Isaiah 64-65

New American Standard Bible

Prayer for Mercy and Help

64 ^[a]Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and ^(A)come down,
That the mountains would ^(B)quake at Your presence—
²^[b]As fire kindles brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the ^(C)nations may tremble at Your presence!
³When You did ^(D)awesome things which we did not expect,
You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.
⁴For from days of old ^(E)they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of one who ^(F)waits for Him.
⁵You ^(G)meet him who rejoices in ^(H)doing righteousness,
Who ^(I)remembers You in Your ways.
Behold, ^(J)You were angry, for we sinned,
We continued in ^[c]our sins for a long time;
Yet shall we be saved?
⁶For all of us have become like one who is ^(K)unclean,
And all our ^(L)righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us ^(M)wither like a leaf,
And our ^(N)wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.
⁷There is ^(O)no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself to take hold of You;
For You have ^(P)hidden Your face from us
And have ^[d]surrendered us to the power of our wrongdoings.

⁸But now, Lord, ^(Q)You are our Father;
We are the ^(R)clay, and You our potter,
And all of us are the ^(S)work of Your hand.
⁹Do not be ^(T)angry beyond measure, Lord,
^(U)Nor remember wrongdoing forever.
Behold, please look, all of us are ^(V)Your people.
¹⁰Your ^(W)holy cities have become a ^(X)wilderness,
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
¹¹Our holy and beautiful ^(Y)house,
Where our fathers praised You,
Has been burned by fire;
And ^(Z)all our precious things have become a ruin.
¹²Will You ^(AA)restrain Yourself at these things, Lord?
Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

A Rebellious People

65 “I permitted Myself to be sought by ^(AB)those who did not ask for Me;
I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’
To a nation which ^(AC)did not call on My name.
²^(AD)I have spread out My hands all day long to a ^(AE)rebellious people,
Who walk in the way which is not good, ^[e]following their own ^(AF)thoughts,
³A people who continually ^(AG)provoke Me to My face,
Offering sacrifices in ^(AH)gardens and ^(AI)burning incense on bricks;
⁴Who sit among graves and spend the night in secret places;
Who ^(AJ)eat pig’s flesh,
And the broth of unclean meat is in their pots.
⁵Who say, ‘^(AK)Keep to yourself, do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!’
These are smoke in My ^[f]nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.
⁶Behold, it is written before Me:
I will ^(AL)not keep silent, but ^(AM)I will repay;
I will even repay ^[g]into their laps,
⁷Both your own ^(AN)wrongdoings and the wrongdoings of your fathers together,” says the Lord.
“Because they have ^(AO)burned incense on the mountains
And ^(AP)scorned Me on the hills,
Therefore I will ^(AQ)measure their former work ^[h]into their laps.”

⁸This is what the Lord says:

“Just as the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is ^[i]benefit in it,’
So I will act in behalf of My servants
In order ^(AR)not to destroy ^[j]all of them.
⁹I will bring forth ^[k]^(AS)offspring from Jacob,
And an ^(AT)heir of My mountains from Judah;
^(AU)My chosen ones shall inherit it,
And ^(AV)My servants will live there.
¹⁰^(AW)Sharon will be a pasture land for flocks,
And the ^(AX)Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
For My people who ^(AY)seek Me.
¹¹But as for you who ^(AZ)abandon the Lord,
Who forget My ^(BA)holy mountain,
Who set a table for ^[l]Fortune,
And fill a jug of mixed wine for ^[m]Destiny,
¹²I will destine you for the ^(BB)sword,
And all of you will bow down to the ^(BC)slaughter.
Because I called, but you ^(BD)did not answer;
I spoke, but you did not listen.
Instead, you did evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”

¹³Therefore, this is what the Lord ^[n]God says:
“Behold, My servants will ^(BE)eat, but you will be ^(BF)hungry.
Behold, My servants will ^(BG)drink, but you will be ^(BH)thirsty.
Behold, My servants will ^(BI)rejoice, but you will be ^(BJ)put to shame.
¹⁴Behold, My servants will ^(BK)shout joyfully with a glad heart,
But you will ^(BL)cry out from a painful heart,
And you will wail from a broken spirit.
¹⁵You will leave your name as a ^(BM)curse to My chosen ones,
And the Lord ^[o]God will put you to death.
But ^[p]My servants will be called by ^(BN)another name.
¹⁶Because the one who ^[q]is blessed on the earth
Will ^[r]be blessed by the ^(BO)God of truth;
And the one who swears an oath on the earth
Will ^(BP)swear by the God of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My sight!

New Heavens and a New Earth

¹⁷“For behold, I create ^(BQ)new heavens and a new earth;
And the ^(BR)former things will not be remembered or come to ^[s]mind.
¹⁸But be ^(BS)glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
And her people for gladness.
¹⁹I will also ^(BT)rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of ^(BU)weeping and the sound of crying.
²⁰No longer will there be ^[t]in it an infant who lives only a few days,
Or an old person who does ^(BV)not ^[u]live out his days;
For the youth will die at the age of a hundred,
And the ^[v]^(BW)one who does not reach the age of a hundred
Will be thought accursed.
²¹They will ^(BX)build houses and inhabit them;
They will also ^(BY)plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²²They will not build and ^(BZ)another inhabit,
They will not plant and another eat;
For ^(CA)as the ^[w]lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,
And My chosen ones will ^(CB)fully enjoy the work of their hands.
²³They will ^(CC)not labor in vain,
Or give birth to children for disaster;
For they are the ^[x]^(CD)descendants of those blessed by the Lord,
And their descendants with them.

²⁴It will also come to pass that before they call, I will ^(CE)answer; while they are still speaking, I will listen. ²⁵The ^(CF)wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the ^(CG)lion will eat straw like the ox; and ^(CH)dust will be the serpent’s food. They will ^(CI)do no evil or harm on all My ^(CJ)holy mountain,” says the Lord.