The Lord’s Response

65 “I was sought by those who did not ask; a

I was found by those who did not seek Me.

I said: Here I am, here I am,

to a nation that was not called by b My name. c

2 I spread out My hands all day long

to a rebellious people d

who walk in the wrong path,

following their own thoughts.

3 These people continually provoke Me

to My face,

sacrificing in gardens, e

burning incense on bricks,

4 sitting among the graves,

spending nights in secret places,

eating the meat of pigs, f

and putting polluted broth in their bowls. g

5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself,

don’t come near me, for I am too holy for you!’

These practices are smoke in My nostrils,

a fire that burns all day long.

6 It is written before Me:

I will not keep silent, h but I will repay; i

I will repay them fully j

7 for your iniquities and the iniquities k

of your l fathers together,”

says the Lord.

“Because they burned incense on the mountains

and reproached Me on the hills, m

I will reward them fully n

for their former deeds.”

8 The Lord says this:

As the new wine is found in a bunch of grapes,

and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it,

for there’s some good o in it,’

so I will act because of My servants

and not destroy them all.

9 I will produce descendants from Jacob, p

and heirs to My mountains from Judah;

My chosen q ones will possess it,

and My servants will dwell there. r

10 Sharon will be a pasture for flocks, s

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

for My people who have sought Me. u

11 But you who abandon the Lord,

who forget My holy mountain,

who prepare a table for Fortune

and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny, v

12 I will destine you for the sword,

and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered,

because I called and you did not answer,

I spoke and you did not hear;

you did what was evil in My sight

and chose what I did not delight in. w

13 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:

My servants will eat,

but you will be hungry;

My servants will drink,

but you will be thirsty;

My servants will rejoice,

but you will be put to shame.

14 My servants will shout for joy from a glad heart,

but you will cry out from an anguished heart,

and you will lament out of a broken spirit.

15 You will leave your name behind

as a curse for My chosen ones, x

and the Lord God will kill you;

but He will give His servants another name. y

16 Whoever is blessed in the land

will be blessed by the God of truth, z

and whoever swears in the land

will swear by the God of truth.

For the former troubles will be forgotten

and hidden from My sight.

A New Creation

17 “For I will create a new heaven and a new earth; a

the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.

18 Then be glad and rejoice forever

in what I am creating;

for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy

and its people to be a delight.

19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem

and be glad in My people.

The sound of weeping and crying

will no longer be heard in her. b

20 In her, a nursing infant will no longer live

only a few days, c

or an old man not live out his days.

Indeed, the youth will die at a hundred years,

and the one who misses a hundred years will be cursed. d

21 People will build houses and live in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. e

22 They will not build and others live in them;

they will not plant and others eat.

For My people’s lives will be

like the lifetime of a tree. f

My chosen ones will fully enjoy

the work of their hands.

23 They will not labor without success g

or bear children destined for disaster,

for they will be a people blessed by the Lord

along with their descendants. h

24 Even before they call, I will answer; i

while they are still speaking, I will hear.

25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, j

and the lion will eat straw like the ox, k

but the serpent’s food will be dust! l

They will not do what is evil or destroy

on My entire holy mountain,” m

says the Lord.