Isaiah 54-58 - Prayer Tents

54“Sing, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into loud and joyful song, O Jerusalem, you who have never been in labor. For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband,” says the Lord.H7442H6135H3205H6476H7440H6670H2342H7227H1121H8074H1121H1166H559H3068 2“Enlarge your house; build an addition. Spread out your home, and spare no expense!H7337H4725H168H5186H3407H4908H2820H748H4340H2388H3489 3For you will soon be bursting at the seams. Your descendants will occupy other nations and resettle the ruined cities.H6555H3225H8040H2233H3423H1471H8074H5892H3427 4“Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood.H3372H954H3637H2659H7911H1322H5934H2142H2781H491 5For your Creator will be your husband; the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth.H6213H1166H3068H6635H8034H1350H6918H3478H430H776H7121 6For the Lord has called you back from your grief—as though you were a young wife abandoned by her husband,” says your God.H3068H7121H802H5800H6087H7307H802H5271H3988H559H430 7“For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will take you back.H6996H7281H5800H1419H7356H6908 8In a burst of anger I turned my face away for a little while. But with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.H8241H7110H5641H6440H7281H5769H2617H7355H559H3068H1350 9“Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth, so now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you.H4325H5146H7650H4325H5146H5674H776H7650H7107H1605 10For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you.H2022H4185H1389H4131H2617H4185H1285H7965H4131H559H3068H7355 11“O storm-battered city, troubled and desolate! I will rebuild you with precious jewels and make your foundations from lapis lazuli.H6041H5590H5162H7257H68H6320H3245H5601 12I will make your towers of sparkling rubies, your gates of shining gems, and your walls of precious stones.H7760H8121H3539H8179H68H688H1366H2656H68 13I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace.H1121H3928H3068H7227H7965H1121 14You will be secure under a government that is just and fair. Your enemies will stay far away. You will live in peace, and terror will not come near.H6666H3559H7368H6233H3372H4288H7126 15If any nation comes to fight you, it is not because I sent them. Whoever attacks you will go down in defeat.H1481H1481H657H4310H1481H5307 16“I have created the blacksmith who fans the coals beneath the forge and makes the weapons of destruction. And I have created the armies that destroy.H1254H2796H5301H6352H784H3318H3627H4639H1254H7843H2254 17But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from me. I, the Lord, have spoken!H3627H3335H6743H3956H6965H4941H7561H5159H5650H3068H6666H5002H3068

55“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it’s all free!H1945H6771H3212H4325H3701H3212H7666H398H3212H7666H3196H2461H3701H4242 2Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.H8254H3701H3899H3018H7654H3808H8085H8085H398H2896H5315H6026H1880 3“Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.H5186H241H3212H8085H5315H2421H3772H5769H1285H539H2617H1732 4See how I used him to display my power among the peoples. I made him a leader among the nations.H5414H5707H3816H5057H6680H3816 5You also will command nations you do not know, and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey, because I, the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.”H7121H1471H3045H1471H3045H7323H3068H430H6918H3478H6286 6Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.H1875H3068H4672H7121H7138 7Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.H7563H5800H1870H205H376H4284H7725H3068H7355H430H7235H5545 8“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.H4284H4284H1870H1870H5002H3068 9For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.H8064H1361H776H1870H1361H1870H4284H4284 10“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.H1653H3381H7950H8064H7725H7301H776H3205H6779H5414H2233H2232H3899H398 11It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.H1697H3318H6310H7725H7387H6213H2654H6743H7971 12You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!H3318H8057H2986H7965H2022H1389H6476H6440H7440H6086H7704H4222H3709 13Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”H5285H5927H1265H5636H5927H1918H3068H8034H5769H226H3772

56This is what the Lord says. “Be just and fair to all. Do what is right and good, for I am coming soon to rescue you and to display my righteousness among you.H559H3068H8104H4941H6213H6666H3444H7138H935H6666H1540 2Blessed 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.H835H582H6213H1121H120H2388H8104H7676H2490H8104H3027H6213H7451 3“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.’H1121H5236H3867H3068H559H559H3068H914H914H5971H5631H559H3002H6086 4For 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.H559H3068H5631H8104H7676H977H2654H2388H1285 5I 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!H5414H1004H2346H3027H8034H2896H1121H1323H5414H5769H8034H3772 6“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.H1121H5236H3867H3068H8334H157H8034H3068H5650H8104H7676H2490H2388H1285 7I 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.H935H6944H2022H8055H1004H8605H5930H2077H7522H4196H1004H7121H1004H8605H5971 8For the Sovereign Lord, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says. I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.”H136H3069H6908H1760H3478H5002H6908H6908 9Come, wild animals of the field! Come, wild animals of the forest! Come and devour my people!H2416H7704H857H398H2416H3293 10For 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.H6822H5787H3045H483H3611H3201H5024H1957H7901H157H5123 11Like greedy dogs, they are never satisfied. They are ignorant shepherds, all following their own path and intent on personal gain.H5794H5315H3611H3045H3045H7654H7462H995H6437H1870H376H1215H7097 12“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!”H857H3947H3196H5433H7941H4279H3117H3966H3499H1419

57Good 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.H6662H6H376H7760H3820H2617H582H622H995H6662H622H6440H7451 2For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die.H935H7965H5117H4904H1980H5228 3“But you—come here, you witches’ children, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!H7126H1121H6049H2233H5003H2181 4Whom do you mock, making faces and sticking out your tongues? You children of sinners and liars!H6026H7337H6310H748H3956H3206H6588H2233H8267 5You 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.H2552H410H7488H6086H7819H3206H5158H5585H5553 6Your 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?H2511H5158H2506H1486H8210H5262H5927H4503H5162 7You have committed adultery on every high mountain. There you have worshiped idols and have been unfaithful to me.H1364H5375H2022H7760H4904H5927H2076H2077 8You 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.H310H1817H4201H7760H2146H1540H5927H7337H4904H3772H157H4904H3027H2372 9You have given olive oil to Molech with many gifts of perfume. You have traveled far, even into the world of the dead, to find new gods to love.H7788H4428H8081H7235H7547H7971H6735H7350H8213H7585 10You grew weary in your search, but you never gave up. Desire gave you renewed strength, and you did not grow weary.H3021H7230H1870H559H2976H4672H2416H3027H2470 11“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?H1672H3372H3576H2142H7760H3820H2814H5769H3372 12Now I will expose your so-called good deeds. None of them will help you.H5046H6666H4639H3276 13Let’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.”H2199H6899H5337H7307H5375H1892H3947H2620H5157H776H3423H6944H2022 14God says, “Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones so my people can return from captivity.”H559H5549H5549H6437H1870H7311H4383H1870H5971 15The 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.H559H7311H5375H7931H5703H8034H6918H7931H4791H6918H1793H8217H7307H2421H7307H8217H2421H3820H1792 16For 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.H7378H5769H5331H7107H7307H5848H6440H5397H6213 17I was angry, so I punished these greedy people. I withdrew from them, but they kept going on their own stubborn way.H5771H1215H7107H5221H5641H7107H3212H7726H1870H3820 18I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them. I will comfort those who mourn,H7200H1870H7495H5148H7999H5150H57 19bringing words of praise to their lips. May they have abundant peace, both near and far,” says the Lord, who heals them.H1254H5108H8193H7965H7965H7350H7138H559H3068H7495 20“But those who still reject me are like the restless sea, which is never still but continually churns up mud and dirt.H7563H1644H3220H3201H8252H4325H1644H7516H2916 21There is no peace for the wicked,” says my God.H7965H559H430H7563

58“Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid. Tell my people Israel of their sins!H7121H1627H2820H7311H6963H7782H5046H5971H6588H1004H3290H2403 2Yet 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.H1875H3117H3117H2654H1847H1870H1471H6213H6666H5800H4941H430H7592H4941H6664H2654H7132H430 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!’ “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.H6684H7200H6031H5315H3045H3117H6685H4672H2656H5065H6092 4What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.H6684H7379H4683H5221H106H7562H6684H3117H6963H8085H4791 5You 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?H6685H977H3117H120H6031H5315H3721H7218H100H3331H8242H665H7121H2088H6685H7522H3117H3068 6“No, this is the kind of fasting I want. Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.H6685H977H6605H2784H7562H5425H4133H92H7533H7971H2670H5423H4133 7Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.H6536H3899H7457H935H6041H4788H1004H7200H6174H3680H5956H1320 8“Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.H216H1234H7837H724H6779H4120H6664H1980H6440H3519H3068H622 9Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!H7121H3068H6030H7768H559H5493H8432H4133H7971H676H1696H205 10Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.H6329H5315H7457H7646H6031H5315H216H2224H2822H653H6672 11The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.H3068H5148H8548H7646H5315H6710H2502H6106H7302H1588H4161H4325H4325H3576 12Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.H1129H5769H2723H6965H4146H1755H1755H7121H1443H6556H7725H5410H3427 13“Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.H7725H7272H7676H6213H2656H6944H3117H7121H7676H6027H6918H3068H3513H3513H6213H1870H4672H2656H1696H1697 14Then the Lord will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the Lord, have spoken!”H6026H3068H7392H1116H776H398H5159H3290H1H6310H3068H1696