Isaiah 56

¹ This is what the LORD says: “Uphold justice and do what is right, for my salvation is about to come, and my righteousness is about to be revealed.”

² Happy is the person who does this, the human being who holds fast to it: who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it and keeps his hand from doing any harm.

³ Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.” And let no eunuch say, “Look, I am a dry tree.”

⁴ For this is what the LORD says to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, choose what pleases me, and hold fast to my covenant:

⁵ “I will give them, in my house and within my walls, a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.

⁶ And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants—everyone who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it and holds fast to my covenant—

⁷ I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

⁸ A declaration of the Lord GOD, who gathers the scattered people of Israel: “I will gather still others to them, besides those already gathered.”

⁹ All you animals of the field, come and eat; all you animals of the forest!

¹⁰ His watchmen are all blind; they know nothing. They are all mute dogs, unable to bark; they lie dreaming and love to doze.

¹¹ The dogs have voracious appetites and are never satisfied. They are shepherds who cannot understand; they have all turned to their own way, each one seeking his own gain, to the last man.

¹² “Come, I’ll get some wine, and we’ll drink our fill of strong drink! Tomorrow will be like today, great beyond measure.”

Read and listen to this chapter in the Shalem app, free: narration, chapter video and reading progress. Get the app