The Righteousness of God’s Judgment

65 I 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.

2 I held out my hands all day long

to a rebellious people,

who walk in a way that is not good,

following their own devices;

3 a people who provoke me

to my face continually,

sacrificing in gardens

and offering incense on bricks;

4 who sit inside tombs,

and spend the night in secret places;

who eat swine’s flesh,

with broth of abominable things in their vessels;

5 who 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.

6 See, it is written before me:

I will not keep silent, but I will repay;

I will indeed repay into their laps

7 theira iniquities and theirb 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.

8 Thus 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.

9 I will bring forth descendantsc from Jacob,

and from Judah inheritorsd of my mountains;

my chosen shall inherit it,

and my servants shall settle there.

10 Sharon 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.

11 But you who forsake the Lord,

who forget my holy mountain,

who set a table for Fortune

and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny;

12 I 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.

13 Therefore 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;

14 my servants shall sing for gladness of heart,

but you shall cry out for pain of heart,

and shall wail for anguish of spirit.

15 You 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.

16 Then 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.