AFV2020 - Isaiah - 57

57:1  The righteous perish, and no one lays it to heart, and merciful men are taken away; none considering that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come.

57:2  He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds, each one who walked in his uprightness.

57:3  "But draw near here, you sons of the sorceress, you seed of the adulterer and the harlot.

57:4  Against whom are you making sport? Against whom do you make a wide mouth and draw out the tongue? Are you not children of transgression, a lying seed,

57:5  Being inflamed with idols under every green tree, killing the little children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks?

57:6  Among the smooth stones of the stream is your portion; they, even they, are your lot; even to them you have poured a drink offering, you have offered a grain offering. Should I relent over these?

57:7  Upon a lofty and high mountain you have set your bed; even there you went up to offer sacrifice.

57:8  Also behind the doors and the posts you have set up your images; far from Me have you uncovered and ascended and enlarged your bed. You made a covenant with them; you loved their bed; you saw their hand beckoning you.

57:9  And you went to the king with ointment, and increased your perfumes, and sent your messengers far off, and lowered yourself even to the grave.

57:10  You are wearied with the greatness of your way. Did you not say, 'There is no hope'? You have found strength; therefore you were not faint.

57:11  And of whom have you been afraid or feared, that you have lied and have not remembered Me, nor laid it to your heart? Have I not been silent, even of old, and yet you did not fear Me?

57:12  I will declare your kind of righteousness, and your works; for they shall not do you any good.

57:13  When you cry, let them that you have gathered deliver you; but the wind shall carry them all away. The wind will carry them off, a breath will blow them away; but he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, and shall inherit My holy mountain."

57:14  And He shall say, "Cast up! Cast up! Prepare the way! Take the stumbling block out of the way of My people."

57:15  For thus says the high and lofty One Who inhabits eternity; Whose name is Holy; "I dwell in the high and holy place, even with the one who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones,

57:16  For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit of man would then fail before Me, and the souls which I have made.

57:17  For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry and struck him; I hid Myself, and was angry, and he went on backsliding away from Me in the way of his own heart.

57:18  I have seen his ways, and will heal him. I will also lead him, and restore comfort to him and to his mourners.

57:19  I create the fruit of the lips; peace, peace, to him who is afar off, and to him who is near," says the LORD, "and I will heal him."

57:20  But the wicked are like the troubled sea, which cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.

57:21  "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."