Single lesson
Isaiah 57: The Blessed Death of the Righteous
Isaiah 57:1–2; Isaiah 57:3–13; Isaiah 57:14–21
Isaiah 57:1–2 speaks about the death of righteous people and how others respond to it. The passage stresses that people may fail to notice what it means, while the righteous are described as entering peace and rest. This lesson also brings together God Condemns Idolatry, Healing for the Repentant.
Before you teach
In these two verses, Isaiah first points out that righteous and merciful people are taken away, yet people do not take this to heart or consider it. Then the passage gives its own description of the righteous person’s end: peace, rest, and uprightness.
Explain the central teaching of Isaiah 57: The Blessed Death of the Righteous, using two details from the reading. This passage says that people may fail to consider the death of the righteous, while the righteous are described as entering peace and resting in uprightness. This passage teaches that God rejects idolatry and empty alliances, while calling people to find refuge in him alone. This passage teaches that the Holy God opposes sinful ways, yet he revives and heals the humble, while the wicked do not have peace.
Welcome: Isaiah 57: The Blessed Death of the Righteous
5 minIntroduce “The Blessed Death of the Righteous”, “God Condemns Idolatry”, “Healing for the Repentant” and locate Isaiah 57:1–2; Isaiah 57:3–13; Isaiah 57:14–21. This passage says that people may fail to consider the death of the righteous, while the righteous are described as entering peace and resting in uprightness. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Isaiah 57:1, Isaiah 57:2
Read and explain the passage
12 minThe Blessed Death of the Righteous (Isaiah 57:1–2): Isaiah opens with a serious observation: “The righteous perish, and no one lays it to heart.” He repeats the point with “merciful men are taken away, and no one considers”. The emphasis is on human failure to notice and think carefully about what is happening.
God Condemns Idolatry (Isaiah 57:3–13): The passage begins with a direct summons and severe labels. The people are called near, then described as offspring linked with sorcery, adultery and prostitution. These terms fit the passage’s accusation of spiritual unfaithfulness. Their mocking faces and tongues show open contempt, and God names them children of disobedience and falsehood.
Healing for the Repentant (Isaiah 57:14–21): The passage opens with a command to make a clear road for “my people”. The “stumbling-block” is something in the way that must be removed. The focus is not on telling a story scene, but on God’s call to clear what hinders his people from returning rightly.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “The Blessed Death of the Righteous”, “God Condemns Idolatry”, “Healing for the Repentant”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Isaiah 57:1, Isaiah 57:3, Isaiah 57:4, Isaiah 57:14
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “What two responses are missing when the righteous perish?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. This passage teaches that the Holy God opposes sinful ways, yet he revives and heals the humble, while the wicked do not have peace. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Isaiah 57:1, Isaiah 57:3, Isaiah 57:8, Isaiah 57:19, Isaiah 57:20, Isaiah 57:21
Make and respond: Vision and message evidence map
12 minWork on “Isaiah 57: The Blessed Death of the Righteous: Vision and message evidence map”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “The Blessed Death of the Righteous”, “God Condemns Idolatry”, “Healing for the Repentant” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Isaiah 57:1, Isaiah 57:11, Isaiah 57:21
Closing: return to Healing for the Repentant
3 minRevisit Isaiah 57:14–21. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about Healing for the Repentant and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Isaiah 57:14, Isaiah 57:18, Isaiah 57:21
Questions to explore
What two responses are missing when the righteous perish?
Verse 1 says no one “lays it to heart” and no one “considers”, so notice both ways people fail to respond.
Isaiah 57:1
What pictures does the passage use to describe idolatry as unfaithfulness?
Notice the family labels at the start and the marriage-bed and covenant language in the middle.
Isaiah 57:3, Isaiah 57:8
How does the passage contrast the healed with the wicked?
Compare God’s promise of peace and healing with the image of the restless sea and the final statement about peace.
Isaiah 57:19, Isaiah 57:20, Isaiah 57:21
Make, think or respond
Isaiah 57: The Blessed Death of the Righteous: Vision and message evidence map
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “What the passage describes”, “What is explained in the text”, “What question remains”.
- Read Isaiah 57:1–2; Isaiah 57:3–13; Isaiah 57:14–21. Use “The Blessed Death of the Righteous”, “God Condemns Idolatry”, “Healing for the Repentant” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Circle an explanation the passage itself provides. Leave unexplained details as questions for further reading.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Isaiah 57: The Blessed Death of the Righteous connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “The Blessed Death of the Righteous”, “God Condemns Idolatry”, “Healing for the Repentant” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Isaiah 57:1–2; Isaiah 57:3–13; Isaiah 57:14–21. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Isaiah 57:1–2; Isaiah 57:3–13; Isaiah 57:14–21. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Isaiah 57
1 The righteous perish, and no one lays it to heart. Merciful men are taken away, and no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil.
2 He enters into peace. They rest in their beds, each one who walks in his uprightness.
3 “But draw near here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes.
4 Whom do you mock? Against whom do you make a wide mouth and stick out your tongue? Aren’t you children of disobedience and offspring of falsehood,
5 you who inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree; who kill the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
6 Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion. They, they are your lot. You have even poured a drink offering to them. You have offered an offering. Shall I be appeased for these things?
7 On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed. You also went up there to offer sacrifice.
8 You have set up your memorial behind the doors and the posts, for you have exposed yourself to someone besides me, and have gone up. You have enlarged your bed and made a covenant for yourself with them. You loved what you saw on their bed.
9 You went to the king with oil, increased your perfumes, sent your ambassadors far off, and degraded yourself even to Sheol.
10 You were wearied with the length of your ways; yet you didn’t say, ‘It is in vain.’ You found a reviving of your strength; therefore you weren’t faint.
11 “Whom have you dreaded and feared, so that you lie, and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart? Haven’t I held my peace for a long time, and you don’t fear me?
12 I will declare your righteousness; and as for your works, they will not benefit you.
13 When you cry, let those whom you have gathered deliver you, but the wind will take them. A breath will carry them all away, but he who takes refuge in me will possess the land, and will inherit my holy mountain.”
14 He will say, “Build up, build up, prepare the way! Remove the stumbling-block out of the way of my people.”
15 For the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, says: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
16 For I will not contend forever, neither will I always be angry; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls whom I have made.
17 I was angry because of the iniquity of his covetousness and struck him. I hid myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him. I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.
19 I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near,” says Yahweh; “and I will heal them.”
20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can’t rest and its waters cast up mire and mud.
21 “There is no peace”, says my God, “for the wicked.”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.