New Creation

17 For look! I am about to create new heavens and a new earth,

and the former things shall not be remembered,

and they shall not ⌊come to mind⌋.h

18 But rejoice and shout in exultation forever and ever over what I am about to create!

For look! I am about to create Jerusalem as a source of rejoicing,

and her people as a source of joy.

19 And I will shout in exultation over Jerusalem,

and I will rejoice over my people,

and the sound of weeping shall no longer be heard in it,

ori the sound of a cry for help.

20 There will no longer be a nursing infant ⌊who lives only a few⌋j days,

ork an old man who does not fill his days,

for the boy will die ⌊a hundred years old⌋,l

and the one who ⌊fails to reach⌋m ⌊a hundred years⌋n will be ⌊considered⌋o accursed.

21 And they shall build houses and inhabit them,

and they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22 They shall not build and another inhabit;

they shall not plant and another eat.

For the days of my people shall be like the days of a tree,

and my chosen ones shall enjoy the work of their hands.

23 They shall not labor for nothing,

and they shall not give birth to horror,

for they ⌊shall be offspring blessed by⌋p Yahweh,

and their descendants with them.

24 And this will happen: before they call, I myself will answer;

while still they are speaking, I myself will hear.

25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed like one,

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox,

butq dust shall be the serpent’s food.

They shall do no evil,

and they shall not destroy on all ⌊my holy mountain⌋,”r says Yahweh.

Proper Worship

66 Thus says Yahweh:

“Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is the footstool for my feet.

Where is this house that you would build for me?

And where is this resting place for me?

2 And my hand has made all these things,

and all these ⌊came to be⌋,”a

⌊declares⌋b Yahweh, “butc I look to this one:

to the humble and the contrite of spirit

and the one frightened at my word.

3 The one who slaughters a bull strikes a man;

the one who slaughters a lamb for sacrifice breaks the neck of a dog.

The one who offers an offering, the blood of swine;

the one who offers frankincense blesses an idol.

Indeed, they themselves have chosen their ways,

and their soul delights in their abhorrence.

4 Indeed, I myself I will choose their ill treatment,

and I will bring them objects of their dread,

because I called, and ⌊no one answered⌋;d

I spoke and they did not listen,

bute they did the evil in my eyes,

and they chose that in which I do not delight.”