And no one gives thought
That because of evil
The righteous was taken away.
2Yet he shall come to peace,
a-He shall have rest on his couch-a
Who walked straightforward.
3But as for you, come closer,
You sons of a sorceress,
You offspring of an adulterer and a harlot!b
4With whom do you act so familiarly?
At whom do you open your mouth
And stick out your tongue?
Why, you are children of iniquity,
Offspring of treachery—
5You who inflamec yourselves
Among the terebinths,
Under every verdant tree;
Who slaughter children in the wadis,
Amongd the clefts of the rocks.
6e-With suchf are your share and portion,-e
They, they are your allotment;
To them you have poured out libations,
Presented offerings.
Should I relent in the face of this?
7On a high and lofty hill
You have set your couch;
There, too, you have gone up
To perform sacrifices.
8Behind the door and doorpost
You have directed your thoughts;
eAbandoning Me, you have gone up
On the couch you made so wide.
You have made a covenant with them,f
You have loved bedding with them;g
You have chosen lust.h
9You have approached-e the kingi with oil,
You have provided many perfumes.
And you have sent your envoys afar,
Even down to the netherworld.j
10Though wearied by much travel,
You never said, “I give up!”
You found gratification for your lust,
And so you never cared.
11k-Whom do you dread and fear,
That you tell lies?-k
But you gave no thought to Me,
You paid no heed.
It is because I have stood idly by l-so long-l
That you have no fear of Me.
12I hereby pronounce m-judgment upon your deeds:-m
n-Your assorted [idols]-n shall not avail you,
13Shall not save you when you cry out.
They shall all be borne off by the wind,
Snatched away by a breeze.
But those who trust in Me shall inherit the land
And possess My sacred mount.
14[The Lord] says:
Build up, build up a highway!
Clear a road!
Remove all obstacles
From the road of My people!
15For thus said He who high aloft
Forever dwells, whose name is holy:
I dwell on high, in holiness;
Yet with the contrite and the lowly in spirit—
Reviving the spirits of the lowly,
Reviving the hearts of the contrite.
16For I will not always contend,
I will not be angry forever:
Nay, Ie-who make spirits flag,-e
Also create the breath of life.
17For theiro sinful greed I was angry;
I struck them and turned away in My wrath.
p-Though stubborn, they follow the way of their hearts,-p
18I note how they fare and will heal them:
I will guide them and mete out solace to them,
And to the mourners among them
19 heartening,q comfortingr words:
It shall be well,
Well with the far and the near
—said the LORD—
And I will heal them.
20But the wicked are like the troubled sea
Which cannot rest,
Whose waters toss up mire and mud.
21There is no safety
—said my God—
For the wicked.
58 Cry with full throat, without restraint;
Raise your voice like a ram’s horn!
Declare to My people their transgression,
To the House of Jacob their sin.
2To be sure, they seek Me daily,
Eager to learn My ways.
Like a nation that does what is right,
That has not abandoned the laws of its God,
They ask Me for the right way,
They are eager for the nearness of God:
3“Why, when we fasted, did You not see?
When we starved our bodies, did You pay no heed?”
Because on your fast day
You see to your business
And oppress all your laborers!
4Because you fast in strife and contention,
And you strike with a wicked fist!
Your fasting today is not such
As to make your voice heard on high.
5Is such the fast I desire,
A day for men to starve their bodies?
Is it bowing the head like a bulrush
And lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call that a fast,
A day when the LORD is favorable?
6No, this is the fast I desire:
To unlock fetters of wickedness,
And untie the cords of a-the yoke-a
To let the oppressed go free;
To break off every yoke.
7It is to share your bread with the hungry,
And to take the wretched poor into your home;
When you see the naked, to clothe him,
And not to ignore your own kin.
8Then shall your light burst through like the dawn
And your healing spring up quickly;
Your Vindicator shall march before you,
The Presence of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
9Then, when you call, the LORD will answer;
When you cry, He will say: Here I am.
If you banish the yokea from your midst,
b-The menacing hand,-b and evil speech,
10And you offer your compassionc to the hungry
And satisfy the famished creature—
Then shall your light shine in darkness,
And your gloom shall be like noonday.
11The LORD will guide you always;
He will slake your thirst in d-parched places-d
And give strength to your bones.
You shall be like a watered garden,
Like a spring whose waters do not fail.
12Men from your midst shall rebuild ancient ruins,
You shall restore foundations laid long ago.
And you shall be called
“Repairer of fallen walls,
Restorer of lanes for habitation.”
13If you e-refrain from trampling-e the sabbath,
From pursuing your affairs on My holy day;
If you call the sabbath “delight,”
The LORD’s holy day “honored”;
And if you honor it and go not your ways
Nor look to your affairs, nor strike bargains—
14Then you f-can seek the favor of the LORD.-f
I will set you astride the heights of the earth,
And let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob—
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
59 No, the LORD’s arm is not too short to save,
Or His ear too dull to hear;
2But your iniquities have been a barrier
Between you and your God,
Your sins have made Him turn His face away
And refuse to hear you.
3For your hands are defiled with crimea
And your fingers with iniquity.
Your lips speak falsehood,
Your tongue utters treachery.
4No one sues justly
Or pleads honestly;
They rely on emptiness and speak falsehood,
Conceiving wrong and begetting evil.
5They hatch adder’s eggs
And weave spider webs;
He who eats of those eggs will die,
And if one is crushed, it hatches out a viper.
6Their webs will not serve as a garment,
What they make cannot serve as clothing;
Their deeds are deeds of mischief,
Their hands commit lawless acts,
7Their feet run after evil,
They hasten to shed the blood of the innocent.
Their plans are plans of mischief,
Destructiveness and injury are on their roads.
8They do not care for the way of integrity,
There is no justice on their paths.
They make their courses crooked,
No one who walks in them cares for integrity.
9“That is why redress is far from us,
And vindication does not reach us.
We hope for light, and lo! there is darkness;
For a gleam, and we must walk in gloom.
10We grope, like blind men along a wall;
Like those without eyes we grope.
We stumble at noon, as if in darkness;
b-Among the sturdy, we are-b like the dead.
11We all growl like bears
And moan like doves.
We hope for redress, and there is none;
For victory, and it is far from us.
12For our many sins are before You,
Our guilt testifies against us.
We are aware of our sins,
And we know well our iniquities:
13Rebellion, faithlessness to the LORD,
And turning away from our God,
Planning fraud and treachery,
Conceiving lies and uttering them with the throat.c
14And so redress is turned back
And vindication stays afar,
Because honesty stumbles in the public square
And uprightness cannot enter.
15Honesty has been lacking,
He who turns away from evil is despoiled.”
The LORD saw and was displeased
That there was no redress.
16He saw that there was no man,
He gazed long, but no one intervened.
Then His own arm won Him triumph,
His victorious right handd supported Him.
17He donned victory like a coat of mail,
With a helmet of triumph on His head;
He clothed Himself with garments of retribution,
Wrapped himself in zeal as in a robe.
18e-According to their deserts,
So shall He repay-e fury to His foes;
He shall make requital to His enemies,
Requital to the distant lands.
19From the west, they shall reveref the name of the LORD,f
And from the east, His Presence.
For He shall come like a hemmed-in stream
Which the wind of the LORD drives on;
20He shall come as redeemer to Zion,
To those in Jacob who turn back from sin
—declares the LORD.
21And this shall be My covenant with them, said the LORD: My spiritg which is upon you, and the words which I have placed in your mouth, shall not be absent from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your children, nor from the mouth of your children’s children—said the LORD— from now on, for all time.h
60 Arise, shine, for your light has dawned;
The Presence of the LORD has shone upon you!
2Behold! Darkness shall cover the earth,
And thick clouds the peoples;
But upon you the LORD will shine,
And His Presence be seen over you.
3And nations shall walk by your light,
Kings, by your shining radiance.
4Raise your eyes and look about:
They have all gathered and come to you.
Your sons shall be brought from afar,
Your daughters like babes on shoulders.
5As you behold, you will glow;
Your heart will throb and thrill—
For the wealth of the seaa shall pass on to you,
The riches of nations shall flow to you.
6Dust clouds of camels shall cover you,
Dromedaries of Midian and Ephah.
They all shall come from Sheba;
They shall bear gold and frankincense,
And shall herald the glories of the LORD.
7All the flocks of Kedar shall be assembled for you,
The rams of Nebaioth shall serve your needs;
They shall be welcome offerings on My altar,
And I will add glory to My glorious House.
8Who are these that float like a cloud,
Like doves to their cotes?
9b-Behold, the coastlands await me,-b
With c-ships of Tarshish-c in the lead,
To bring your sons from afar,
And theird silver and gold as well—
For the name of the LORD your God,
For the Holy One of Israel, who has glorified you.
10Aliens shall rebuild your walls,
Their kings shall wait upon you—
For in anger I struck you down,
But in favor I take you back.
11Your gates shall always stay open—
Day and night they shall never be shut—
To let in the wealth of the nations,
With their kings in procession.
12For the nation or the kingdom
That does not serve you shall perish;
Such nations shall be destroyed.
13The majesty of Lebanon shall come to you—
Cypress and pine and box—
To adorn the site of My Sanctuary,
To glorify the place where My feet rest.
14Bowing before you, shall come
The
