Isaiah 56-57
1599 Geneva Bible
56 1 An exhortation to judgment and justice. 10 Against shepherds that devour their flock.
1 Thus saith the Lord, [a]Keep judgment and do justice, for my salvation is at hand to come, and my [b]righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man which layeth hold on it; he that keepeth the [c]Sabbath, and polluteth it not, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
3 And let not the son of the strangers, which [d]is joined to the Lord, speak and say, The Lord hath surely separated me from his people; neither let the Eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
4 For thus saith the Lord unto the Eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the thing that pleaseth me, and take hold of my covenant,
5 Even unto them will I give in mine [e]House and within my walls, a place, and a [f]name better than of the sons and of the daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be put out.
6 Also the strangers that cleave unto the Lord, to serve him, and to love the Name of the Lord, and to be his servants; everyone that keepeth the Sabbath, and polluteth it not, and embraceth my covenant,
7 Them will I bring also to mine holy mountain, and make them joyful in mine House of prayer; their burnt [g]offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar: for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for [h]all people.
8 The Lord God saith, which gathereth the scattered of Israel, Yet will I gather to them those that are to be gathered to them.
9 All ye [i]beasts of the field, come to devour, even all ye beasts of the forest.
10 Their [j]watchmen are all blind: they have no knowledge: they are all dumb dogs: they cannot bark: they lie and sleep, and delight in sleeping.
11 And these greedy dogs can never have enough: and these shepherds cannot understand: for they all look to their own way, everyone for his advantage, and for his own purpose.
12 Come, I will bring wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink, and [k]tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.
57 1 God taketh away the good, that he should not see the horrible plagues to come. 3 Of the wicked idolaters, 9 and their vain confidence.
1 The righteous perisheth, and no man considereth it in heart, and merciful men are taken away, and no man understandeth that the righteous is taken away [l]from the evil to come.
2 [m]Peace shall come: they shall rest in their beds, everyone that walketh before him.
3 But you [n]witches’ children, come hither, the seed of the adulterer and of the whore.
4 On whom have ye jested? upon whom have ye gaped and thrust out your tongue? are not ye rebellious children, and a false seed?
5 Inflamed with idols under every green tree? and sacrificing the [o]children in the valleys under the tops of the rocks?
6 Thy portion is in the smooth stones [p]of the river: they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering: thou hast offered a sacrifice. Should I delight in [q]these?
7 Thou hast made thy [r]bed upon a very high mountain: thou wentest up thither, even thither wentest thou to offer sacrifice.
8 Behind the [s]doors also and posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another, than me, and wentest up, and didst [t]enlarge thy bed, and make a covenant between thee and them, and lovedst their bed in every place where thou sawest it.
9 Thou wentest [u]to the kings with oil, and didst increase thine ointments, and send thy messengers far off, and didst humble thyself unto hell.
10 Thou weariedst thyself in thy manifold journeys, yet saidest thou not, [v]There is no hope: thou [w]hast found life by thine hand, therefore thou wast not grieved.
11 And whom didst thou reverence or fear, seeing thou hast [x]lied unto me, and hast not remembered me, neither set thy mind thereon? is it not because I hold my peace, and that of long [y]time? therefore thou fearest not me.
12 I will declare thy righteousness [z]and thy works, and they shall not profit thee.
13 When thou cryest, let them that thou hast gathered together, deliver thee: but the wind [aa]shall take them all away: vanity shall pull them away: but he that trusteth in me shall inherit the land, and shall possess mine holy Mountain.
14 [ab]And he shall say, Cast up, cast up: prepare the way: take up the stumbling blocks out of the way of my people.
15 For thus saith he that is high and excellent, he that inhabiteth the eternity, whose Name is the Holy one, I dwell in the high and holy place: with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble, and to give life to them that are of a contrite heart.
16 For I will not contend forever: neither will I be always wroth, [ac]for the spirit should fail before me: and I have made the breath.
17 For his [ad]wicked covetousness I am angry with him, and have smitten him: I hid me, and was angry, yet he went away, and turned after the way of his own heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and will [ae]heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comfort unto him, and to those that lament him.
19 I create the [af]fruit of the lips, to be peace: peace unto them that are [ag]far off, and to them that are near, saith the Lord: for I will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the raging sea, that [ah]cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 56:1 God showeth what he requireth of them after that he hath delivered them: to wit, the works of charity whereby true faith is declared.
- Isaiah 56:1 Which I will declare toward you, and pour into your hearts by my Spirit.
- Isaiah 56:2 Under the Sabbath he comprehendeth the whole service of God and true religion.
- Isaiah 56:3 Let none think himself unmeet to receive the graces of the Lord: for the Lord will take away all impediments, and will forsake none which will keep his true religion, and believe in him.
- Isaiah 56:5 Meaning, in his Church.
- Isaiah 56:5 They shall be called after my people, and be of the same religion: yea, under Christ the dignity of the faithful shall be greater than the Jews were at that time.
- Isaiah 56:7 Hereby he meaneth the spiritual service of God, to whom the faithful offer continual thanksgiving, yea themselves and all that they have, as a lively and acceptable sacrifice.
- Isaiah 56:7 Not only for the Jews, but for all others, Matt. 21:13.
- Isaiah 56:9 Meaning, the enemies of the Church, as the Babylonians, Assyrians, etc., thus he speaketh to fear the hypocrites and to assure the faithful that when this cometh, they may know it was told them before.
- Isaiah 56:10 He showeth that this affliction shall come through the fault of the governors, prophets, and pastors, whose ignorance, negligence, avarice and obstinacy provoked God’s wrath against them.
- Isaiah 56:12 We are well yet, and tomorrow shall be better: therefore let us not fear the plagues before they come: thus the wicked contemned the admonitions and exhortations which were made them in the Name of God.
- Isaiah 57:1 From the plague that is at hand, and also because God will punish the wicked.
- Isaiah 57:2 The soul of the righteous shall be in joy, and their body shall rest in the grave unto the time of the resurrection, because they walked before the Lord.
- Isaiah 57:3 He threateneth the wicked hypocrites, who under the pretence of the name of God’s people, derided God’s word and his promises: boasting openly that they were the children of Abraham, but because they were not faithful and obedient as Abraham was, he calleth them bastards, and the children of sorcerers, which forsook God, and fled to wicked means for succor.
- Isaiah 57:5 Read Lev. 18:21; 2 Kings 23:10.
- Isaiah 57:6 Meaning, every place was polluted with their idolatry: or every fair stone that they found, they made an idol of it.
- Isaiah 57:6 In the sacrifices which you offering before these idols, thought you did serve God.
- Isaiah 57:7 To wit, thine altars in an open place, like an impudent harlot, that careth not for the sight of her husband.
- Isaiah 57:8 Instead of setting up the word of God in the open places on the posts and doors to have it in remembrance, Deut. 6:9 and 27:1, thou hast set up signs and marks of thine idolatry in every place.
- Isaiah 57:8 That is, didst increase thine idolatry more and more.
- Isaiah 57:9 Thou didst seek the favor of the Assyrians by gifts and presents to help thee against the Egyptians: and when they failed thou soughtest to the Babylonians, and more and more didst torment thyself.
- Isaiah 57:10 Although thou sawest all thy labors to be in vain, yet wouldest thou never acknowledge thy fault, and leave off.
- Isaiah 57:10 He derideth their unprofitable diligence, which thought to have made all sure, and yet were deceived.
- Isaiah 57:11 Broken promise with me.
- Isaiah 57:11 Meaning, that the wicked abuse God’s lenity, and grow to further wickedness.
- Isaiah 57:12 That is, thy naughtiness, idolatries, and impieties which the wicked call God’s service: thus he derideth their obstinacy.
- Isaiah 57:13 Meaning, the Assyrians and others, whose help they looked for.
- Isaiah 57:14 God shall say to Darius and Cyrus.
- Isaiah 57:16 I will not use my power against frail man, whose life is but a blast.
- Isaiah 57:17 That is, for the vices and faults of the people, which is meant here by covetousness.
- Isaiah 57:18 Though they were obstinate, yet I did not withdraw my mercy from them.
- Isaiah 57:19 That is, I frame the speech and words of my messengers which shall bring peace.
- Isaiah 57:19 As well to him that is in captivity as to him that remaineth at home.
- Isaiah 57:20 Their evil conscience doth ever torment them, and therefore they can never have rest, read Isa. 48:22.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
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