57
1 The
righteous perish,
and no one
lays it to
heart.
Merciful men are
taken away,
and no
one considers that
the righteous is
taken away from
the evil.
2 He enters
into peace.
They rest in
their beds,
each one who walks
in his uprightness.
3 “But
draw near here,
you sons of
a sorceress,
you offspring of
adulterers and
prostitutes.
4 Whom
do you mock?
Against whom do
you make a
wide mouth
and stick out
your tongue?
Aren’t you children
of disobedience
and offspring of
falsehood,
5 you
who inflame
yourselves among
the oaks,
under every green
tree;
who kill the
children in the
valleys,
under the clefts
of the rocks?
6 Among
the smooth stones
of the valley
is your portion.
They, they are
your lot.
You have even
poured a drink
offering to them.
You have offered
an offering.
Shall I be
appeased for these
things?
7 On
a high and
lofty mountain you
have set your
bed.
You also went
up there to
offer sacrifice.
8 You
have set up
your memorial behind
the doors and
the posts,
for you have
exposed yourself to someone besides
me,
and have gone
up.
You have enlarged
your bed
and made you
a covenant with
them.
You loved what
you saw on
their bed.
9 You
went to the
king with oil,
increased your
perfumes,
sent your
ambassadors far
off,
and degraded yourself even
to Sheol.
10 You
were wearied with
the length of
your ways;
yet you didn’t say, ‘It
is in vain.’
You found
a reviving of your
strength;
therefore you weren’t
faint.
11 “Whom
have you dreaded
and feared,
so that you
lie,
and have not
remembered me, nor
laid it to
your heart?
Haven’t I held my
peace for a
long time,
and you don’t
fear me?
12 I
will declare your
righteousness;
and as for
your works, they
will not benefit
you.
13 When
you cry,
let those whom you
have gathered
deliver you,
but the wind
will take them.
A breath will
carry them all
away,
but he who
takes refuge in
me will possess
the land,
and will inherit
my holy mountain.”
14 He
will say, “Build
up, build up,
prepare the way!
Remove the stumbling-block
out of the
way of my
people.”
15 For
the high and
lofty One
who inhabits eternity,
whose name is
Holy, says:
“I dwell in
the high and
holy place, with
him also who
is of a
contrite and
humble spirit,
to revive the
spirit of the
humble,
and to revive
the heart of
the contrite.
16 For
I will not
contend forever,
neither will I
always be angry;
for the spirit
would faint before
me,
and the souls
whom I have
made.
17 I
was angry because
of the iniquity
of his
covetousness and
struck him.
I hid myself
and was angry;
and he went
on backsliding in
the way of
his heart.
18 I
have seen his
ways, and will
heal him.
I will lead
him also,
and restore
comforts to him
and to
his mourners.
19 I
create the fruit
of the lips:
Peace, peace, to
him who is
far off and
to him who
is near,”
says the LORD; “and
I will heal
them.”
20 But
the wicked are
like the troubled
sea;
for it can’t
rest and its
waters cast up
mire and mud.
21 “There
is no peace”, says
my God,
“for the wicked.”