Isaiah 57

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¹The righteous person perishes, and no one takes it to heart; And devout people are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous person is taken away from evil, ✦ ²He enters into peace; They rest in their beds, Each one who walked in his upright way. ✦ ³“But come here, you sons of a sorceress, Offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute! ✦ ⁴“Of whom do you make fun? Against whom do you open wide your mouth And stick out your tongue? Are you not children of rebellion, Offspring of deceit, ✦ ⁵Who inflame yourselves among the oaks, Under every luxuriant tree, Who slaughter the children in the ravines, Under the clefts of the rocks? ✦ ⁶“Among the smooth stones of the ravine Is your portion, they are your lot; Even to them you have poured out a drink offering, You have made a grain offering. Should I relent of these things? ✦ ⁷“On a high and lofty mountain You have made your bed. You also went up there to offer sacrifice. ✦ ⁸“Behind the door and the doorpost You have set up your sign; Indeed, far removed from Me, you have uncovered yourself, And have gone up and made your bed wide. And you have made an agreement for yourself with them, You have loved their bed, You have looked at their manhood. ✦ ⁹“You have journeyed to the king with oil And increased your perfumes; You have sent your messengers a great distance And made them go down to Sheol. ✦ ¹⁰“You were tired out by the length of your road, Yet you did not say, ‘It is hopeless!’ You found renewed strength, Therefore you did not faint. ✦ ¹¹¶“Of whom were you worried and fearful When you lied, and did not remember Me Nor give Me a thought? Was I not silent, even for a long time, So you do not fear Me? ✦ ¹²“I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, And they will not benefit you. ✦ ¹³“When you cry out, let your collection of idols save you. But the wind will carry them all up, And a breath will take them away. But the one who takes refuge in Me will inherit the land And possess My holy mountain.” ✦ ¹⁴¶And it will be said, “Build up, build up, prepare the way, Remove every obstacle from the way of My people.” ✦ ¹⁵For this is what the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, says: “I dwell in a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite. ✦ ¹⁶“For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would grow faint before Me, And the breath of those whom I have made. ✦ ¹⁷“Because of the wrongful act of his unjust gain I was angry and struck him; I hid My face and was angry, And he went on turning away, in the way of his heart. ✦ ¹⁸“I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to his mourners, ✦ ¹⁹Creating the praise of the lips. Peace, peace to him who is far away and to him who is near,” Says the Lord, “and I will heal him.” ✦ ²⁰But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud. ✦ 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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