Isaiah 56:1-2

Context

The Lord Invites Outsiders to Enter

56:1 This is what the Lord says,

“Promote¹ justice! Do what is right!

For I am ready to deliver you;

I am ready to vindicate you openly.²

56:2 The people who do this will be blessed,³

the people who commit themselves to obedience,⁴

who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

who refrain from doing anything that is wrong.⁵

[56:1] ¹tn Heb “guard”; KJV “Keep”; NAB “Observe”; NASB “Preserve”; NIV, NRSV “Maintain.”

[56:1] ²tn Heb “for near is my deliverance to enter, and my vindication [or “righteousness”] to be revealed.”

[56:2] ³tn Heb “blessed is the man who does this.”

[56:2] ⁴tn Heb “the son of mankind who takes hold of it.”

[56:2] ⁵tn Heb and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”