Isaiah 56:1-8·~1 min

Salvation for Foreigners

The LORD commands His people to preserve justice and do righteousness because His salvation is near and His righteousness about to be revealed. Blessing rests on the one who keeps from profaning the Sabbath and guards his hand from doing evil, showing that covenant faithfulness remains the fitting response to approaching redemption.

T¹his is what the LORD says: ²Blessed is the man who does this,

Foreigners joined to the LORD are told not to say they will be excluded, and eunuchs are told not to call themselves dry trees, because covenant loyalty changes their standing. Those who keep God's Sabbaths, choose what pleases Him, and hold fast His covenant will receive an everlasting name within His house, joyful inclusion on His holy mountain, accepted worship, and a place in the gathering of peoples, for the Lord GOD who regathers Israel is still gathering others besides them.

³Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, ⁴For this is what the LORD says: ⁵I will give them, in My house and within My walls, ⁶And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD ⁷I will bring them to My holy mountain ⁸Thus declares the Lord GOD,

Section summaryThe opening movement calls for justice, righteousness, and Sabbath-keeping as the proper posture before the LORD's coming salvation. It then forbids foreigners and eunuchs from assuming they are permanently excluded, promising them a lasting name, joy in God's house, and accepted sacrifices if they hold fast to His covenant, because the Lord GOD intends His house to be a house of prayer for all peoples and will gather still more to those already assembled.

Role in the chapterThis section presents the LORD's salvation as covenantally ordered and gloriously expansive toward those once considered outsiders.