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And foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
    to minister to him,
To love the name of the Lord,
    to become his servants—
All who keep the sabbath without profaning it
    and hold fast to my covenant,
[a]Them I will bring to my holy mountain
    and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
    will be acceptable on my altar,
For my house shall be called
    a house of prayer for all peoples.(A)
[b]Oracle of the Lord God,
    who gathers the dispersed of Israel—
Others will I gather to them
    besides those already gathered.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 56:7 This verse continues the theme of universalism found in Is 49:6. As Israel was to be “a light to the nations” so that God’s “salvation may reach to the ends of the earth,” so now does that come to pass as foreigners, faithful to the divine commands, are brought to the Temple by God and joined to the covenant community of Israel.
  2. 56:8 For the gathering of the dispersed people of Israel, cf. Jer 23:3; 31:8–9; Ez 11:17. Here the Lord not only gathers the displaced of Israel, but also unites other peoples to them. Cf. Is 60:3–10; 66:18–21.