Isaiah 56

Salvation for Foreigners

1 Thus says the Lord:
"Keep justice, and do righteousness,
w for soon my salvation will come,
and my deliverance be revealed.
 2 Blessed is the man who does this,
and the son of man who holds it fast,
x who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil."

3 Let not y the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
"The Lord will surely separate me from his people";
and let not the eunuch say,
"Behold, I am z a dry tree."
 4 For thus says the Lord:
"To the eunuchs x who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
 5 a I will give in my house and within my walls
a b monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
c I will give them an everlasting name
that shall not be cut off.

6 "And y the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
everyone x who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
and holds fast my covenant -
7 d these I will bring to e my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
f their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for g my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples."
 8 The Lord God,
h who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
i "I will gather yet others to him
besides those already gathered."

Israel's Irresponsible Leaders

9 j All you beasts of the field, come to devour -
all you beasts in the forest.
 10 k His watchmen are blind;
they are all without knowledge;
they are all silent l dogs;
they cannot bark,
dreaming, lying down,
loving to slumber.
 11 m The dogs have a mighty appetite;
they never have enough.
But n they are shepherds who have no understanding;
they have all turned to their own way,
o each to his own gain, one and all.
 12 p "Come," they say, "let me get wine;
let us fill ourselves with strong drink;
q and tomorrow will be like this day,
great beyond measure."

  1. Cross References
    Isaiah 46:12 - 13
    Listen to me, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from righteousness:
    Isaiah 51:5 - 6
    My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for me, and for my arm they wait.
  2. Cross References
    Isaiah 58:13
    If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly.
  3. Cross References
    Isaiah 14:1
    For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob.
    Deuteronomy 23:7 - 8
    You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land.
  4. Cross References
    Ezekiel 17:24
    And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord ; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord ; I have spoken, and I will do it.
    Ezekiel 20:47
    Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the Lord : Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it.
  5. Cross References
    Isaiah 56:2
    Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.
  6. Cross References
    1 Timothy 3:15
    If I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.
    Revelation 3:12
    The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
  7. Cross References
    2 Samuel 18:18
    Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself the pillar that is in the King's Valley, for he said, "I have no son to keep my name in remembrance." He called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom's monument to this day.
    John 1:12
    But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
  8. Cross References
    2 Timothy 2:19
    But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.
  9. Cross References
    Isaiah 56:3
    Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, "The Lord will surely separate me from his people"; and let not the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree.
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 56:2
    Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.
  11. Cross References
    Isaiah 65:1
    I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, "Here am I, here am I," to a nation that was not called by my name.
    Isaiah 19:24 - 25
    In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth.
  12. Cross References
    Isaiah 2:2
    It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it.
  13. Cross References
    Romans 15:16
    To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
  14. Cross References
    Matthew 21:13
    He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a den of robbers.
    Mark 11:17
    And he was teaching them and saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers.
    Luke 19:46
    Saying to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer,' but you have made it a den of robbers.
  15. Cross References
    Isaiah 11:12
    He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
  16. Cross References
    John 10:16
    And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
    Ephesians 1:10
    As a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
    Ephesians 2:11 - 16
    Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands -
  17. Cross References
    Jeremiah 12:9
    Is my heritage to me like a hyena's lair? Are the birds of prey against her all around? Go, assemble all the wild beasts; bring them to devour.
    Ezekiel 34:8
    As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep.
  18. Cross References
    Isaiah 62:6
    On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest.
    Jeremiah 6:17
    I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not pay attention.
  19. Cross References
    Philippians 3:2
    Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
  20. Cross References
    Ezekiel 34:2 - 3
    Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God : Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?
  21. Cross References
    Jeremiah 23:1
    Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" declares the Lord.
  22. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:13
    For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.
  23. Cross References
    Isaiah 28:7
    These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed by wine, they stagger with strong drink, they reel in vision, they stumble in giving judgment.
  24. Cross References
    Isaiah 22:13
    And behold, joy and gladness, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine. "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
    Proverbs 23:35
    "They struck me," you will say, "but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink."
    Luke 12:19
    And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.
    1 Corinthians 15:32
    What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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