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Isaiah 57
1The perish, and no one lays it to heart. Merciful men are taken away, and no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil.
2He enters into peace. They rest in their beds, each one who walks in his uprightness.
3“But draw near here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes.
4Whom do you mock? Against whom do you make a wide mouth and stick out your tongue? Aren’t you children of disobedience and offspring of falsehood,
5you who inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree; who kill the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
6Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion. They, they are your lot. You have even poured a drink to them. You have offered an offering. Shall I be appeased for these things?
7On a high and lofty you have set your bed. You also went up there to offer .
8You have set up your memorial behind the doors and the posts, for you have exposed yourself to someone besides me, and have gone up. You have enlarged your bed and made you a with them. You loved what you saw on their bed.
9You went to the with , increased your perfumes, sent your ambassadors far off, and degraded yourself even to Sheol.
10You were wearied with the length of your ways; yet you didn’t say, ‘It is in vain.’ You found a reviving of your strength; therefore you weren’t faint.
11“Whom have you dreaded and feared, so that you lie, and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart? Haven’t I held my peace for a long time, and you don’t fear me?
12I will declare your ; and as for your works, they will not benefit you.
13When you cry, let those whom you have gathered deliver you, but the wind will take them. A breath will carry them all away, but he who takes refuge in me will possess the land, and will inherit my holy .”
14He will say, “Build up, build up, prepare the way! Remove the stumbling-block out of the way of my people.”
15For the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, says: “I dwell in the high and , with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
16For I will not contend forever, neither will I always be angry; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls whom I have made.
17I was angry because of the iniquity of his covetousness and struck him. I hid myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.
18I have seen his ways, and will heal him. I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.
19I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near,” says the LORD; “and I will heal them.”
20But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can’t rest and its waters cast up mire and mud.
21“There is no peace”, says my God, “for the wicked.”
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Questions this passage answers
Who is God?
God is the one living Creator who made everything and depends on nothing, and Scripture answers this question mainly by telling us his character rather than by defining his substance. When God described himself to Moses he said he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth, and yet will by no means clear the guilty. The New Testament adds that this God is finally known in Jesus Christ, who has made him known.
Can the Bible be trusted?
Scripture claims to be true and invites examination rather than avoiding it. It says God's word is truth and that it stands when everything else fades, and the New Testament writers appeal to eyewitnesses, named places and public events rather than to private experience. Trust in Scripture is finally trust in the God who speaks in it, and the clearest reason a Christian gives for that trust is that Jesus treated these writings as God's own word.
What is sin?
Scripture defines sin as lawlessness, as falling short of God's glory, and as failing to do the good we know we should do. It is not only a list of bad actions but a condition of the heart that produces them, and it is first against God rather than only against people. Scripture also says all have sinned, that its wage is death, and that God is faithful to forgive those who confess.
What does the Bible say about fear?
Scripture never tells a frightened person that fear is imaginary. It says do not be afraid hundreds of times, and almost always attaches a reason rather than a technique: I am with you, I have redeemed you, you are of more value than sparrows. It also distinguishes the fear that must go from the fear of the Lord, which is commanded and which shrinks every smaller fear.