Isaiah 54; Isaiah 55; Isaiah 56; Isaiah 57; Isaiah 58

1 Sing with joy, you childless women who never gave birth to children. Break into shouts of joy, you women who never had birth pains. "There will be more children of women who have been deserted than there are children of married women," says the LORD.

2 Expand the space of your tent. Stretch out the curtains of your tent, and don't hold back. Lengthen your tent ropes, and drive in the tent pegs.

3 You will spread out to the right and left. Your descendants will take over other nations, and they will resettle deserted cities.

4 Don't be afraid, because you won't be put to shame. Don't be discouraged, because you won't be disgraced. You'll forget the shame you've had since you were young. You won't remember the disgrace of your husband's death anymore.

5 Your husband is your maker. His name is the LORD of Armies. Your defender is the Holy One of Israel. He is called the God of the whole earth.

6 "The LORD has called you as if you were a wife who was abandoned and in grief, a wife who married young and was rejected," says your God.

7 "I abandoned you for one brief moment, but I will bring you back with unlimited compassion.

8 I hid my face from you for a moment in a burst of anger, but I will have compassion on you with everlasting kindness," says the LORD your defender.

9 "To me this is like Noah's floodwaters, when I swore an oath that Noah's floodwaters would never cover the earth again. So now I swear an oath not to be angry with you or punish you.

10 The mountains may move, and the hills may shake, but my kindness will never depart from you. My promise of peace will never change," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

11 "You suffering, comfortless, storm-ravaged city! I will rebuild your city with precious stones. I will reset your foundations with sapphires.

12 I will rebuild your towers with rubies, your gates with sparkling stones, and all your walls with precious stones."

13 All your children will be taught by the LORD, and your children will have unlimited peace.

14 You will be established in righteousness. You will be far from oppression, so you will not be afraid. You will be far from destruction, so it won't come near you.

15 "If anyone attacks you, it will not be my doing. Whoever attacks you will be defeated by you.

16 I've created blacksmiths to fan the coals into flames and to produce useful weapons. I've also created destroyers to bring destruction.

17 No weapon that has been made to be used against you will succeed. You will have an answer for anyone who accuses you. This is the inheritance of the LORD's servants. Their victory comes from me," declares the LORD.

1 "Listen! Whoever is thirsty, come to the water! Whoever has no money can come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk. You don't have to pay; its free!

2 Why do you spend money on what cannot nourish you and your wages on what does not satisfy you? Listen carefully to me: Eat what is good, and enjoy the best foods.

3 Open your ears, and come to me! Listen so that you may live! I will make an everlasting promise to you-- the blessings I promised to David.

4 I made him a witness to people, a leader and a commander for people.

5 You will summon a nation that you don't know, and a nation that doesn't know you will run to you because of the LORD your God, because of the Holy One of Israel. He has honored you."

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found. Call on him while he is near.

7 Let wicked people abandon their ways. Let evil people abandon their thoughts. Let them return to the LORD, and he will show compassion to them. Let them return to our God, because he will freely forgive them.

8 "My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways," declares the LORD.

9 "Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts."

10 "Rain and snow come down from the sky. They do not go back again until they water the earth. They make it sprout and grow so that it produces seed for farmers and food for people to eat.

11 My word, which comes from my mouth, is like the rain and snow. It will not come back to me without results. It will accomplish whatever I want and achieve whatever I send it to do."

12 You will go out with joy and be led out in peace. The mountains and the hills will break into songs of joy in your presence, and all the trees will clap their hands.

13 Cypress trees will grow where thornbushes grew. Myrtle trees will grow where briars grew. This will be a reminder of the LORD's name and an everlasting sign that will never be destroyed.

1 This is what the LORD says: Preserve justice, and do what is right. My salvation is about to come. My righteousness is about to be revealed.

2 Blessed is the one who does these things and the person who holds on to them. Blessed is the one who keeps the day of worship from becoming unholy and his hands from doing anything wrong.

3 Foreigners who have joined the LORD should not say, "The LORD will separate us from his people." Castrated men should not say, "We're only dead trees!"

4 This is what the LORD says: [I will remember] the castrated men who keep my days of worship, choose what pleases me, and faithfully observe the conditions of my promise.

5 Inside my house and within my walls, I will give them something better than sons and daughters. I will give them a monument and a name. I will give them a permanent name that will not be forgotten.

6 And [I will remember] the foreigners who have joined the LORD to worship him, to love the LORD's name, and to be his servants. All of them will keep the day of worship from becoming unholy and will faithfully observe the conditions of my promise.

7 Then I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them happy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, because my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.

8 The Almighty LORD, who gathers the scattered people of Israel, declares, "I will gather still others besides those I have already gathered."

9 All you animals in the field, all you animals in the forest, come and eat.

10 [Israel's] watchmen are blind. None of them know anything. All of them are like dogs that are unable to bark. They lie around dreaming; they love to sleep.

11 These dogs have huge appetites. They are never full. They are the shepherds, but they don't understand. All of them have turned to go their own ways. Each one seeks his own gain.

12 [Each one cries,] "Let me get some wine, and we'll fill ourselves with liquor. And tomorrow will be like today, only better."

1 Righteous people die, and no one cares. Loyal people are taken away, and no one understands. Righteous people are spared when evil comes.

2 When peace comes, everyone who has lived honestly will rest on his own bed.

3 But you--come here, you children of witches, you descendants of adulterers and prostitutes!

4 Whom are you making fun of? Whom are you making a face at? Whom are you sticking out your tongue at? Aren't you rebellious children, descendants of liars?

5 You burn with lust under oak trees and under every large tree. You slaughter children in the valleys and under the cracks in the rocks.

6 Your idols are among the smooth stones in the ravine. They are your destiny. You have given them wine offerings and sacrificed grain offerings to them. Do you think I am pleased with all this?

7 You've made your bed on a high and lofty mountain. You've gone to offer sacrifices there.

8 You've set up your idols beside doors and doorposts. You've uncovered yourself to the idols. You've distanced yourself from me. You've made your bed with them. You've made a deal with those you have pleasure with in bed. You've seen them naked.

9 You've journeyed to the king with perfumed oils and put on plenty of perfume. You've sent your ambassadors far away and sent them down to Sheol.

10 You've tired yourself out with many journeys. You didn't think that it was hopeless. You've found renewed strength, so you didn't faint.

11 Whom did you dread and fear so much that you lied to me? You haven't remembered me or cared about me. I've been silent for a long time. Is that why you don't fear me?

12 I'll tell you about your righteous ways and what you have done, but they won't help you.

13 When you cry for help, let your collection of idols save you. A wind will carry them all away. A breath will take them away. But whoever trusts me will possess the land and inherit my holy mountain.

14 It will be said: "Build a road! Build a road! Prepare the way! Remove every obstacle in the way of my people!"

15 The High and Lofty One lives forever, and his name is holy. This is what he says: I live in a high and holy place. But I am with those who are crushed and humble. I will renew the spirit of those who are humble and the courage of those who are crushed.

16 I will not accuse you forever. I will not be angry with you forever. Otherwise, the spirits, the lives of those I've made, would grow faint in my presence.

17 I was angry because of their sinful greed, so I punished them, hid [from them], and remained angry. But they continued to be sinful.

18 I've seen their [sinful] ways, but I'll heal them. I'll guide them and give them rest. I'll comfort them and their mourners.

19 I'll create praise on their lips: "Perfect peace to those both far and near." "I'll heal them," says the LORD.

20 But the wicked are like the churning sea. It isn't quiet, and its water throws up mud and slime.

21 "There is no peace for the wicked," says my God.

1 Cry aloud! Don't hold back! Raise your voice like a ram's horn. Tell my people about their rebellion and the descendants of Jacob about their sins.

2 They look for me every day and want to know my ways. They act as if they were a nation that has done what is right and as if they haven't disregarded God's judgment [on them]. They ask me for just decrees. They want God to be near them.

3 Why have we fasted if you are not aware of it? Why have we inflicted pain on ourselves if you don't pay attention? Don't you see that on the days you fast, you do what you want to do? You mistreat all your workers.

4 Don't you see that when you fast, you quarrel and fight and beat your workers? The way you fast today keeps you from being heard in heaven.

5 Is this the kind of fasting I have chosen? Should people humble themselves for [only] a day? Is fasting just bowing your head like a cattail and making your bed from sackcloth and ashes? Is this what you call fasting? Is this an acceptable day to the LORD?

6 This is the kind of fasting I have chosen: Loosen the chains of wickedness, untie the straps of the yoke, let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke.

7 Share your food with the hungry, take the poor and homeless into your house, and cover them with clothes when you see [them] naked. Don't refuse to help your relatives.

8 Then your light will break through like the dawn, and you will heal quickly. Your righteousness will go ahead of you, and the glory of the LORD will guard you from behind.

9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer. You will cry for help, and he will say, "Here I am!" Get rid of that yoke. Don't point your finger and say wicked things.

10 If you give some of your own food to [feed] those who are hungry and to satisfy [the needs of] those who are humble, then your light will rise in the dark, and your darkness will become as bright as the noonday sun.

11 The LORD will continually guide you and satisfy you even in sun-baked places. He will strengthen your bones. You will become like a watered garden and like a spring whose water does not stop flowing.

12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the foundations of past generations. You will be called the Rebuilder of Broken Walls and the Restorer of Streets Where People Live.

13 If you stop trampling on the day of worship and doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the day of worship a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way, by not going out when you want, and by not talking idly,

14 then you will find joy in the LORD. I will make you ride on the heights of the earth. I will feed you with the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob. The LORD has spoken.