Isaiah 55-57

Seek Yahweh While He May Be Found

[6] Seek Yahweh while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. [Isa 55:6 LSB]

[7] "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 

[8] "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. [Mat 7:7-8 LSB]

[11] So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what pleases Me, And without succeeding [in the matter] for which I sent it. [Isa 55:11 LSB]

Salvation for the Foreigner

[3] Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to Yahweh say, "Yahweh will surely separate me from His people." Nor let the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." [Isa 56:3 LSB]

[6] "Also the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh, To minister to Him, and to love the name of Yahweh, To be His slaves, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath And takes hold of My covenant, 

[7] Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them glad in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples." 

[Isa 56:6-7 LSB]

[17] And He [began to] teach and say to them, "Is it not written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'? But you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN." [Mar 11:17 LSB]

 

Evil Leaders Rebuked

[1] The righteous man perishes, and no man puts it upon his heart; And men of lovingkindness are gathered away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is gathered away from evil,
[2] He enters into peace; They rest in their beds, [Each one] who walked in his upright way.
[Isa 57:1-2 LSB]

[13] "When you cry out, let your collection [of idols] deliver you. But the wind will lift all of them up, [And] a breath will take [them away]. But he who takes refuge in Me will inherit the land And will possess My holy mountain." [Isa 57:13 LSB]

Yahweh Revives the Spirit of the Lowly

[15] For thus says the One high and lifted up Who dwells forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell [on] a high and holy place, And [also] with the crushed and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the crushed. [Isa 57:15 LSB]

Fasting As Yahweh Chooses

[6] "Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To release the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? 

[7] "Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the afflicted homeless into the house; When you see the naked, you cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? 

[Isa 58:6-7 LSB]

[35] 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me [something] to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me [something] to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 

[36] naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'

[Mat 25:35-36 LSB]

Keeping the Sabbath