Isaiah 65–66

The Lord’s Response

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

I was found by those who did not seek Me.

I said: Here I am, here I am,

to a nation that was not called by ^bMy name. ^c

²I spread out My hands all day long

to a rebellious people ^d

who walk in the wrong path,

following their own thoughts.

³These people continually provoke Me

to My face,

sacrificing in gardens, ^e

burning incense on bricks,

⁴sitting among the graves,

spending nights in secret places,

eating the meat of pigs, ^f

and putting polluted broth in their bowls. ^g

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.

⁶It is written before Me:

I will not keep silent, ^hbut I will repay; ⁱ

I will repay them fully ^j

⁷for your iniquities and the iniquities ^k

of your ^lfathers together,”

says the Lord.

“Because they burned incense on the mountains

and reproached Me on the hills, ^m

I will reward them fully ⁿ

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 ^oin it,’

so I will act because of My servants

and not destroy them all.

⁹I will produce descendants from Jacob, ^p

and heirs to My mountains from Judah;

My chosen ^qones will possess it,

and My servants will dwell there. ^r

¹⁰Sharon will be a pasture for flocks, ^s

and the Valley of Achor a place for cattle to lie down, ^t

for My people who have sought Me. ^u

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, ^v

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. ^w

¹³Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:

My servants will eat,

but you will be hungry;

My servants will drink,

but you will be thirsty;

My servants will rejoice,

but you will be put to shame.

¹⁴My 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, ^x

and the Lord God will kill you;

but He will give His servants another name. ^y

¹⁶Whoever is blessed in the land

will be blessed by the God of truth, ^z

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 a new heaven and a new earth; ^a

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. ^b

²⁰In her, a nursing infant will no longer live

only a few days, ^c

or an old man not live out his days.

Indeed, the youth will die at a hundred years,

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

²¹People will build houses and live in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. ^e

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. ^f

My chosen ones will fully enjoy

the work of their hands.

²³They will not labor without success ^g

or bear children destined for disaster,

for they will be a people blessed by the Lord

along with their descendants. ^h

²⁴Even before they call, I will answer; ⁱ

while they are still speaking, I will hear.

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

and the lion will eat straw like the ox, ^k

but the serpent’s food will be dust! ^l

They will not do what is evil or destroy

on My entire holy mountain,” ^m

says the Lord.

Final Judgment and Joyous Restoration

66This is what the Lord says:

Heaven ⁿis My throne, ^o

and earth is My footstool. ^p

What house could you possibly build for Me?

And what place could be My home? ^q

²My hand made all these things,

and so they all came into being.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

I will look favorably on this kind of person:

one who is humble, ^rsubmissive ^sin spirit, ^t

and trembles at My word.

³One slaughters an ox, one kills a man;

one sacrifices a lamb, one breaks a dog’s neck;

one offers a grain offering, one offers pig’s blood;

one offers incense, one praises an idol—

all these have chosen their ways

and delight in their detestable practices. ^u

⁴So I will choose their punishment,

and I will bring on them what they dread

because I called and no one answered;

I spoke and they didn’t hear;

they did what was evil in My sight

and chose what I didn’t delight in. ^v

⁵You who tremble at His word, ^w

hear the word of the Lord: ^x

“Your brothers who hate and exclude you

because of Me have said, ^y

‘Let the Lord be glorified

so that we can see your joy!’

But they will be put to shame.” ^z

⁶A sound of uproar from the city!

A voice from the temple—

the voice of the Lord,

paying back His enemies what they deserve! ^a

⁷Before Zion was in labor, she gave birth;

before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.

⁸Who has heard of such a thing?

Who has seen such things?

Can a land be born in one day

or a nation be delivered in an instant?

Yet as soon as Zion was in labor,

she gave birth to her sons.

⁹“Will I bring a baby to the point of birth

and not deliver it?”

says the Lord;

“or will I who deliver, close the womb?”

says your God.

¹⁰Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her,

all who love her. ^b

Rejoice greatly with her,

all who mourn over her—

¹¹so that you may nurse and be satisfied

from her comforting breast

and drink deeply and delight yourselves

from her glorious breasts.

¹²For this is what the Lord says:

I will make peace flow to her like a river, ^c

and the wealth ^dof nations like a flood; ^e

you will nurse and be carried on her hip ^f

and bounced on her lap.

¹³As a mother comforts her son,

so I will comfort you, ^g

and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.

¹⁴You will see, you will rejoice,

and you ^hwill flourish like grass; ⁱ

then the Lord’s power will be revealed to His servants,

but He will show His wrath against His enemies.

¹⁵Look, the Lord will come with fire ^j—

His chariots are like the whirlwind ^k—

to execute His anger with fury

and His rebuke with flames of fire.

¹⁶For the Lord will execute judgment

on all flesh ^lwith His fiery sword,

and many will be slain by the Lord.

¹⁷“Those who dedicate and purify themselves to enter the groves ^mfollowing their leader, ⁿeating meat from pigs, vermin, and rats, will perish together.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

¹⁸“Knowing ^otheir works and their thoughts, I have come to gather all nations and languages; ^pthey will come and see My glory. ¹⁹I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, ^qLud (who are archers), Tubal, Javan, ^rand the islands far away—who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. And they will proclaim My glory among the nations. ^s20They will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the Lord on horses and chariots, in litters, and on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” ^tsays the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. ²¹I will also take some of them as priests and Levites,” ^usays the Lord.

²²“For just as the new heavens and the new earth, ^v

which I will make,

will endure before Me”—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

“so your offspring and your name will endure.

²³All mankind will come to worship Me

from one New Moon to another

and from one Sabbath to another,”

says the Lord.

²⁴“As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against Me; ^wfor their worm ^xwill never die, their fire will never go out, ^yand they will be a horror to all mankind.” ^z