Isaiah 57:14–21, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Isaiah 57:14–21
The High and Holy One Revives the Contrite
I dwell with the crushed and lowly of spirit
Build up, build up, prepare the way; remove the stumbling block from my people's way. The high and holy one who inhabits eternity also inhabits the contrite. Anger will not last forever, or the spirit would faint. Greed and stubborn ways were seen; now God heals, leads, and restores comfort. Peace, peace, to the far and the near. The wicked are like a tossed sea that cannot rest; there is no peace for them.
Transcendence and nearness are not two gods. The stumbling block is to be moved, which means the community's path has been sabotaged. Healing follows confession of observed wrong, not a prosperity reset and not an instant erasure of trauma. Far and near both receive created peace.
The restless sea is an interior picture, not a permit to hunt people. A warranted life is to clear the road for the crushed, to believe that the Holy One prefers revival to endless fury, and to stop confusing a churning heart with honesty.
How this should shape us
Clear stumbling blocks from the crushed person's path, and believe that the Holy One prefers revival to endless fury. Do not confuse a restless heart with honesty, and do not hunt people as if you were that sea's judge.
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Explain Isaiah 57:14–21 in your own words. Name its place in Isaiah, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
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Isaiah 57:14–21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 57:14–21 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
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Official NET Isaiah PDF, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Isaiah 57:14–21 in the complete 205-page book PDF
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Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
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Exact location: Isaiah 57:14–21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 57:14–21 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
Open the fixed Hebrew Isaiah file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Isaiah
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF
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Exact location: Official NET Isaiah PDF, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Isaiah 57:14–21 in the complete 205-page book PDF
Open the official NET Isaiah PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Isaiah course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and reception
Fred Gaiser; revised by Michael Chan
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised August 2024
Supports: Whole-book historical, literary, theological, ethical, and reception synthesis across Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and postexilic horizons.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Isaiah course, Outline Book 3A and themes of justice, worship, and return; applied to Isaiah 57:14–21
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