An Invitation to Abundant Life

55 “Ho! aEveryone who thirsts,

Come to the waters;

And you who have no money,

bCome, buy and eat.

Yes, come, buy wine and milk

Without money and without price.

2 Why do you 1spend money for what is not bread,

And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

And let your soul delight itself in abundance.

3 Incline your ear, and ccome to Me.

Hear, and your soul shall live;

dAnd I will make an everlasting covenant with you—

The esure mercies of David.

4 Indeed I have given him as fa witness to the people,

gA leader and commander for the people.

5 hSurely you shall call a nation you do not know,

iAnd nations who do not know you shall run to you,

Because of the Lord your God,

And the Holy One of Israel;

jFor He has glorified you.”

6 kSeek the Lord while He may be lfound,

Call upon Him while He is near.

7 mLet the 2wicked forsake his way,

And the unrighteous man nhis thoughts;

Let him return to the Lord,

oAnd He will have mercy on him;

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

8 “For pMy thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

9 “For qas the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

10 “For ras the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,

And do not return there,

But water the earth,

And make it bring forth and bud,

That it may give seed to the sower

And bread to the eater,

11 sSo shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me 3void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall tprosper in the thing for which I sent it.

12 “For uyou shall go out with joy,

And be led out with peace;

The mountains and the hills

Shall vbreak forth into singing before you,

And wall the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

13 xInstead of ythe thorn shall come up the cypress tree,

And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;

And it shall be to the Lord zfor a name,

For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Salvation for the Gentiles

56 Thus says the Lord:

“Keep justice, and do righteousness,

aFor My salvation is about to come,

And My righteousness to be revealed.

2 Blessed is the man who does this,

And the son of man who lays hold on it;

bWho keeps from defiling the Sabbath,

And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

3 Do not let cthe son of the foreigner

Who has joined himself to the Lord

Speak, saying,

“The Lord has utterly separated me from His people”;

Nor let the deunuch say,

“Here I am, a dry tree.”

4 For thus says the Lord:

“To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,

And choose what pleases Me,

And hold fast My covenant,

5 Even to them I will give in eMy house

And within My walls a place fand a name

Better than that of sons and daughters;

I will give 1them an everlasting name

That shall not be cut off.

6 “Also the sons of the foreigner

Who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him,

And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants—

Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,

And holds fast My covenant—

7 Even them I will gbring to My holy mountain,

And make them joyful in My hhouse of prayer.

iTheir burnt offerings and their sacrifices

Will be jaccepted on My altar;

For kMy house shall be called a house of prayer lfor all nations.”

8 The Lord God, mwho gathers the outcasts of Israel, says,

n“Yet I will gather to him

Others besides those who are gathered to him.”

Israel’s Irresponsible Leaders

9 oAll you beasts of the field, come to devour,

All you beasts in the forest.

10 His watchmen are pblind,

They are all ignorant;

qThey are all dumb dogs,

They cannot bark;

2Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

11 Yes, they are rgreedy 3dogs

Which snever 4have enough.

And they are shepherds

Who cannot understand;

They all look to their own way,

Every one for his own gain,

From his own territory.

12 “Come,” one says, “I will bring wine,

And we will fill ourselves with intoxicating tdrink;

uTomorrow will be vas today,

And much more abundant.”

Israel’s Futile Idolatry

57 The righteous perishes,

And no man takes it to heart;

aMerciful men are taken away,

bWhile no one considers

That the righteous is taken away from 1evil.

2 He shall enter into peace;

They shall rest in ctheir beds,

Each one walking in his uprightness.

3 “But come here,

dYou sons of the sorceress,

You offspring of the adulterer and the harlot!

4 Whom do you ridicule?

Against whom do you make a wide mouth

And stick out the tongue?

Are you not children of transgression,

Offspring of falsehood,

5 Inflaming yourselves with gods eunder every green tree,

fSlaying the children in the valleys,

Under the clefts of the rocks?

6 Among the smooth gstones of the stream

Is your portion;

They, they, are your lot!

Even to them you have poured a drink offering,

You have offered a grain offering.

Should I receive comfort in hthese?

7 “On ia lofty and high mountain

You have set jyour bed;

Even there you went up

To offer sacrifice.

8 Also behind the doors and their posts

You have set up your remembrance;

For you have uncovered yourself to those other than Me,

And have gone up to them;

You have enlarged your bed

And 2made a covenant with them;

kYou have loved their bed,

Where you saw their 3nudity.

9 lYou went to the king with ointment,

And increased your perfumes;

You sent your mmessengers far off,

And even descended to Sheol.

10 You are wearied in the length of your way;

nYet you did not say, ‘There is no hope.’

You have found the life of your hand;

Therefore you were not grieved.

11 “And oof whom have you been afraid, or feared,

That you have lied

And not remembered Me,

Nor taken it to your heart?

Is it not because pI have 4held My peace from of old

That you do not fear Me?

12 I will declare your righteousness

And your works,

For they will not profit you.

13 When you cry out,

Let your collection of idols deliver you.

But the wind will carry them all away,

A breath will take them.

But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land,

And shall inherit My holy mountain.”

Healing for the Backslider

14 And one shall say,

q“Heap it up! Heap it up!

Prepare the way,

Take the stumbling block out of the way of My people.”

15 For thus says the High and Lofty One

Who inhabits eternity, rwhose name is Holy:

s“I dwell in the high and holy place,

tWith him who has a contrite and humble spirit,

uTo revive the spirit of the humble,

And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

16 vFor I will not contend forever,

Nor will I always be angry;

For the spirit would fail before Me,

And the souls wwhich I have made.

17 For the iniquity of xhis covetousness

I was angry and struck him;

yI hid and was angry,

zAnd he went on 5backsliding in the way of his heart.

18 I have seen his ways, and awill heal him;

I will also lead him,

And restore comforts to him

And to bhis mourners.

19 “I create cthe fruit of the lips:

Peace, peace dto him who is far off and to him who is near,”

Says the Lord,

“And I will heal him.”

20 eBut the wicked are like the troubled sea,

When it cannot rest,

Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

21 “There fis no peace,”

Says my God, “for the wicked.”