Isaiah 57 - Easy To Read Version

¹ The good people are all gone,\par and no one even noticed.\par The good people have gathered together.\par But they don’t understand why.\par They don’t know that trouble is coming,\par and that they have been gathered together for protection\}.\par

² But peace will come,\par and the people will rest in their\par own beds.\par They will live the way God wants them to.\par

³ “Come here you children of witches.\par Your father is guilty of sexual sins,\par and your mother sells her body for sex.\par Come here!\par

⁴ You are evil and lying children.\par You make fun of me.\par You make faces at me.\par You stick your tongues out at me.\par

⁵ All you want is to worship false gods\par under every green tree.\par You kill children by every stream,\par and sacrifice them in the rocky places.\par

⁶ You love to worship the smooth rocks\par in the rivers.\par You pour wine on them to worship them.\par You give sacrifices {\cf2\super [440]} to them,\par but those rocks are all you get.\par Do you think this makes me happy?\par \{No! It does not make me happy.\}\par You make your bed on every hill\par and high mountain. {\cf2\super [441]} \par

⁷ You go up to those places\par and offer sacrifices. {\cf2\super [442]} \par

⁸ Then you get in those beds\par and sin against me by loving\par those gods.\par You love those gods,\par You enjoy looking at their naked bodies.\par You were with me,\par but you left me to be with them.\par You hide the things that help you\par remember me.\par You hide those things\par behind the doors and door posts. {\cf2\super [443]} \par And then you go and make agreements\par with those false gods.\par

⁹ You use your oils and perfumes\par to look nice for Molech. {\cf2\super [444]} \par You sent your messengers to faraway lands.\par And this will bring you down to Sheol,\par \{the place of death\}.\par

¹⁰ “You have worked hard to do these things,\par but you never became tired.\par You found new strength,\par because you enjoyed these things.\par

¹¹ You did not remember me.\par You did not even notice me!\par So, who were you worrying about?\par Who were you afraid of?\par Why did you lie?\par Look, I have been quiet for a long time—\par and you did not honor me.\par

¹² I could tell about your ‘good works’\par and all the ‘religious’ things you do;\par but those things are useless!\par

¹³ When you need help,\par you cry to those false gods\par that you have gathered around you.\par Let them help you!\par But I tell you,\par the wind will blow them all away.\par A puff of wind will blow them all away.\par But the person that depends on me\par will get the land \{I promised\}.\par That person will have my holy mountain. {\cf2\super [445]} \par

¹⁴ Clear the road! Clear the road!\par Make the way clear for my people!\par

¹⁵ God is high and lifted up.\par God lives forever.\par God’s name is holy.\par God says:\par I live in a high and holy place,\par but also with people that are\par sad and humble.\par I will give new life to the people\par that are humble in spirit.\par I will give new life to the people\par that are sad in their hearts.\par

¹⁶ I will not continue fighting forever.\par I will not always be angry.\par If I continued to be angry,\par then man’s spirit\par —the life I gave them—\par would die in front of me.\par

¹⁷ These people did evil things,\par and it made me angry.\par So, I punished Israel.\par I turned away from him\par because I was angry.\par And Israel left me.\par He went wherever he wanted.\par

¹⁸ I saw where Israel went.\par So, I will heal (forgive) him.\par I will comfort him\par and say words to make him feel better.\par Then he and his people will not feel sad.\par

¹⁹ I will teach them a new word:\par ‘Peace.’\par I will give peace to the people near me\par and to the people that are far away.\par I will heal (forgive) those people!”\par The Lord himself said these things.\par

²⁰ But evil people are like the angry ocean. They can’t be quiet and peaceful. They are angry, and like the ocean, they stir up mud. My God says,

²¹ “There is no peace for evil people.”\par