Isaiah 65–66

Judgment and Salvation

65“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;

I was found by those who did not seek me.^h

To a nationⁱ that did not call on my name,^j

I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’

²All day long I have held out my hands

to an obstinate people,^k

who walk in ways not good,

pursuing their own imaginations^l—

³a people who continually provoke me

to my very face,^m

offering sacrifices in gardensⁿ

and burning incense^o on altars of brick;

⁴who sit among the graves^p

and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;

who eat the flesh of pigs,^q

and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;

⁵who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,

for I am too sacred^r for you!’

Such people are smoke^s in my nostrils,

a fire that keeps burning all day.

⁶“See, it stands written before me:

I will not keep silent^t but will pay back^u in full;

I will pay it back into their laps^v—

⁷both your sins^w and the sins of your ancestors,”^x

says the Lord.

“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains

and defied me on the hills,^y

I will measure into their laps

the full payment^z for their former deeds.”

⁸This is what the Lord says:

“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes^a

and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,

there is still a blessing in it,’

so will I do in behalf of my servants;^b

I will not destroy them all.

⁹I will bring forth descendants^c from Jacob,

and from Judah those who will possess^d my mountains;

my chosen^e people will inherit them,

and there will my servants live.^f

¹⁰Sharon^g will become a pasture for flocks,^h

and the Valley of Achorⁱ a resting place for herds,

for my people who seek^j me.

¹¹“But as for you who forsake^k the Lord

and forget my holy mountain,^l

who spread a table for Fortune

and fill bowls of mixed wine^m for Destiny,

¹²I will destine you for the sword,ⁿ

and all of you will fall in the slaughter;^o

for I called but you did not answer,^p

I spoke but you did not listen.^q

You did evil in my sight

and chose what displeases me.”^r

¹³Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“My servants will eat,^s

but you will go hungry;^t

my servants will drink,^u

but you will go thirsty;^v

my servants will rejoice,^w

but you will be put to shame.^x

¹⁴My servants will sing^y

out of the joy of their hearts,

but you will cry out^z

from anguish of heart

and wail in brokenness of spirit.

¹⁵You will leave your name

for my chosen ones to use in their curses;^a

the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,

but to his servants he will give another name.^b

¹⁶Whoever invokes a blessing^c in the land

will do so by the one true God;^d

whoever takes an oath in the land

will swear^e by the one true God.

For the past troubles^f will be forgotten

and hidden from my eyes.

New Heavens and a New Earth

¹⁷“See, I will create

new heavens and a new earth.^g

The former things will not be remembered,^h

nor will they come to mind.

¹⁸But be glad and rejoiceⁱ forever

in what I will create,

for I will create Jerusalem^j to be a delight

and its people a joy.

¹⁹I will rejoice^k over Jerusalem

and take delight^l in my people;

the sound of weeping and of crying^m

will be heard in it no more.

²⁰“Never again will there be in it

an infantⁿ who lives but a few days,

or an old man who does not live out his years;^o

the one who dies at a hundred

will be thought a mere child;

the one who fails to reach^a a hundred

will be considered accursed.

²¹They will build houses^p and dwell in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.^q

²²No longer will they build houses and others live in them,^r

or plant and others eat.

For as the days of a tree,^s

so will be the days^t of my people;

my chosen^u ones will long enjoy

the work of their hands.

²³They will not labor in vain,^v

nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;^w

for they will be a people blessed^x by the Lord,

they and their descendants^y with them.

²⁴Before they call^z I will answer;^a

while they are still speaking^b I will hear.

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

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

and dust will be the serpent’s^e food.

They will neither harm nor destroy

on all my holy mountain,”^f

says the Lord.

Judgment and Hope

66This is what the Lord says:

“Heaven is my throne,^g

and the earth is my footstool.^h

Where is the houseⁱ you will build for me?

Where will my resting place be?

²Has not my hand made all these things,^j

and so they came into being?”

declares the Lord.

“These are the ones I look on with favor:

those who are humble and contrite in spirit,^k

and who tremble at my word.^l

³But whoever sacrifices a bull^m

is like one who kills a person,

and whoever offers a lamb

is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;

whoever makes a grain offering

is like one who presents pig’sⁿ blood,

and whoever burns memorial incense^o

is like one who worships an idol.

They have chosen their own ways,^p

and they delight in their abominations;^q

⁴so I also will choose harsh treatment for them

and will bring on them what they dread.^r

For when I called, no one answered,^s

when I spoke, no one listened.

They did evil^t in my sight

and chose what displeases me.”^u

⁵Hear the word of the Lord,

you who tremble at his word:^v

“Your own people who hate^w you,

and exclude you because of my name, have said,

‘Let the Lord be glorified,

that we may see your joy!’

Yet they will be put to shame.^x

⁶Hear that uproar from the city,

hear that noise from the temple!

It is the sound^y of the Lord

repaying^z his enemies all they deserve.

⁷“Before she goes into labor,^a

she gives birth;

before the pains come upon her,

she delivers a son.^b

⁸Who has ever heard of such things?

Who has ever seen^c things like this?

Can a country be born in a day^d

or a nation be brought forth in a moment?

Yet no sooner is Zion in labor

than she gives birth to her children.^e

⁹Do I bring to the moment of birth^f

and not give delivery?” says the Lord.

“Do I close up the womb

when I bring to delivery?” says your God.

¹⁰“Rejoice^g with Jerusalem and be glad for her,

all you who love^h her;

rejoice greatly with her,

all you who mournⁱ over her.

¹¹For you will nurse^j and be satisfied

at her comforting breasts;^k

you will drink deeply

and delight in her overflowing abundance.”^l

¹²For this is what the Lord says:

“I will extend peace^m to her like a river,ⁿ

and the wealth^o of nations like a flooding stream;

you will nurse and be carried^p on her arm

and dandled on her knees.

¹³As a mother comforts her child,^q

so will I comfort^r you;

and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”

¹⁴When you see this, your heart will rejoice^s

and you will flourish^t like grass;

the hand^u of the Lord will be made known to his servants,^v

but his fury^w will be shown to his foes.

¹⁵See, the Lord is coming with fire,^x

and his chariots^y are like a whirlwind;^z

he will bring down his anger with fury,

and his rebuke^a with flames of fire.

¹⁶For with fire^b and with his sword^c

the Lord will execute judgment^d on all people,

and many will be those slain^e by the Lord.

¹⁷“Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens,^f following one who is among those who eat the flesh of pigs,^g rats^h and other unclean things—they will meet their endⁱ together with the one they follow,” declares the Lord.

¹⁸“And I, because of what they have planned and done,^j am about to come^a and gather the people of all nations^k and languages, and they will come and see my glory.^l

¹⁹“I will set a sign^m among them, and I will send some of those who surviveⁿ to the nations—to Tarshish,^o to the Libyans^b and Lydians^p (famous as archers), to Tubal^q and Greece,^r and to the distant islands^s that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory.^t They will proclaim my glory among the nations. ²⁰And they will bring^u all your people, from all the nations, to my holy mountain^v in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,”^w says the Lord. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels.^{x 21}And I will select some of them also to be priests^y and Levites,” says the Lord.

²²“As the new heavens and the new earth^z that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure.^{a 23}From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath^b to another, all mankind will come and bow down^c before me,” says the Lord. ²⁴“And they will go out and look on the dead bodies^d of those who rebelled^e against me; the worms^f that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched,^g and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”