Isaiah 65

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.