Isaiah 56

This is what the LORD says: "Keep justice, and do what is right. My salvation is close now, and my righteousness is about to be shown."

1Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.

Note"Righteousness" here is not private moral goodness but God's action of putting things right, setting the world in order and vindicating his people. In this part of Isaiah it runs in harness with "salvation" as a near-synonym, which is why the two lines say much the same thing.

2Blessed is the man who does this, the human being who holds on to it tightly, who keeps the Sabbath and does not treat that day as ordinary, and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.

2Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.

NoteThe Sabbath is the seventh day of the week (sunset Friday to sunset Saturday), set aside from ordinary work. The King James "from polluting it" translates a word meaning to treat something set apart as if it were common; hence "does not treat that day as ordinary."

3The foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD must not say, "The LORD will surely shut me out from his people." And the eunuch must not say, "Look at me. I am only a dry tree."

3Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.

NoteA eunuch was a castrated man. Castrated men were widely employed as officials and servants in royal courts across the ancient Near East, so an Israelite might become one through service to a foreign king. The law in Deuteronomy 23:1 barred such a man from the assembly of the LORD, and Deuteronomy 23:3-6 barred certain foreigners; these are the exclusions the two speakers here are afraid of. "A dry tree" means a tree that bears no fruit, the eunuch's complaint is that he can have no children, and so no descendants to carry his name.

4For this is what the LORD says to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbath days, who choose the things that please me, and who hold tightly to my covenant:

4For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;

NoteA covenant is a binding agreement with set obligations on both sides, like a treaty between a ruler and his subjects. "Take hold of" it is the language of gripping something firmly and not letting go.

5"To them I will give, inside my house and within my walls, a lasting monument and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give them a name that lasts forever and will never be cut off."

5Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.

NoteThe King James "a place and a name" is literally "a hand and a name" in Hebrew; "hand" here means a monument or memorial marker, a standing stone set up to keep someone's memory alive. The point of "better than sons and daughters" is that children were the normal way a person's name survived after death, a monument in God's own house does the job instead. "Cut off" is the ordinary Hebrew term for a family line ending or a person being erased from the community.

6And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, every one of them who keeps the Sabbath and does not treat it as ordinary, and who holds tightly to my covenant

6Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;

7"these I will bring to my holy mountain, and I will make them glad in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, because my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples."

7Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

NoteThe "holy mountain" is Mount Zion, the hill in Jerusalem where the temple stood. A burnt offering was an animal killed and burned whole on the altar, so that none of it was eaten; other sacrifices were partly burned and partly eaten. The altar was the raised stone structure where this burning was done. "All peoples" translates a word usually rendered "nations": that is, all the peoples of the world, not only Israel.

8The Lord GOD, who gathers back the scattered people of Israel, says this: "I will gather still others to join them, besides the ones already gathered."

8The Lord GOD, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.

NoteThe "outcasts" or "scattered" are Israelites driven out of their homeland and living among foreign nations, chiefly those deported to Babylon. Gathering them means bringing them home.

9All you wild animals of the field, come and eat. All you animals of the forest, come and devour.

9All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.

NoteSummoning wild animals to come and eat is a standard prophetic image for a land left undefended: the flock has no guard, so the predators are invited in. It marks an abrupt turn from the promises above to an accusation against Israel's leaders, which runs to the end of the chapter.

10Israel's watchmen are blind; not one of them knows anything. They are all dogs that cannot bark. They lie around dreaming, and they love to sleep.

10His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

NoteA watchman was the sentry posted on a city wall or a tower to spot approaching danger and raise the alarm; prophets are called watchmen elsewhere in the Hebrew scriptures. Here the sentries are blind. "Dumb dogs" in the King James means mute, not stupid, guard dogs that will not bark at an intruder.

11They are greedy dogs that are never satisfied. They are shepherds who understand nothing. Every one of them turns to his own way, each looking out for his own profit, all of them alike.

11Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.

Note"Shepherds" is the standard ancient Near Eastern term for rulers and leaders, who were expected to feed and protect their people as a herdsman does his flock. The King James "from his quarter" renders a Hebrew phrase meaning roughly "from his end", usually taken as "to the last man," every single one of them, which is what "all of them alike" gives.

12"Come," they say, "let me get the wine, and let us drink our fill of strong drink. Tomorrow will be just like today, or even far better."

12Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.

Note"Strong drink" translates Hebrew *shekar*, a potent fermented drink made from grain, dates or honey rather than from grapes; the pair "wine and strong drink" covers alcoholic drink of every kind.