56
1 Thus saith Hashem:
Be shomer over mishpat, and do tzedakah (righteousness);
for My Yeshu'ah (salvation) is near to come,
and My tzedakah to be revealed.
2 Ashrei enosh that doeth this,
and the ben adam that layeth hold on it;
that is shomer Shabbos avoiding chillul Shabbos,
and is shomer to keep his yad from doing kol rah.
3 Neither let the ben hanekhar,
that hath joined himself to Hashem, speak, saying:
Hashem hath utterly separated me from His people;
neither let the saris say:
See, I am an etz yavesh (dry tree).
4 For thus saith Hashem
unto the sarisim that are shomer Shabbos over My Shabbatot,
and choose the things that please Me,
and hold fast to My Brit:
5 Even unto them will I give in Mine Bais*
within My chomot a yad vashem tov
better than of banim and of banot;
I will give them a Shem Olam,
that shall not be yikaret (cut off).
6 Also the bnei hanekhar, that join themselves to Hashem
to minister unto Him,
and l'ahavah es Shem Hashem,
to be His avadim,
every one that is shomer Shabbos avoiding chillul Shabbos,
and holds fast My Brit;
7 Even them will I bring to My Har Kodesh,
and make them have simcha in My Bais Tefillah;
their olot and their zevakhim
shall be accepted upon Mine Mizbe'ach;
for Mine Bais shall be called
Bais Tefillah l'khol HaAmim (House of Prayer for All Nations).
8 Thus says Adonoi Hashem,
Who gathereth the Nidchei Yisroel (the outcasts of Israel, i.e., those being divinely gathered back from the Golus):
Yet will I gather others,
besides those that are already gathered.†
9 All ye animals of the wild, come to devour,
yes, all ye animals in the ya'ar (forest).
10 His tzof (watchmen, sentinels, nevi'im) are ivrim (blind);
they all lack da'as,
they are all kelavim illemim (mute watchdogs) that cannot bark;
lying around dreaming, they love to slumber.‡
11 Yes, they are kelavim azei nefesh (hungry dogs) never satisfied,
and they are ro'im (shepherds) with no da'as;
they all look to their own way,§
every one having his end fixated on his own gain.
12 Come ye, say they, I will get yayin,
and we will fill ourselves with shechar (strong drink);
and makhar (tomorrow) shall be like this day,
and gadol yeter me'od (and even much better).
* 56:5 HaMikdash † 56:8 See Yn 10:16 ‡ 56:10 See Jer 6:17; Ezek 3:17 by contrast § 56:11 See Isa 53:6