Isaiah 65

THE LORD’S RESPONSE

65“I was sought by those who did not ask;

I was found by those who did not seek me.

I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’

to a nation that did not call on^B my name.^b

²I spread out my hands all day long

to a rebellious people^c

who walk in the path that is not good,

following their own thoughts.

³These people continually anger me

to my face,

sacrificing in gardens,^d

burning incense on bricks,

⁴sitting among the graves,

spending nights in secret places,

eating the meat of pigs,^e

and putting polluted broth in their bowls.^C

⁵They say, ‘Keep to yourself,

don’t come near me, for I am too holy for you!’

These practices are smoke in my nostrils,

a fire that burns all day long.

⁶Look, it is written in front of me:

I will not keep silent,^f but I will repay;^g

I will repay them fully^D

⁷for your iniquities and the iniquities^h

of your^E ancestors together,”

says the Lord.

“Because they burned incense on the mountains

and reproached me on the hills,ⁱ

I will reward them fully^F

for their former deeds.”

⁸The Lord says this:

“As the new wine is found in a bunch of grapes,

and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it,

for there’s some good^G in it,’

so I will act because of my servants

and not destroy them all.

⁹I will produce descendants from Jacob,^j

and heirs to my mountains from Judah;

my chosen^k ones will possess it,

and my servants will dwell there.^l

¹⁰Sharon will be a pasture for flocks,^m

and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,ⁿ

for my people who have sought me.^o

¹¹But you who abandon the Lord,

who forget my holy mountain,

who prepare a table for Fortune

and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,^A

¹²I will destine you for the sword,

and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered,

because I called and you did not answer,

I spoke and you did not hear;

you did what was evil in my sight

and chose what I did not delight in.”^p

¹³Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:

“Look! My servants will eat,

but you will be hungry.

Look! My servants will drink,

but you will be thirsty.

Look! My servants will rejoice,

but you will be put to shame.

¹⁴Look! My servants will shout for joy from a glad heart,

but you will cry out from an anguished heart,

and you will lament out of a broken spirit.

¹⁵You will leave your name behind

as a curse for my chosen ones,^q

and the Lord God will kill you;

but he will give his servants another name.^r

¹⁶Whoever asks for a blessing in the land

will ask for a blessing by the God of truth,^s

and whoever swears in the land

will swear by the God of truth.

For the former troubles will be forgotten

and hidden from my sight.

A NEW CREATION

¹⁷“For I will create new heavens and a new earth;^t

the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.

¹⁸Then be glad and rejoice forever

in what I am creating;

for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy

and its people to be a delight.

¹⁹I will rejoice in Jerusalem

and be glad in my people.

The sound of weeping and crying

will no longer be heard in her.^a

²⁰In her, a nursing infant will no longer live

only a few days,^B

or an old man not live out his days.

Indeed, the one who dies at a hundred years old will be mourned as a young man,^C

and the one who misses a hundred years will be considered cursed.^b

²¹People will build houses and live in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.^c

²²They will not build and others live in them;

they will not plant and others eat.

For my people’s lives will be

like the lifetime of a tree.^d

My chosen ones will fully enjoy

the work of their hands.

²³They will not labor without success^e

or bear children destined for disaster,

for they will be a people blessed by the Lord

along with their descendants.^f

²⁴Even before they call, I will answer;^g

while they are still speaking, I will hear.

²⁵The wolf and the lamb will feed together,^A

and the lion will eat straw like cattle,^h

but the serpent’s food will be dust!ⁱ

They will not do what is evil or destroy

on my entire holy mountain,”^j

says the Lord.