Isaiah 65:1–9

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.^*