HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1024
IS A IA H 5 8
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page 654
You have put pagan symbols
on your doorposts and behind your
doors.
You have left me
and climbed into bed with these
detestable gods.
You have committed yourselves to them.
You love to look at their naked bodies.
You have gone to Molech*
with olive oil and many perfumes,
sending your agents far and wide,
even to the world of the dead.*
You grew weary in your search,
but you never gave up.
Desire gave you renewed strength,
and you did not grow weary.
“Are you afraid of these idols?
Do they terrify you?
Is that why you have lied to me
and forgotten me and my words?
Is it because of my long silence
that you no longer fear me?
Now I will expose your so-called
good deeds.
None of them will help you.
Let’s see if your idols can save you
when you cry to them for help.
Why, a puff of wind can knock them
down!
If you just breathe on them,
they fall over!
But whoever trusts in me will inherit
the land
and possess my holy mountain.”
— promises —
from God
“I restore the crushed spirit
of the humble and revive
the courage of those with
repentant hearts.”
I SA I A H 5 7:1 5
God Forgives the Repentant
14 God says, “Rebuild the road!
Clear away the rocks and stones
so my people can return from captivity.”
15 The high and lofty one who lives in
eternity,
the Holy One, says this:
“I live in the high and holy place
with those whose spirits are contrite
and humble.
I restore the crushed spirit of the humble
and revive the courage of those with
repentant hearts.
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For I will not fight against you forever;
I will not always be angry.
If I were, all people would pass away—
all the souls I have made.
I was angry,
so I punished these greedy people.
I withdrew from them,
but they kept going on their own
stubborn way.
I have seen what they do,
but I will heal them anyway!
I will lead them.
I will comfort those who mourn,
bringing words of praise to their lips.
May they have abundant peace, both near
and far,”
says the Lord, who heals them.
“But those who still reject me are like the
restless sea,
which is never still
but continually churns up mud and dirt.
There is no peace for the wicked,”
says my God.
True and False Worship
1 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet
blast.
Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.
Tell my people Israel* of their sins!
2
Yet they act so pious!
They come to the Temple every day
and seem delighted to learn all about me.
They act like a righteous nation
that would never abandon the laws of
its God.
They ask me to take action on their behalf,
pretending they want to be near me.
3 ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
and you don’t even notice it!’
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“I will tell you why!” I respond.
“It’s because you are fasting to please
yourselves.
Even while you fast,
you keep oppressing your workers.
What good is fasting
when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
will never get you anywhere with me.
You humble yourselves
by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
Do you really think this will please
the Lord?
57:9a Or to the king. 57:9b Hebrew to Sheol. 58:1 Hebrew
Jacob. See note on 14:1.