Isaiah 57 — TOJB

57Verse 1The tzaddik perisheth,
and no ish layeth it to lev;
and anshei chesed are taken away,
none considering that the tzaddik is taken away
from the ra'ah (evil, calamity) to come.
^{Verse 2}He shall enter into shalom;
they shall rest in their mishkevot (couches, i.e., tombs),
each one walking in his nekhochah (uprightness, integrity, honesty).
^{Verse 3}But draw near to here,
ye bnei onenah (you children of a sorceress),
zera mena'ef (offspring of an adulterer) and she who plays the zonah.
^{Verse 4}At whom are you sneering?
Against whom make ye a wide mouth,
and draw out the leshon?
Are ye not yeledim of peysha (rebellion),
zera sheker?
^{Verse 5}Enflaming yourselves among⁺elim (oaks, big trees)
under every spreading tree,
slaughtering the yeladim in the valleys
under the clefts of the rocks?
^{Verse 6}Among the smooth stones of the wadi is thy chelek;
they are thy goral;
even to them⁺hast thou poured nesekh,
thou hast offered minchah.
For these [provocations], should I relent?
^{Verse 7}Upon a lofty and high har
hast thou set up thy mishkav (bed i.e., fertility rites);
there wentest thou up to offer zevach.
^{Verse 8}Behind the delet also and the mezuzah (doorpost)
hast thou set up thy zikron ([pornographic and idolatrous] memorial);
deserting Me, thou hast uncovered thyself, and art gone up;
thou hast enlarged thy mishkav (bed)
and cut⁺for thee with them [a Brit];
thou lovedst their mishkav (bed)
where thou hast looked on their yad.^{+
Verse 9}And thou wentest to Melech;⁺
with shemen thou didst increase thy perfumes,
and didst send thy⁺envoys far,
even down unto Sheol.
^{Verse 10}Thou art wearied in the length of thy derech;
yet saidst thou not: It is hopeless;
thou hast found the chayyat yad (life of hand, power) of thine;
therefore thou wast not faint.^{Verse 11}And of whom hast thou dreaded or feared,
that thou hast lived a lie,
and hast not remembered Me,
nor laid it to thy lev (i.e., pondered it)?
Have not I held My peace me'olam (even from of old),
and thou fearest Me not?
^{Verse 12}I will preach thy tzedakah,
and thy ma'asim, that they shall not profit thee.
^{Verse 13}When thou criest for help, let thy⁺kibutzim (heaps, collections) save thee;
but the ruach shall carry them all away;
hevel shall take them;
but he that putteth his trust in Me shall inherit eretz,
and shall inherit My Har Kodesh;^{Verse 14}And shall say:
Build ye [a road], build ye [a road], prepare the Derech,
remove the michshol (stumblingblock, obstacle)
from the Derech Ami (the Way, Road of My People).
^{Verse 15}For thus saith the High and Exalted,
Shokhen Ad (the One Who abideth forever, i.e., Who inhabits eternity), Kadosh Shmo:
I dwell in marom v'kadosh (the high and holy place),
with him also that is of a contrite and lowly ruach,
to revive the ruach of the shefalim (humble, lowly ones)
and to revive the lev nidka'im (contrite of heart).
^{Verse 16}For I will not contend l'olam (forever),
neither will I lanetzach (always) be in wrath;
for the ruach (spirit) would grow faint before Me,
even the neshamot (souls) which I have made.
^{Verse 17}For the avon (iniquity) of his covetousness
was I in wrath, and struck him;⁺
I hid, and was in wrath,
and he⁺went on shovav (backsliding)
in the derech of his lev (heart).
^{Verse 18}I have seen the drakhim of him,⁺
and will heal him; I will lead him also,
and restore nichumim (comforts)
unto him and to his avelim (mourners).
^{Verse 19}I create the [repentant] fruit of the lips;
Shalom, shalom to him that is far off,
and to him that is near, saith Hashem;
and I will heal him.
^{Verse 20}But the resha'im are like the troubled yam (sea),
when it cannot sheket (be quiet),
whose mayim cast up mire and mud.
^{Verse 21}There is no shalom, saith Elohai,
for the resha'im.⁺