# Isaiah 57 (New King James Version)
Israel's Futile Idolatry

##### Chapter 57
###### 1 The righteous perishes,  
And no man takes _it_ to heart;  
Merciful men _are_ taken away,  
While no one considers  
That the righteous is taken away from evil.  

###### 2 He shall enter into peace;  
They shall rest in their beds,  
_Each one_ walking _in_ his uprightness.

###### 3 "But come here,  
You sons of the sorceress,  
You offspring of the adulterer and the harlot!  

###### 4 Whom do you ridicule?  
Against whom do you make a wide mouth  
_And_ stick out the tongue?  
_Are_ you not children of transgression,  
Offspring of falsehood,  

###### 5 Inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree,  
Slaying the children in the valleys,  
Under the clefts of the rocks?  

###### 6 Among the smooth _stones_ of the stream  
_Is_ your portion;  
They, they, _are_ your lot!  
Even to them you have poured a drink offering,  
You have offered a grain offering.  
Should I receive comfort in these?

###### 7 "On a lofty and high mountain  
You have set your bed;  
Even there you went up  
To offer sacrifice.  

###### 8 Also behind the doors and their posts  
You have set up your remembrance;  
For you have uncovered yourself _to those other_ than Me,  
And have gone up to them;  
You have enlarged your bed  
And made _a covenant_ with them;  
You have loved their bed,  
Where you saw _their_ nudity.  

###### 9 You went to the king with ointment,  
And increased your perfumes;  
You sent your messengers far off,  
And _even_ descended to Sheol.  

###### 10 You are wearied in the length of your way;  
_Yet_ you did not say, 'There is no hope.'  
You have found the life of your hand;  
Therefore you were not grieved.

###### 11 "And of whom have you been afraid, or feared,  
That you have lied  
And not remembered Me,  
Nor taken _it_ to your heart?  
Is it not because I have held My peace from of old  
That you do not fear Me?  

###### 12 I will declare your righteousness  
And your works,  
For they will not profit you.  

###### 13 When you cry out,  
Let your collection _of idols_ deliver you.  
But the wind will carry them all away,  
A breath will take _them._  
But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land,  
And shall inherit My holy mountain."Healing for the Backslider

###### 14 And one shall say,  
"Heap it up! Heap it up!  
Prepare the way,  
Take the stumbling block out of the way of My people."

###### 15 For thus says the High and Lofty One  
Who inhabits eternity, whose name _is_ Holy:  
"I dwell in the high and holy _place,_  
With him _who_ has a contrite and humble spirit,  
To revive the spirit of the humble,  
And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.  

###### 16 For I will not contend forever,  
Nor will I always be angry;  
For the spirit would fail before Me,  
And the souls _which_ I have made.  

###### 17 For the iniquity of his covetousness  
I was angry and struck him;  
I hid and was angry,  
And he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.  

###### 18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him;  
I will also lead him,  
And restore comforts to him  
And to his mourners.

###### 19 "I create the fruit of the lips:  
Peace, peace to _him who is_ far off and to _him who is_ near,"  
Says the Lord,  
"And I will heal him."  

###### 20 But the wicked _are_ like the troubled sea,  
When it cannot rest,  
Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

###### 21 "_There_ _is_ no peace,"  
Says my God, "for the wicked."