thou wast forsaken and hated , without one to pass through , will I render thee an excellency of everlasting , a joy of all generations . * And thou shalt suck the milk of nations , and the breast of kings shalt thou suck ; and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour , and thy Redeemer , the Mighty One of Jacob . * Instead of the copper will I bring gold , and instead of the iron will I bring silver , and instead of wood copper , and instead of the stones iron ; and I will set peace as thy authorities , and righteousness as thy taskmasters . * There shall not be heard any wore violence in thy land , wasting and destruction within thy boundaries ; but thou shalt call , Salvation , thy walls , and thy gates , Praise . * The sun shall not be unto thee any more for a light by day , and for brightness shall the moon not give light unto thee ; but the Lord will be unto thee for a light of everlasting , and thy God as thy glory . * Thy sun shall not go down any more , and thy moon shall not be withdrawn ; for the Lord will be unto thee for a light of everlasting , and ended shall be the days of thy mourning , * And thy people ––they all will be righteous , for ever shall they possess the land , the sprout of my planting , the work of my hands , that I may glorify myself . * The little one shall become a thousand , and the small , a mighty nation : I the Lord will hasten it in its time . * The Spirit of the Lord Eternal is upon me ; because the Lord hath anointed me to announce good tidings unto the meek : he hath sent me to bind up the broken –hearted , to proclaim to captives Liberty , and to prisoners Release ;

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