Isa 55:6-56:8 | NASB2020 | STEP | Seek the Lord while He may be found ; Call upon Him while He is near .

Isaiah 55:6-13

6 ^aSeek the Lord while He may be found;
^bCall upon Him while He is near.
7 ^cLet the wicked abandon his way,
And the unrighteous person his ^dthoughts;
And let him ^ereturn to the Lord,
And He will have ^fcompassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will ^gabundantly pardon.
8 “For My thoughts are not ^hyour thoughts,
Nor are ⁱyour ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9 “For ^jas the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “For as the ^krain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it produce and sprout,
And providing ^lseed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11 So will My ^mword be which goes out of My mouth;
It will ⁿnot return to Me empty,
Without ^oaccomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.
12 “For you will go out with ^pjoy
And be led in ^qpeace;
The ^rmountains and the hills will break into shouts of joy before you,
And all the ^strees of the field will clap their hands.
13 “Instead of the ^tthorn bush, the ^ujuniper will come up,
And instead of the ^vstinging nettle, the myrtle will come up;
And ^{▼▼I.e., the transformation of the desert}it will be a ^{▼▼Lit name
,} ^ymemorial to the Lord,
An everlasting ^zsign which ^aawill not be eliminated.”

Isaiah 56:1-8

Rewards for Obedience to God

1 This is what the Lord says:
“ ^abGuard justice and do righteousness,
For My ^acsalvation is about to come
And My righteousness to be revealed.
2 “ ^adBlessed is a man who does this,
And a son of man who ^aetakes hold of it;
Who ^afkeeps from profaning the Sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
3 Let not the ^agforeigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
“The Lord will certainly separate me from His people.”
Nor let the ^aheunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”
4 For this is what the Lord says:
“To the eunuchs who ^aikeep My Sabbaths,
And choose what pleases Me,
And ^ajhold firmly to My covenant,
5 To them I will give in My ^akhouse and within My ^alwalls a memorial,
And a name better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give ^{▼▼As in DSS; MT him}them an everlasting ^anname which ^aowill not be eliminated.

6 “Also the ^apforeigners who join themselves to the Lord,
To attend to His service and to love the name of the Lord,
To be His servants, every one who ^aqkeeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it,
And holds firmly to My covenant;
7 Even ^arthose I will bring to My ^asholy mountain,
And ^atmake them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on ^auMy altar;
For ^avMy house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”
8 The Lord ^{▼▼Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord}God, who ^axgathers the dispersed of Israel, declares,
“I will yet gather ^ayothers to ^{▼▼Lit him}them, to those already gathered.”