Isaiah 57

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¹The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are swept away, while no one considers that the righteous are guided from the presence of evil. ✦ ²Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest, lying down in death. ✦ ³“But come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes! ✦ ⁴Whom are you mocking? At whom do you snarl and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, offspring of deceit, ✦ ⁵who burn with lust among the oaks, under every luxuriant tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? ✦ ⁶Your portion is among the smooth stones of the valley; indeed, they are your lot. Even to them you have poured out a drink offering and offered a grain offering. Should I relent because of these? ✦ ⁷On a high and lofty hill you have made your bed, and there you went up to offer sacrifices. ✦ ⁸Behind the door and doorpost you have set up your memorial. Forsaking Me, you uncovered your bed; you climbed up and opened it wide. And you have made a pact with those whose bed you have loved; you have gazed upon their nakedness. ✦ ⁹You went to Molech with oil and multiplied your perfumes. You have sent your envoys a great distance; you have descended even to Sheol itself. ✦ ¹⁰You are wearied by your many journeys, but you did not say, “There is no hope!” You found renewal of your strength; therefore you did not grow weak. ✦ ¹¹Whom have you dreaded and feared, so that you lied and failed to remember Me or take this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear Me? ✦ ¹²I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not profit you. ✦ ¹³When you cry out, let your companies of idols deliver you! Yet the wind will carry off all of them, a breath will take them away. But he who seeks refuge in Me will inherit the land and possess My holy mountain.” ✦ ¹⁴And it will be said, “Build it up, build it up, prepare the way, take every obstacle out of the way of My people.” ✦ ¹⁵For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite. ✦ ¹⁶For I will not accuse you forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me, with the breath of those I have made. ✦ ¹⁷I was enraged by his sinful greed, so I struck him and hid My face in anger; yet he kept turning back to the desires of his heart. ✦ ¹⁸I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, ✦ ¹⁹bringing praise to their lips. Peace, peace to those far and near,” says the LORD, “and I will heal them.” ✦ ²⁰But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck. ✦ ²¹“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

In this chapter

Concept Transcendence & Immanence

Where this chapter connects

Jer 3 ·8 Ezek 16 ·8 Jer 2 ·6 Ezek 23 ·6 Isa 1 ·6 Ezek 20 ·5 Isa 66 ·5 Isa 30 ·5

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 57 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Seminary

★ Start hereCommentaryThe Book of Isaiah (NICOT)John N. Oswalt · Paid · evangelical
The standard evangelical commentary on Isaiah — thorough and devotionally warm.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 57YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Isaiah 57David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Isaiah 57Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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