Isaiah 56

1 This is what the Lord says: Follow the law, and do what is right, for my salvation will soon arrive, and my goodness will be revealed.

Thus says the Lord: Preserve judgment, and accomplish justice. For my salvation is close to its arrival, and my justice is close to being revealed.

2 Blessed is everyone who does this—those who keep to it, who observe the Sabbath without violating it, and who don't do anything wrong.

Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds to this, keeping the Sabbath and not profaning it, guarding his hands and not doing any evil.

3 Don't allow foreigners who have dedicated themselves to the Lord say, “The Lord will definitely exclude me from his people.” And don't allow eunuchs to say, “Look at me—I'm as worthless as a dried-up tree because I'm childless.”

And let not the son of the new arrival, who adheres to the Lord, speak, saying, “The Lord will divide and separate me from his people.” And let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”

4 For this is what the Lord says: To the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths, who choose to do what pleases me, and to keep my agreement,

For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs: They will keep my Sabbaths, and they will choose the things that I will, and they will hold to my covenant.

5 I will give them, in my house and within my walls, a place to remember them and a reputation better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting reputation that will never fade.

I will give them a place in my house, within my walls, and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name, which will never perish.

6 About the foreigners who have dedicated themselves to the Lord, who worship him, who love the Lord, and who are his servants, everyone who observes the Sabbath without violating it and who keep to my agreement—

And the sons of the new arrival, who adhere to the Lord so as to worship him and to love his name, shall be his servants: all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it, and who hold to my covenant.

7 I will bring these foreigners to my holy mountain and make them happy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.

I will lead them to my holy mountain, and I will gladden them in my house of prayer. Their holocausts and their victims will be pleasing to me upon my altar. For my house will be called the house of prayer for all peoples.

8 This is what the Lord God says, who brought back the scattered people of Israel: I will bring back still others to join you.

The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, says: Even now, I will gather his congregation to him.

9 Come, wild animals, wild animals of the countryside and forests, come and eat my people!

All beasts of the field, all the beasts of the forest: approach and devour!

10 For all the watchmen are blind. None of them know what's going on. They're all silent—they can't bark. They spend their time lying down, dreaming, loving to sleep.

His watchmen are all blind. They are all ignorant. They are mute dogs without the ability to bark, seeing empty things, sleeping and loving dreams.

11 They're greedy dogs that are never satisfied. They're sheepdogs who don't know their job. All of them go their own way, each of them looking out for themselves.

And these very imprudent dogs have never known satisfaction. The shepherds themselves do not know understanding. All have turned aside in their own way, each one to his own avarice, from the highest even to the least:

12 “Come on,” they say, “I'll get some wine and let's get drunk! We'll do this today, and tomorrow we'll drink so much more!”

“Come, let us take wine, and be filled by inebriation. And as it is today, so shall it be tomorrow and for a long time.”