Isaiah

57 The righteous one hath perished, And not a man hath taken it to heart,—Yea the men of lovingkindness have been withdrawn, No one considering, That from the presence of calamity hath the righteous been withdrawn.

2 He entereth into peace, Let them rest upon their couches,—Each one who went on a straight path.

3 But ye . . . draw near hither, Ye sons of divination,—Ye seed of an adulterer, when [your mother] committed unchastity!

4 Against whom would ye disport yourselves? Against whom would ye widen the mouth and lengthen the tongue,—Are not ye Children of transgression, A Seed of falsehood.

5 Who inflame yourselves With the terebinths Under every green tree,—Slaying the children In the torrent-valleys, Under the clefts of the crags:

6 Among the smooth stones of the torrent-valley is thy portion, They they are thy lot; Even to them hast thou Poured out a drink-offering, Caused to ascend a gift. Over these things can I cease to grieve?

7 On a mountain high and uplifted hast thou set thy couch,—Even thither hast thou gone up to offer sacrifice;

8 And behind the door and the post hast thou set thy symbol, For with another than me hast thou uncovered thyself and gone up—Hast widened thy couch, And hast solemnised for thyself a covenant from them, Thou hast loved their couch, a sign hast thou seen;

9 And hast gone to the king with oil, And hast multiplied thy perfumes,—And hast sent thy messengers afar, And . . . lowered thyself as far as hades!

10 With the length of thy journey thou wast wearied, Thou didst not say, Hopeless! The reviving of thy power thou didst find, For this cause hast thou not become sick.

11 Whom then hadst thou been anxious about and feared that thou shouldest speak falsely, When me thou rememberedst not, caredst not for me? Did not I keep silence even from age-past times, Although me thou wouldest not fear?

12 I will expose thy righteousness,—And thy works—but they will not profit thee!

13 When thou makest outcry let thy gathered throngs deliver thee! But all of them shall A wind catch up—A breath take away! Whereas he that seeketh refuge in me Shall inherit the land, And possess my holy mountain.

14 And one said—Cast ye up—cast ye up, prepare ye a way,—Lift the stumbling-block out of the way of my people.

15 For thus saith he that is high and lifted up—Inhabiting futurity And holy is his name: A high and holy place will I inhabit, Also with the crushed and lowly in spirit, To revive the spirit of the lowly, and To revive the heart of them who are crushed;—

16 For not age-abidingly will I contend, Nor perpetually will I be wroth,—For spirit before me would faint, Even the breathing souls which I had made.

17 Because of his iniquitous gain was I wroth—and smote him Hiding myself that I might be wroth,—But he went on turning aside in the way of his own heart.

18 His ways have I beheld, That I might heal him,—And guide him And restore consolations to him and to his mourners:

19 Creating the fruit of the lips—Prosperity! Prosperity! For him that is far off and for him that is near, Saith Yahweh, So should I heal him.

20 But the lawless are like the sea when tossed,—For rest it cannot! But its waters toss out mire and dirt.

21 No well-being, saith my God, to the lawless!