Isaiah 56:1

The inspired prophets spoke not only of things to come but also gave dogmatic and ethical instruction. And they announced both judgment and salvation to those of former times, so that by the promise of good things and by the warning of pains they might turn them from evil and point them to virtue. One can easily learn this from the present oracle. For the prophetic word counsels Israel to be held by righteousness and to have uprightness as the soul's principle and then adds the prediction of the Savior and the revelation of mercy. For both [the moral and the predictive teaching] point to the Master's appearing.

Therefore, this is the man, and the son of the inner man, of whom it is frequently said in Leviticus: "Man, man": in him is blessedness, because he accomplishes the first and grasps these things: judgment, namely, and justice, and the salvation of the Lord, which is near, and is to be revealed to all nations: so that he not only does what is commanded, but holds fast with a strict hand; and keeps the Sabbath, lest he defile it. Now what the Sabbath is, which he commanded to be observed, the following verse shows: Observing his hands, lest he do any evil. It profits nothing to sit idly on the Sabbath, or to sleep, and to long for feasts. But if one does good, let them rest from evil, and let them have a constant Sabbath of injustice, that is, leisure, and let them only do those things which pertain to the salvation of the soul, and not engage in any servile work. For whoever commits sin, is a servant of sin. But we have been called to liberty, by which liberty Christ has given us, so that we may not labor for food that perishes; but by cleaving to the Lord, let us say with the Prophet: "It is good for me to cleave to God." Let us be of one spirit with Him, and let us observe the dedicated Sabbaths, so that we may not be of the six days in which the world was made.

(Chapter 56, Verse 1) Thus says the Lord: Keep justice, and do righteousness, for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. The Seventy, instead of righteousness, have translated mercy, the rest likewise. With the prophecy of the nations being fulfilled, which speaks of the coming of the word of God, changing the thorn and the nettle into cypress and myrtle, Isaiah speaks to the listeners of that time, urging them to do all that is right and prepare for the coming of the Savior, for He is the justice and mercy of God. For if the thoughts of the Saints are judgments: and we should have trained senses to discern between good and evil, why do we not always hold judgment, so that we do not despise the person of the poor in judgment, nor be intimidated by the power of the rich: but rather judge great as small, knowing according to Moses that the judgment of the Lord is, who judges the judges (Deut. I); according to which it is also read in the psalm: God stands in the congregation of the gods: but judges among the gods (Ps. LXXXI, 1). This that is now said: Keep judgment, and do justice, is similar to: Blessed are they that keep judgment, and do justice at all times (Psalm 105:3); so that they may justly pursue what is just. Although in the name of justice, every place seems to signify to me that whoever has done one justice is said to have fulfilled all the virtues that follow one another and adhere to one another: so that whoever has one, has them all, and whoever lacks one, lacks them all. This is what the fourteenth psalm signifies: He who walks blamelessly, and works righteousness (Ps. XIV, 2). And elsewhere it is written: Learn righteousness, you who dwell on the earth (Isai. XXVI, 9). And the words of the saints testify that the Savior, who became our righteousness, holiness, and redemption, is the mercy of God (I Cor. I): And God has sent forth his mercy and his truth (Ps. LVI, 4).