The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and {Or, godly}merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away {Or, through wickedness}from the evil to come.
He entereth into peace; they rest in their beds, each one that walketh {Or, straight before him}in his uprightness.
But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot.
Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and put out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,
ye that inflame yourselves {Or, with idols}among the oaks, under every green tree; that slay the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
Among the smooth stones of the valley is thy portion; they, they are thy lot; even to them hast thou poured a drink-offering, thou hast offered {Or, a meal-offering}an oblation. Shall I be appeased for these things?
Upon a high and lofty mountain hast thou set thy bed; thither also wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.
And behind the doors and the posts hast thou set up thy memorial: for thou hast uncovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them: thou lovedst their bed where {Or, thou providedst room for it}thou sawest it.
And thou wentest to the king with oil, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thine ambassadors far off, and didst debase thyself even unto Sheol.
Thou wast wearied with the length of thy way; yet saidst thou not, It is in vain: thou didst find {Hebrew: the life of thy hand.}a quickening of thy strength; therefore thou wast not {Hebrew: sick.}faint.
And of whom hast thou been afraid and in fear, that thou liest, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of long time, and thou fearest me not?
I will declare thy righteousness; and as for thy works, they shall not profit thee.
When thou criest, let {Or, thy rabble of idols.}them that thou hast gathered deliver thee; but the wind shall take them, a breath shall carry them all away: but he that taketh refuge in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain.
And {Or, it shall be said}he will say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people.
For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls that I have made.
For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him; I hid my face and was wroth; and he went on {Hebrew: turning away.}backsliding in the way of his heart.
I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and {Hebrew: recompense.}restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him that is far off and to him that is near, saith Jehovah; and I will heal him.
But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.
There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
Querverweise zu Jesaja 57,12 Jes 57,12
What unto me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah: I have had enough of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.
When ye come {Or, as otherwisw read, to see my face}to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts?
Bring no more {Hebrew: an oblation of vanity.}vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; new moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies, — {Or, I cannot away with, it is iniquity, even me solemn meeting}I cannot away with iniquity and the solemn meeting.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth; they are a {Or, cumbrance}trouble unto me; I am weary of bearing them.
And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways: as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God, they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near unto God.
Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find your own pleasure, and {Or, oppress all your laborers}exact all your labors.
Behold, ye fast for strife and contention, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: {Or, ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make &c.}ye fast not this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high.
Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Jehovah?
Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.
Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their {Or, highways}paths.
The way of peace they know not; and there is no justice in their goings: they have made them crooked paths; whosoever goeth therein doth not know peace.
Thou {Or, sparest}meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou wast wroth, and we sinned: {Or, in those is continuance, and we shall be saved The Hebrew is obscure.}in them have we been of long time; and shall we be saved?
He that killeth an ox is as he that slayeth a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as he that breaketh a dog's neck; he that offereth {Or, a meal-offering}an oblation, as he that offereth swine's blood; he that {Hebrew: maketh a memorial of.}burneth frankincense, as he that blesseth an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations:
I also will choose their {Or, mockings}delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not.
Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, are these.
For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbor;
if ye oppress not the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt:
then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even for evermore.
Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods that ye have not known,
and come and stand before me in this house, {Hebrew: whereupon my name is called.}which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered; that ye may do all these abominations?
Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, saith Jehovah.
ye who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
Then shall they cry unto Jehovah, but he will not answer them; yea, he will hide his face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings.
But all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
- - -
as it is written, {Psalm 14:1 ff.; 53:1 ff}There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none that understandeth,There is none that seeketh after God;
They have all turned aside, they are together become unprofitable;There is none that doeth good, no, not so much as one:
{Psalm 5:9}Their throat is an open sepulchre;With their tongues they have used deceit: {Psalm 140:3}The poison of asps is under their lips:
{Psalm 10:7}Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
{Isaiah 59:7 f.}Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Destruction and misery are in their ways;
And the way of peace have they not known:
{Psalm 36:1}There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it speaketh to them that are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God:
because {Greek: out of.}by {Or, works of law}the works of the law shall no flesh be {Or, accounted righteous}justified in his sight; for {Or, through law}through the law cometh the knowledge of sin.
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
For being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.