The Righteous Rest, the Rebels Wander
Good people die and nobody notices. Our Father names the child sacrifice and the beds on high hills, then asks who they feared so much they forgot him. The high and holy One says he lives with the crushed and heals the man who kept walking away.
57 1The righteous one perishes, and no one takes it to heart; faithful men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are spared from the evil to come. 2He enters into peace; they rest on their beds—everyone who walks in integrity.
3But you—come here, you children of a sorceress, you offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute! 4Who are you mocking? Against whom do you open wide your mouth and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of rebellion, offspring of falsehood, 5you who burn with lust among the oaks, under every green tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? 6Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion; yes, they are your lot. To them you have poured out a drink offering, you have brought a grain offering. Should I be satisfied with all this? 7On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed; there too you went up to offer sacrifice. 8Behind the door and the doorpost you have set up your symbol. Deserting me, you uncovered your bed; you went up to it and made it wide. You made a covenant with them; you loved their bed, you gazed on their nakedness. 9You journeyed to the king with oil and heaped up your perfumes; you sent your envoys far away, and sent them down even to the realm of the dead. a a v9 'The king' most likely refers to Molech, a Canaanite deity associated with child sacrifice. 10You were wearied by the length of your way, yet you did not say, "It is hopeless." You found renewed strength, and so you did not grow faint. 11Whom did you so dread and fear that you lied, and did not remember me, and gave it no thought? Have I not been silent for so long that you no longer fear me? 12I will expose your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you. 13When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you! The wind will carry them all off, a breath will take them away. But whoever takes refuge in me will possess the land and inherit my holy mountain.
Clear the Way Home
14And it will be said: "Build up, build up, prepare the way! Remove every obstacle from my people's path."
15For this is what the high and exalted One says—our Father, who lives forever, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. b b v15 Our Father lives in the high and holy place — and also makes his home with the broken-hearted. This is the heart of God revealed: the same Father who lives forever stoops to dwell with anyone whose spirit is crushed. 16For I will not keep fighting forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirit would grow faint before me—the very breath of life that I made. 17Because of his sinful greed I was angry; I struck him, I hid my face, and I was angry—yet he kept turning away, following the path of his own heart. 18I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to those who mourn for him, 19bringing praise to their lips. Peace, peace to the far and to the near," says our Father, "and I will heal them." c c v19 Paul applies this peace-to-far-and-near directly to Jesus: 'He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near' (Eph 2:17). The Father's promise of peace reaches both Jew and Gentile through the Son.
20But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot be still, whose waters churn up mire and mud.
21"There is no peace," says our Father, "for the wicked."
