HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1023
ISAIAH 57
page 653
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and to display my righteousness
among you.
Blessed are all those
who are careful to do this.
Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath
days of rest
and keep themselves from doing wrong.
“Don’t let foreigners who commit
themselves to the Lord say,
‘The Lord will never let me be part of
his people.’
And don’t let the eunuchs say,
‘I’m a dried-up tree with no children and
no future.’
For this is what the Lord says:
I will bless those eunuchs
who keep my Sabbath days holy
and who choose to do what pleases me
and commit their lives to me.
I will give them—within the walls of my
house—
a memorial and a name
far greater than sons and daughters
could give.
For the name I give them is an everlasting
one.
It will never disappear!
“I will also bless the foreigners who commit
themselves to the Lord,
who serve him and love his name,
who worship him and do not desecrate the
Sabbath day of rest,
and who hold fast to my covenant.
I will bring them to my holy mountain of
Jerusalem
and will fill them with joy in my house
of prayer.
I will accept their burnt offerings and
sacrifices,
because my Temple will be called a
house of prayer for all nations.
For the Sovereign Lord,
who brings back the outcasts of Israel,
says:
I will bring others, too,
besides my people Israel.”
Sinful Leaders Condemned
9 Come, wild animals of the field!
Come, wild animals of the forest!
Come and devour my people!
10 For the leaders of my people—
the Lord’s watchmen, his shepherds—
are blind and ignorant.
They are like silent watchdogs
that give no warning when danger comes.
They love to lie around, sleeping and
dreaming.
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Like greedy dogs, they are never satisfied.
They are ignorant shepherds,
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all following their own path
and intent on personal gain.
“Come,” they say, “let’s get some wine
and have a party.
Let’s all get drunk.
Then tomorrow we’ll do it again
and have an even bigger party!”
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Good people pass away;
the godly often die before their time.
But no one seems to care or wonder why.
No one seems to understand
that God is protecting them from the evil
to come.
For those who follow godly paths
will rest in peace when they die.
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Idolatrous Worship Condemned
3 “But you—come here, you witches’ children,
you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
4 Whom do you mock,
making faces and sticking out your
tongues?
You children of sinners and liars!
5 You worship your idols with great passion
beneath the oaks and under every
green tree.
You sacrifice your children down in the
valleys,
among the jagged rocks in the cliffs.
6 Your gods are the smooth stones in the
valleys.
You worship them with liquid offerings
and grain offerings.
They, not I, are your inheritance.
Do you think all this makes me happy?
7 You have committed adultery on every
high mountain.
There you have worshiped idols
and have been unfaithful to me.
• Giving
I S A I A H 56:11
The leaders of Israel (the “shepherds”)
had forgotten about the people they were
supposed to be leading (the “sheep”).
They had become ignorant of the wants
and needs of the people in their care. In
their endless quest for personal gain, the
shepherds had completely forgotten about
the sheep. When we become oblivious to
the needs of others, it is an indication that
our hearts are turning greedy. We need to
confess our selfish desires to God and ask
him to give us an attitude of generosity.
Who is the focus of your attention these
days?