Chapter 66

Heaven Is God’s Throne

1 Thus says the Lord,

“aHeaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.

Where then is a bhouse you could build for Me?

And where is a place that 1I may rest?

2 “For aMy hand made all these things,

Thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord.

“But to this one I will look,

To him who is humble and bcontrite of spirit, and who ctrembles at My word.

Hypocrisy Rebuked

3 “But he who kills an ox is like one who slays a man;

He who sacrifices a lamb is like the one who breaks a dog’s neck;

He who offers a grain offering is like one who offers aswine’s blood;

He who 1bburns incense is like the one who blesses an idol.

As they have chosen their cown ways,

And their soul delights in their dabominations,

4 So I will achoose their 1punishments

And will bbring on them what they dread.

Because I called, but cno one answered;

I spoke, but they did not listen.

And they did devil in My sight

And chose that in which I did not delight.”

5 Hear the word of the Lord, you who atremble at His word:

“Your brothers who bhate you, who cexclude you for My name’s sake,

Have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy.’

But dthey will be put to shame.

6 “A voice of uproar from the city, a voice from the temple,

The voice of the Lord who is arendering recompense to His enemies.

7 “Before she travailed, ashe brought forth;

Before her pain came, bshe gave birth to a boy.

8 “aWho has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things?

Can a land be 1born in one day?

Can a nation be brought forth all at once?

As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.

9 “Shall I bring to the point of birth and anot give delivery?” says the Lord.

“Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God.

Joy in Jerusalem’s Future

10 “Be ajoyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who blove her;

Be exceedingly cglad with her, all you who mourn over her,

11 That you may nurse and abe satisfied with her comforting breasts,

That you may suck and be delighted with her bbountiful bosom.”

12 For thus says the Lord, “Behold, I extend apeace to her like a river,

And the bglory of the nations like an overflowing stream;

And you will 1be nursed, you will be ccarried on the 2hip and fondled on the knees.

13 “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will acomfort you;

And you will be comforted in Jerusalem.”

14 Then you will asee this, and your bheart will be glad,

And your cbones will flourish like the new grass;

And the dhand of the Lord will be made known to His servants,

But He will be eindignant toward His enemies.

15 For behold, the Lord will come in afire

And His bchariots like the whirlwind,

To render His anger with fury,

And His rebuke with flames of fire.

16 For the Lord will execute judgment by afire

And by His bsword on all flesh,

And those slain by the Lord will be many.

17 “Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the agardens,

1Following one in the center,

Who eat bswine’s flesh, detestable things and mice,

Will ccome to an end altogether,” declares the Lord.

18 “For I 1know their works and their athoughts; 2the time is coming to bgather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory.

19 “I will set a asign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: bTarshish, 1Put, cLud, 2Meshech, dTubal and 3Javan, to the distant ecoastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will fdeclare My glory among the nations.

20 “Then they shall abring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My bholy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a cclean vessel to the house of the Lord.

21 “I will also take some of them for apriests and for Levites,” says the Lord.

22 “For just as the anew heavens and the new earth

Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord,

“So your boffspring and your cname will endure.

23 “And it shall be from anew moon to new moon

And from sabbath to sabbath,

All 1mankind will come to bbow down before Me,” says the Lord.

24 “Then they will go forth and look

On the acorpses of the men

Who have 1btransgressed against Me.

For their cworm will not die

dAnd their fire will not be quenched;

And they will be an eabhorrence to all 2mankind.”

Chapter 5

Parable of the Vineyard

1 Let me sing now for my well-beloved

A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.

My well-beloved had a avineyard on 1a fertile hill.

2 He dug it all around, removed its stones,

And planted it with 1the achoicest vine.

And He built a tower in the middle of it

And also hewed out a 2wine vat in it;

Then He bexpected it to produce good grapes,

But it produced only 3worthless ones.

3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,

aJudge between Me and My vineyard.

4 “aWhat more was there to do for My vineyard 1that I have not done in it?

Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce 2worthless ones?

5 “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:

I will aremove its hedge and it will be consumed;

I will bbreak down its wall and it will become ctrampled ground.

6 “I will alay it waste;

It will not be pruned or hoed,

But briars and thorns will come up.

I will also charge the clouds to brain no rain on it.”

7 For the avineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel

And the men of Judah His delightful plant.

Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bbloodshed;

For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

Woes for the Wicked

8 Woe to those who aadd house to house and join field to field,

Until there is no more room,

So that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!

9 In my ears the Lord of hosts has sworn, “Surely, amany houses shall become bdesolate,

Even great and fine ones, without occupants.

10 “For aten acres of vineyard will yield only one 1bath of wine,

And a bhomer of seed will yield but an 2ephah of grain.”

11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue astrong drink,

Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them!

12 Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and aharp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine;

But they bdo not pay attention to the deeds of the Lord,

Nor do they consider the work of His hands.

13 Therefore My people go into exile for their alack of knowledge;

And 1their bhonorable men are famished,

And their multitude is parched with thirst.

14 Therefore aSheol has enlarged its 1throat and opened its mouth without measure;

And 2Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it.

15 So the common man will be humbled and the man of importance abased,

aThe eyes of the proud also will be abased.

16 But the aLord of hosts will be bexalted in judgment,

And the holy God will show Himself choly in righteousness.

17 aThen the lambs will graze as in their pasture,

And strangers will eat in the waste places of the 1wealthy.

18 Woe to those who drag ainiquity with the cords of 1falsehood,

And sin as if with cart ropes;

19 aWho say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it;

And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near

And come to pass, that we may know it!”

20 Woe to those who acall evil good, and good evil;

Who 1bsubstitute darkness for light and light for darkness;

Who 1substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

21 Woe to those who are awise in their own eyes

And clever in their own sight!

22 aWoe to those who are heroes in drinking wine

And valiant men in mixing strong drink,

23 aWho justify the wicked for a bribe,

And btake away the 1rights of the ones who are in the right!

24 Therefore, aas a tongue of fire consumes stubble

And dry grass collapses into the flame,

So their broot will become clike rot and their blossom 1blow away as dust;

For they have drejected the law of the Lord of hosts

And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 On this account the aanger of the Lord has burned against His people,

And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down.

And the bmountains quaked, and their ccorpses 1lay like refuse in the middle of the streets.

dFor all this His anger 2is not spent,

But His ehand is still stretched out.

26 He will also lift up a astandard to the 1distant nation,

And will bwhistle for it cfrom the ends of the earth;

And behold, it will dcome with speed swiftly.

27 aNo one in it is weary or stumbles,

None slumbers or sleeps;

Nor is the bbelt at its waist undone,

Nor its sandal strap broken.

28 1aIts arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent;

The hoofs of its horses 2seem like flint and its chariot bwheels like a whirlwind.

29 Its aroaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions;

It growls as it bseizes the prey

And carries it off with cno one to deliver it.

30 And it will agrowl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea.

If one blooks to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress;

Even the light is darkened by its clouds.

Chapter 6

Isaiah’s Vision

1 In the year of aKing Uzziah’s death bI saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.

2 Seraphim stood above Him, aeach having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

3 And one called out to another and said,

“aHoly, …