1 ARST Yahweh says to all the people of Judah,“Do the things that are fair and right, because I will soon come to rescue you; I will soon show everyone that you have been right to trust me. BSB BSB: This is what the LORD says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for My salvation is coming soon, and My righteousness will be revealed.
2 ARST I will bless those who faithfully obey my laws about the Sabbath days. I will bless those who keep sacred my Sabbath days, and who do not do any work on those days, and who refrain from doing anything that is evil. BSB BSB: Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
3 ARST Foreigners who have believed in me should not say,‘Yahweh will surely not allow me to belong to his people.’ And eunuchs should not say,‘Because I am deformed and unable to have children, I cannot belong to Yahweh; I am like a tree that has completely withered.’ BSB BSB: Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.”
4 ARST They should not say that, because I, Yahweh, say this to the eunuchs who obey my laws about the Sabbath, and who choose to do the things that please me, and who obey all the other laws of the covenant that I made with the Israelite people: BSB BSB: For this is what the LORD says: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My covenant—
5 ARST I will cause people to put inside the walls of my temple a monument to them; because of that monument, they will be honored more than they would have if they had children; they will be honored forever. BSB BSB: I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a memorial and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.
6 ARST I will also bless those who are not Israelites who join themselves to me, who serve me and worship and love me, who obey my laws about the Sabbath, and who faithfully obey all the other laws of the covenant that I made with the Israelite people. BSB BSB: And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants—all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it and who hold fast to My covenant—
7 ARST I will bring them to my sacred hill in Jerusalem, and cause them to be very joyful in my temple where people pray to me, and I will accept the sacrifices that they burn on my altar and other sacrifices that they offer, because my temple will be a building where people of all nations pray to me. BSB BSB: I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”
8 ARST I, Yahweh, the Lord, the one who will bring back the people of Israel who have been forced to go to other countries, say this: I will bring from other countries many more people to join those Israelites whom I have brought back.” BSB BSB: Thus declares the Lord GOD, who gathers the dispersed of Israel: “I will gather to them still others besides those already gathered.”
9 ARST “You surrounding nations have armies that are like animals in the forest; come and attack Israel! BSB BSB: Come, all you beasts of the field; eat greedily, all you beasts of the forest.
10 ARST The Israelite leaders should be like watchdogs to protect the people, but it is as though they were blind. They understand nothing. They are all like dogs that cannot bark. Good watchdogs bark when strangers approach, but the Israelite leaders do not warn the people that their enemies are coming. Instead, they just want to lie down and sleep and dream. BSB BSB: Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.
11 ARST And they are like greedy dogs; they never get all that they want. They are supposed to lead the people, like good shepherds lead their flocks, but they are ignorant, and they each do whatever they want to do. BSB BSB: Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain:
12 ARST They say to each other,‘Come, let us go and get some wine and other alcoholic drinks, and let us become drunk! And tomorrow we will enjoy drinking even more!’” BSB BSB: “Come, let me get the wine, let us imbibe the strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, only far better!”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.