Isaiah 56:1-6

The Lord Invites Outsiders to Enter

56:1 This is what the Lord says,

“Promote justice! Do what is right!

For I am ready to deliver you;

I am ready to vindicate you openly.

56:2 The people who do this will be blessed,

the people who commit themselves to obedience,

who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

who refrain from doing anything that is wrong.

56:3 No foreigner who becomes a follower of the Lord should say,

‘The Lord will certainly exclude me from his people.’

The eunuch should not say,

‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’”

56:4 For this is what the Lord says:

“For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths

and choose what pleases me

and are faithful to my covenant,

56:5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument

that will be better than sons and daughters.

I will set up a permanent monument for them that will remain.

56:6 As for foreigners who become followers of the Lord and serve him,

who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants –

all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

and who are faithful to my covenant –