Isaiah 56 CEVUK00

All nations will be part of God's people

1 The Lord said:Be honest and fair!Soon I will come to save you;my saving power will be seeneverywhere on earth.

2 I will bless everyonewho respects the Sabbathand refuses to do wrong.

3 Foreigners who worship memust not say,“The Lord won't let usbe part of his people.”Men who are unableto become fathersmust no longer say,“We are dried up trees.”

4 To them, I, the Lord, say:Respect the Sabbath,obey me completely,and keep our agreement.

5 Then I will set up monumentsin my temple with your nameswritten on them.This will be much betterthan having children,because these monumentswill stand there for ever.

6 Foreigners will follow me.They will love me and worshipin my name;they will respect the Sabbathand keep our agreement.

7 I will bring themto my holy mountain,where they will celebratein my house of worship.Their sacrifices and offeringswill always be welcomeon my altar.Then my house will be knownas a house of worshipfor all nations.

8 I, the Lord, promiseto bring together my peoplewho were taken away,and let them join the others.

Leaders unfaithful to God will be punished

God promises to punish Israel's leaders

9 Come from the forest,you wild animals!Attack and gobble upyour victims.

10 You leaders of Israelshould be watchdogs,protecting my people.But you can't see a thing,and you never warn them.Dozing and daydreamingare all you ever do.

11 You stupid leaders are a packof hungry and greedy dogsthat never get enough.You are shepherdswho ill-treat your own sheepfor selfish gain.

12 You say to each other,“Let's drink till we're drunk!Tomorrow we'll do it again.We'll really enjoy ourselves.”