All People Will Learn About God

65 The Lord says, “I made myself known to people who were not looking for me.

I was found by those who were not asking me for help.

I said, ‘Here I am. Here I am,’

to a nation that was not praying to me.

2  All day long I stood ready to accept

people who turned against me,

but the way they continue to live is not good;

they do anything they want to do.

3  Right in front of me

they continue to do things that make me angry.

They offer sacrifices to their gods in their gardens,

and they burn incense on altars of brick.

4  They sit among the graves

and spend their nights waiting to get messages from the dead.

They eat the meat of pigs,

and their pots are full of soup made from meat that is wrong to eat.

5  But they tell others, ‘Stay away, and don’t come near me.

I am too holy for you.’

These people are like smoke in my nose.

Like a fire that burns all the time, they continue to make me angry.

6  “Look, it is written here before me.

I will not be quiet; instead, I will repay you in full.

I will punish you for what you have done.

7  I will punish you for your sins and your ancestors’ sins,”

says the Lord.

“They burned incense to gods on the mountains

and shamed me on those hills.

So I will punish them as they should be punished

for what they did.”

8  This is what the Lord says:

“When there is juice left in the grapes,

people do not destroy them,

because they know there is good left in them.

So I will do the same thing to my servants—

I will not completely destroy them.

9  I will leave some of the children of Jacob,

and some of the people of Judah will receive my mountain.

I will choose the people who will live there;

my servants will live there.

10  Then the Plain of Sharon will be a field for flocks,

and the Valley of Achor will be a place for herds to rest.

They will be for the people who want to follow me.

11  “But as for you who left the Lord,

who forgot about my holy mountain,

who worship the god Luck,

who hold religious feasts for the god Fate,

12  I decide your fate, and I will punish you with my sword.

You will all be killed,

because I called you, but you refused to answer.

I spoke to you, but you wouldn’t listen.

You did the things I said were evil

and chose to do things that displease me.”

13 So this is what the Lord God says:

“My servants will eat,

but you evil people will be hungry.

My servants will drink,

but you evil people will be thirsty.

My servants will be happy,

but you evil people will be shamed.

14  My servants will shout for joy

because of the goodness of their hearts,

but you evil people will cry,

because you will be sad.

You will cry loudly, because your spirits will be broken.

15  Your names will be like curses to my servants,

and the Lord God will put you to death.

But he will call his servants by another name.

16  People in the land who ask for blessings

will ask for them from the faithful God.

And people in the land who make a promise

will promise in the name of the faithful God,

because the troubles of the past will be forgotten.

I will make those troubles go away.

A New Time Is Coming

17  “Look, I will make new heavens and a new earth,

and people will not remember the past

or think about those things.

18  My people will be happy forever

because of the things I will make.

I will make a Jerusalem that is full of joy,

and I will make her people a delight.

19  Then I will rejoice over Jerusalem

and be delighted with my people.

There will never again be heard in that city

the sounds of crying and sadness.

20  There will never be a baby from that city

who lives only a few days.

And there will never be an older person

who doesn’t have a long life.

A person who lives a hundred years will be called young,

and a person who dies before he is a hundred will be thought of as a sinner.

21  In that city those who build houses will live there.

Those who plant vineyards will get to eat their grapes.

22  No more will one person build a house and someone else live there.

One person will not plant a garden and someone else eat its fruit.

My people will live a long time,

as trees live long.

My chosen people will live there

and enjoy the things they make.

23  They will never again work for nothing.

They will never again give birth to children who die young.

All my people will be blessed by the Lord;

they and their children will be blessed.

24  I will provide for their needs before they ask,

and I will help them while they are still asking for help.

25  Wolves and lambs will eat together in peace.

Lions will eat hay like oxen,

and a snake on the ground will not hurt anyone.

They will not hurt or destroy each other

on all my holy mountain,”

says the Lord.