The Covenant Extended to All Who Obey
56 Thus says the Lord:
Maintain justice, and do what is right,
for soon my salvation will come,
and my deliverance be revealed.
2
Happy is the mortal who does this,
the one who holds it fast,
who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it,
and refrains from doing any evil.
3
Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and do not let the eunuch say,
“I am just a dry tree.”
4
For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
5
I will give, in my house and within my walls,
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that shall not be cut off.
6
And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it,
and hold fast my covenant—
7
these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.
8
Thus says the Lord God,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel,
I will gather others to them
besides those already gathered.[a]
The Corruption of Israel’s Rulers
9
All you wild animals,
all you wild animals in the forest, come to devour!
10
Israel’s[b] sentinels are blind,
they are all without knowledge;
they are all silent dogs
that cannot bark;
dreaming, lying down,
loving to slumber.
11
The dogs have a mighty appetite;
they never have enough.
The shepherds also have no understanding;
they have all turned to their own way,
to their own gain, one and all.
12
“Come,” they say, “let us[c] get wine;
let us fill ourselves with strong drink.
And tomorrow will be like today,
great beyond measure.”
Israel’s Futile Idolatry
57 The righteous perish,
and no one takes it to heart;
the devout are taken away,
while no one understands.
For the righteous are taken away from calamity,
2
and they enter into peace;
those who walk uprightly
will rest on their couches.
3
But as for you, come here,
you children of a sorceress,
you offspring of an adulterer and a whore.[d]
4
Whom are you mocking?
Against whom do you open your mouth wide
and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
the offspring of deceit—
5
you that burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree;
you that slaughter your children in the valleys,
under the clefts of the rocks?
6
Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion;
they, they, are your lot;
to them you have poured out a drink offering,
you have brought a grain offering.
Shall I be appeased for these things?
7
Upon a high and lofty mountain
you have set your bed,
and there you went up to offer sacrifice.
8
Behind the door and the doorpost
you have set up your symbol;
for, in deserting me,[e] you have uncovered your bed,
you have gone up to it,
you have made it wide;
and you have made a bargain for yourself with them,
you have loved their bed,
you have gazed on their nakedness.[f]
9
You journeyed to Molech[g] with oil,
and multiplied your perfumes;
you sent your envoys far away,
and sent down even to Sheol.
10
You grew weary from your many wanderings,
but you did not say, “It is useless.”
You found your desire rekindled,
and so you did not weaken.
11
Whom did you dread and fear
so that you lied,
and did not remember me
or give me a thought?
Have I not kept silent and closed my eyes,[h]
and so you do not fear me?
12
I will concede your righteousness and your works,
but they will not help you.
13
When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry them off,
a breath will take them away.
But whoever takes refuge in me shall possess the land
and inherit my holy mountain.
A Promise of Help and Healing
14
It shall be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”
15
For thus says the high and lofty one
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
16
For I will not continually accuse,
nor will I always be angry;
for then the spirits would grow faint before me,
even the souls that I have made.
17
Because of their wicked covetousness I was angry;
I struck them, I hid and was angry;
but they kept turning back to their own ways.
18
I have seen their ways, but I will heal them;
I will lead them and repay them with comfort,
creating for their mourners the fruit of the lips.[i]
19
Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the Lord;
and I will heal them.
20
But the wicked are like the tossing sea
that cannot keep still;
its waters toss up mire and mud.
21
There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.
6 1 and do not become an enemy instead of a friend;
for a bad name incurs shame and reproach;
so it is with the double-tongued sinner.
2
Do not fall into the grip of passion,[a]
or you may be torn apart as by a bull.[b]
3
Your leaves will be devoured and your fruit destroyed,
and you will be left like a withered tree.
4
Evil passion destroys those who have it,
and makes them the laughingstock of their enemies.
Friendship, False and True
5
Pleasant speech multiplies friends,
and a gracious tongue multiplies courtesies.
6
Let those who are friendly with you be many,
but let your advisers be one in a thousand.
7
When you gain friends, gain them through testing,
and do not trust them hastily.
8
For there are friends who are such when it suits them,
but they will not stand by you in time of trouble.
9
And there are friends who change into enemies,
and tell of the quarrel to your disgrace.
10
And there are friends who sit at your table,
but they will not stand by you in time of trouble.
11
When you are prosperous, they become your second self,
and lord it over your servants;
12
but if you are brought low, they turn against you,
and hide themselves from you.
13
Keep away from your enemies,
and be on guard with your friends.
14
Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter:
whoever finds one has found a treasure.
15
Faithful friends are beyond price;
no amount can balance their worth.
16
Faithful friends are life-saving medicine;
and those who fear the Lord will find them.
17
Those who fear the Lord direct their friendship aright,
for as they are, so are their neighbors also.
Blessings of Wisdom
18
My child, from your youth choose discipline,
and when you have gray hair you will still find wisdom.
19
Come to her like one who plows and sows,
and wait for her good harvest.
For when you cultivate her you will toil but little,
and soon you will eat of her produce.
20
She seems very harsh to the undisciplined;
fools cannot remain with her.
21
She will be like a heavy stone to test them,
and they will not delay in casting her aside.
22
For wisdom is like her name;
she is not readily perceived by many.
The Earthly and the Heavenly Sanctuaries
9 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tent[a] was constructed, the first one, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of the Presence;[b] this is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a tent[c] called the Holy of Holies. 4 In it stood the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which there were a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; 5 above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat.[d] Of these things we cannot speak now in detail.
6 Such preparations having been made, the priests go continually into the first tent[e] to carry out their ritual duties; 7 but only the high priest goes into the second, and he but once a year, and not without taking the blood that he offers for himself and for the sins committed unintentionally by the people. 8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary has not yet been disclosed as long as the first tent[f] is still standing. 9 This is a symbol[g] of the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and drink and various baptisms, regulations for the body imposed until the time comes to set things right.
11 But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come,[h] then through the greater and perfect[i] tent[j] (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), 12 he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit[k] offered himself without blemish to God, purify our[l] conscience from dead works to worship the living God!
15 For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.[m] 16 Where a will[n] is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will[o] takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Hence not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment had been told to all the people by Moses in accordance with the law, he took the blood of calves and goats,[p] with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent[q] and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Christ’s Sacrifice Takes Away Sin
23 Thus it was necessary for the sketches of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves need better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; 26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.