CHAPTER 57

1 The righteous man hath perished, And there is no man that layeth it to heart: Men of mercy are gathered, And there is none that considereth, That the righteous man is gathered from the face of the evil.

2 Peace shall come; They shall rest in their beds, Whosoever walketh before him.

3 And draw near, ye sons of the sorceress; The seed of the adulterer And the whore.

4 On whom have ye made sport? On whom have ye opened the mouth? On whom have ye stretched out the tongue? Are ye not rebellious children? A lying seed?

5 Warming themselves among the oaks ¹ under every green tree; Sacrificing children in the valleys, Under the cliffs of the rocks,

6 Among the smooth stones of the valley ² is thy portion; They, they are thy lot; Even to them hast thou poured out a drink-offering, And offered a sacrifice. Shall I take pleasure in these things? ³

7 On a lofty And high mountain hast thou set thy bed; Yea, thou art gone up to it to offer a sacrifice.

8 Behind the door And behind the door-post Hast thou set thy memorial; Thou hast been discovered to another than me; Thou art gone up; Thou hast enlarged thy bed; Thou hast made a covenant with them; Thou lovedst their bed in the place which thou sawest.

9 And thou wentest to the king with ointment; Thou multipliedst thy disguises; Thou sentest thy ambassadors to a distant place; Thou art humbled even to hell.

10 Thou art wearied with thy manifold journeying; And hast not said, There is no hope: Thou hast found the life of thine hand; Therefore thou hast not grieved.

11 And whom hast thou worshipped, And of whom hast thou been afraid, That thou hast dealt falsely, And hast not remembered me, Blot laid it on thy heart? Is it not because I have held my peace, And therefore thou never fearest me?

12 I will declare thy righteousness, And thy deeds; And they shall not profit thee.

13 When thou shalt cry, let thy troops deliver thee; Yet the wind shall carry them all away; Vanity shall seize them. But he who hopeth in me shall obtain the land by inheritance, And shall possess the mountain of my holiness.

14 And he shall say, Prepare, prepare; Level the road; Remove the stumbling-block out of the way of my people.

15 For thus hath spoken the high And Lofty One, Who dwelleth in eternity, Whose name is Holy; I inhabit the high And holy, And with the afflicted, And with him who is lowly in spirit; That I may revive the spirit of the lowly, That I may revive the heart of the afflicted.

16 For I will not contend for ever, Nor will I be always wroth; For the spirit shall be clothed ⁴ before me, And the wind have I made.

17 For the iniquity of his lust I was wroth, And smote him; I have concealed myself, And will be wroth; But he turned And departed in the way of his heart.

18 I have seen his ways, And will heal him, And will lead him, restoring consolations To him And to his mourners.

19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to them that are afar off, And to them that are near, saith Jehovah, And I heal him.

20 But the wicked are as the troubled sea, Which cannot rest; And its waters will east out filth And mud.

21 There is no peace to the wicked, saith my God.