Isaiah 65–66

The Righteousness of God’s Judgment

⁶⁵I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,

to be found by those who did not seek me.

I said, “Here I am, here I am,”

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

²I held out my hands all day long

to a rebellious people,

who walk in a way that is not good,

following their own devices;^*

³a people who provoke me

to my face continually,

sacrificing in gardens

and offering incense on bricks;^*

⁴who sit inside tombs

and spend the night in secret places;

who eat the flesh of pigs,

with broth of abominable things in their vessels;^*

⁵who say, “Keep to yourself;

do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”

These are a smoke in my nostrils,

a fire that burns all day long.^*

⁶See, it is written before me:

I will not keep silent, but I will repay;

I will indeed repay into their laps^*

⁷their^p iniquities and their^q ancestors’ iniquities together,

says the Lord;

because they offered incense on the mountains

and reviled me on the hills,

I will measure into their laps

full payment for their actions.^*

⁸Thus says the Lord:

As the wine is found in the cluster,

and they say, “Do not destroy it,

for there is a blessing in it,”

so I will do for my servants’ sake

and not destroy them all.

⁹I will bring forth descendants from Jacob

and from Judah inheritors of my mountains;

my chosen shall inherit it,

and my servants shall settle there.^*

¹⁰Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks

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

for my people who have sought me.^*

¹¹But you who forsake the Lord,

who forget my holy mountain,

who set a table for Fortune

and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,^*

¹²I will destine you to the sword,

and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter;

because, when I called, you did not answer,

when I spoke, you did not listen,

but you did what was evil in my sight

and chose what I did not delight in.^*

¹³Therefore thus says the Lord God:

My servants shall eat,

but you shall be hungry;

my servants shall drink,

but you shall be thirsty;

my servants shall rejoice,

but you shall be put to shame;^*

¹⁴my servants shall sing with gladness of heart,

but you shall cry out in pain of heart

and shall wail in anguish of spirit.^*

¹⁵You shall leave your name to my chosen to use as a curse,

and the Lord God will put you to death,

but to his servants he will give a different name.^*

¹⁶Then whoever invokes a blessing in the land

shall bless by the God of faithfulness,

and whoever takes an oath in the land

shall swear by the God of faithfulness,

because the former troubles are forgotten

and are hidden from my sight.^*

The Glorious New Creation

¹⁷For I am about to create new heavens

and a new earth;

the former things shall not be remembered

or come to mind.^*

¹⁸But be glad and rejoice forever

in what I am creating,

for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy

and its people as a delight.^*

¹⁹I will rejoice in Jerusalem

and delight in my people;

no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it

or the cry of distress.^*

²⁰No more shall there be in it

an infant who lives but a few days

or an old person who does not live out a lifetime,

for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,

and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.^*

²¹They shall build houses and inhabit them;

they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.^*

²²They shall not build and another inhabit;

they shall not plant and another eat,

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

and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.^*

²³They shall not labor in vain

or bear children for calamity,^r

for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—

and their descendants as well.^*

²⁴Before they call I will answer,

while they are yet speaking I will hear.^*

²⁵The wolf and the lamb shall feed together;

the lion shall eat straw like the ox,

but the serpent—its food shall be dust!

They shall not hurt or destroy

on all my holy mountain,

says the Lord.^*

The Worship God Demands

⁶⁶Thus says the Lord:

Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool;

so what kind of house could you build for me,

what sort of place for me to rest?^*

²All these things my hand has made,

so all these things are mine,^s

says the Lord.

But this is the one to whom I will look,

to the humble and contrite in spirit

who trembles at my word.^*

³Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who kills a human,

whoever sacrifices a lamb like one who breaks a dog’s neck,

whoever presents a grain offering like one who offers pig’s blood,

whoever makes a memorial offering of frankincense like one who blesses an idol.

Just as these have chosen their own ways

and in their abominations they take delight,^*

⁴so I will choose their punishments

and bring upon them what they fear,

because, when I called, no one answered,

when I spoke, they did not listen,

but they did what was evil in my sight

and chose what did not please me.^*

The Lord Vindicates Zion

⁵Hear the word of the Lord,

you who tremble at his word:

Your own people who hate you

and reject you for my name’s sake

have said, “Let the Lord be glorified,

so that we may see your joy,”

but it is they who shall be put to shame.^*

⁶Listen, a roar from the city!

A voice from the temple!

The voice of the Lord,

dealing retribution to his enemies!^*

⁷Before she was in labor

she gave birth;

before her pain came upon her

she delivered a son.^*

⁸Who has heard of such a thing?

Who has seen such things?

Shall a land be born in one day?

Shall a nation be delivered in one moment?

Yet as soon as Zion was in labor

she delivered her children.^*

⁹Shall I open the womb and not deliver?

says the Lord;

shall I, the one who delivers, shut the womb?

says your God.

¹⁰Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,

all you who love her;

rejoice with her in joy,

all you who mourn over her—^*

¹¹that you may nurse and be satisfied

from her consoling breast,

that you may drink deeply with delight

from her glorious bosom.^*

¹²For thus says the Lord:

I will extend prosperity to her like a river

and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream,

and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm

and bounced on her knees.^*

¹³As a mother comforts her child,

so I will comfort you;

you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.^*

The Reign and Indignation of God

¹⁴You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;

your bodies^t shall flourish like the grass,

and it shall be known that the power of the Lord is with his servants,

and his indignation is against his enemies.^*

¹⁵For the Lord will come in fire

and his chariots in a whirlwind,^u

to vent his anger in fury

and his rebuke in flames of fire.^*

¹⁶For by fire will the Lord execute judgment,

and by his sword on all flesh;

and those slain by the Lord shall be many.^*

¹⁷Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following the one in the center, eating the flesh of pigs, vermin, and rodents, shall come to an end together, says the Lord,^{* 18}for I know^v their works and their thoughts.

I am^w coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and shall see my glory,^{* 19}and I will set a sign among them. From them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put,^x and Lud, to Meshech,^y Tubal, and Javan, to the coastlands far away that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory, and they shall declare my glory among the nations.^{* 20}They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring a grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.^{* 21}And I will also take some of them as priests and as Levites, says the Lord.^*

²²For as the new heavens and the new earth,

which I will make,

shall remain before me, says the Lord,

so shall your descendants and your name remain.^*

²³From new moon to new moon

and from Sabbath to Sabbath,

all flesh shall come to worship before me,

says the Lord.^*

²⁴And they shall go out and look at the dead bodies of the people who have rebelled against me, for their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.^*