Isaiah 56
56
All Nations Will Follow the Lord
1The Lord said these things, “Be fair to all people. Do what is right, because soon my salvation will come to you. My goodness will soon be shown to the whole world. 2I will bless those who refuse to do wrong and who obey the law about the Sabbath.”
3Some foreigners will choose to follow the Lord. They should not say, “The Lord will not really accept me like the rest of his people.” A eunuch should not say, “I am only a dry piece of wood. I cannot have any children.”
4They should not say that because the Lord says, “Some eunuchs obey the laws about the Sabbath. They choose to do what I want, and they follow my agreement.#56:4 agreement This usually means the agreement God made with Israel through Moses. (See “agreement” in the Word List.) Here, it might mean the agreement of Isa. 55:3. 5So I will put a memorial stone in my Temple for them. Their name will be remembered in my city! Yes, I will give those eunuchs something better than sons and daughters. I will give them a name that will last forever! They will not be cut off#56:5 cut off To be removed from the list of the people of Israel. This included a person’s being forced to leave family, land, and the people of Israel. from my people.
6“Some foreigners have chosen to follow the Lord. They do this so that they can serve him and love his name and be his servants. They keep the Sabbath as a special day of worship, and they will continue to follow closely my agreement. 7So I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them happy in my house of prayer. The offerings and sacrifices they give me will please me, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” 8The Lord GOD said these things.
The Israelites were forced to leave their country, but the Lord will gather them together again. He says, “I will bring them back together again!”
9Wild animals in the forest,
come and eat.
10The watchmen#56:10 The watchmen Literally, “The seers,” an ancient title for prophets. are all blind.
They don’t know what they are doing.
They are like dogs that will not bark.
They lie on the ground and sleep.
Oh, they love to sleep.
11They are like hungry dogs.
They are never satisfied.
The shepherds don’t know what they are doing.
Like their sheep, they have all wandered away.
They are greedy.
All they want is to satisfy themselves.
12They come and say,
“I will drink some wine.
I will drink some beer.
I will do the same thing tomorrow,
but I will drink even more.”
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Isaiah 56
56
1 THUS SAYS the Lord: Keep justice, do and use righteousness (conformity to the will of God which brings salvation), for My salvation is soon to come and My righteousness (My rightness and justice) to be revealed. [Isa. 62:1, 11; Matt. 3:2; Luke 21:31; Rom. 13:11, 12.]
2 Blessed, happy, and fortunate is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold of it and binds himself fast to it, who keeps sacred the Sabbath so as not to profane it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.
3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, The Lord will surely separate me from His people. And let not the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
4 For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths and choose the things which please Me and hold firmly My covenant–
5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial and a name better [and more enduring] than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.
6 Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to Him and to love the name of the Lord and to be His servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it and who holds fast My covenant [by conscientious obedience]–
7 All these I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
8 Thus says the Lord God, Who gathers the outcasts of Israel: I will gather yet others to [Israel] besides those already gathered.
9 All you beasts of the field, come to devour, all you beasts (hostile nations) in the forest.
10 [Israel's] watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, they love to slumber.
11 Yes, the dogs are greedy; they never have enough. And such are the shepherds who cannot understand; they have all turned to their own way, each one to his own gain, from every quarter [one and all].
12 Come, say they, We will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink! And tomorrow shall be as this day, a day great beyond measure.
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation