Zion's Coming Salvation

62 (A)For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
    and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,
(B)until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
    and her salvation as a burning torch.
(C)The nations shall see your righteousness,
    and all the kings your glory,
(D)and you shall be called by a new name
    that the mouth of the Lord will give.
You shall be (E)a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
    and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
(F)You shall no more be termed (G)Forsaken,[a]
    and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,[b]
(H)but you shall be called (I)My Delight Is in Her,[c]
    and your land Married;[d]
for the Lord delights in you,
    and your land shall be married.
For as a young man marries a young woman,
    so (J)shall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
    so (K)shall your God rejoice over you.

On your walls, O Jerusalem,
    I have set (L)watchmen;
all the day and all the night
    they shall never be silent.
You who put the Lord in remembrance,
    take no rest,
and give him no rest
    until he establishes Jerusalem
    and makes it (M)a praise in the earth.
The Lord has sworn (N)by his right hand
    and by his mighty arm:
“I will not again give (O)your grain
    to be food for your enemies,
(P)and foreigners shall not drink your wine
    for which you have labored;
but (Q)those who garner it shall eat it
    and praise the Lord,
and (R)those who gather it shall drink it
    in the courts of my sanctuary.”[e]

10 Go through, go through the gates;
    (S)prepare the way for the people;
(T)build up, build up the highway;
    clear it of stones;
    (U)lift up a signal over the peoples.
11 Behold, the Lord has proclaimed
    to the end of the earth:
(V)Say to the daughter of Zion,
    (W)“Behold, your salvation comes;
behold, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense before him.”
12 (X)And they shall be called The Holy People,
    The Redeemed of the Lord;
(Y)and you shall be called Sought Out,
    A City Not Forsaken.

The Lord's Day of Vengeance

63 Who is this who comes from (Z)Edom,
    in crimsoned garments from (AA)Bozrah,
he who is splendid in his apparel,
    (AB)marching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
    mighty to save.”

Why is your (AC)apparel red,
    and your garments like his (AD)who treads in the winepress?

(AE)“I have trodden the winepress alone,
    (AF)and from the peoples no one was with me;
I trod them in my anger
    and trampled them in my wrath;
their lifeblood[f] spattered on my garments,
    and stained all my apparel.
(AG)For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
    and my year of redemption[g] had come.
I looked, but (AH)there was no one to help;
    I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;
so my own arm brought me salvation,
    and my wrath upheld me.
I trampled down the peoples in my anger;
    (AI)I made them drunk in my wrath,
    and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

The Lord's Mercy Remembered

I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord,
    the praises of the Lord,
according to all that the Lord has granted us,
    (AJ)and the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his compassion,
    according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
For he said, “Surely they are my people,
    children who will not deal falsely.”
    And he became their Savior.
(AK)In all their affliction he was afflicted,[h]
    and the angel of his presence saved them;
(AL)in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
    (AM)he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

10 (AN)But they rebelled
    (AO)and grieved his Holy Spirit;
therefore he turned to be their enemy,
    and himself fought against them.
11 Then he remembered (AP)the days of old,
    of Moses and his people.[i]
(AQ)Where is he who brought them up out of the sea
    with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is he who put in the midst of them
    his Holy Spirit,
12 who caused his glorious arm
    to go at the right hand of Moses,
(AR)who divided the waters before them
    (AS)to make for himself an everlasting name,
13     who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert,
    they did not stumble.
14 Like livestock that go down into the valley,
    (AT)the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
So you led your people,
    (AU)to make for yourself a glorious name.

Prayer for Mercy

15 (AV)Look down from heaven and see,
    (AW)from your holy and beautiful[j] habitation.
Where are (AX)your zeal and your might?
    The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion
    are held back from me.
16 For (AY)you are our Father,
    though Abraham does not know us,
    and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our Father,
    (AZ)our Redeemer from of old is your name.
17 O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways
    and (BA)harden our heart, so that we fear you not?
(BB)Return for the sake of your servants,
    the tribes of your heritage.
18 (BC)Your holy people held possession for a little while;[k]
    (BD)our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
19 (BE)We have become like those over whom you have never ruled,
    like those who are not called by your name.

64 (BF)Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
    (BG)that the mountains might quake at your presence—
[l] as when fire kindles brushwood
    and the fire causes water to boil—
(BH)to make your name known to your adversaries,
    and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
(BI)When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
    you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
(BJ)From of old no one has heard
    or perceived by the ear,
(BK)no eye has seen a God besides you,
    who acts for those who wait for him.
You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
    those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
    in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?[m]
(BL)We have all become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
(BM)We all fade like a leaf,
    and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
(BN)There is no one who calls upon your name,
    who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
    and have made us melt in[n] the hand of our iniquities.

(BO)But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
    (BP)we are the clay, and you are our potter;
    (BQ)we are all the work of your hand.
(BR)Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
    (BS)and remember not iniquity forever.
    Behold, please look, we are all your people.
10 (BT)Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
    Zion has become a wilderness,
    Jerusalem a desolation.
11 (BU)Our holy and beautiful[o] house,
    where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
    and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
12 (BV)Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
    Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

Judgment and Salvation

65 (BW)I was ready to be sought by (BX)those who did not ask for me;
    I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
    to a nation that was not called by[p] my name.
(BY)I spread out my hands all the day
    to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
    following their own devices;
a people who provoke me
    to my face continually,
(BZ)sacrificing in gardens
    and making offerings on bricks;
who sit in tombs,
    and spend the night in secret places;
(CA)who eat pig's flesh,
    and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;
who say, “Keep to yourself,
    do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”
(CB)These are a smoke in my nostrils,
    a fire that burns all the day.
Behold, (CC)it is written before me:
    (CD)“I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
(CE)I will indeed repay into their lap
    both your iniquities (CF)and your fathers' iniquities together,
says the Lord;
(CG)because they made offerings on the mountains
    (CH)and insulted me on the hills,
I will measure into their lap
    payment for their former deeds.”[q]

Thus says the Lord:
(CI)“As the new 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,
    (CJ)and not destroy them all.
(CK)I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
    and from Judah possessors of my mountains;
my chosen shall possess it,
    and my servants shall dwell there.
10 (CL)Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks,
    and (CM)the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
    for my people (CN)who have sought me.
11 But (CO)you who forsake the Lord,
    who forget (CP)my holy mountain,
who (CQ)set a table for Fortune
    and (CR)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,
(CS)because, when I called, you did not answer;
    when I spoke, you did not listen,
(CT)but you did what was evil in my eyes
    and chose what I did not delight in.”

13 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, (CU)my servants shall eat,
    but you shall be hungry;
behold, my servants shall drink,
    but you shall be thirsty;
behold, my servants shall rejoice,
    but you shall be put to shame;
14 behold, (CV)my servants shall sing for gladness of heart,
    but you shall cry out for pain of heart
    and shall wail for breaking of spirit.
15 You shall leave your name to (CW)my chosen (CX)for a curse,
    and the Lord God will put you to death,
    but his servants (CY)he will call by another name,
16 so that he who (CZ)blesses himself in the land
    shall bless himself by (DA)the God of truth,
and he who takes an oath in the land
    shall swear by (DB)the God of truth;
(DC)because the former troubles are forgotten
    and are hidden from my eyes.

New Heavens and a New Earth

17 “For behold, (DD)I create new heavens
    and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
    or come into mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
    in that which I create;
for behold, (DE)I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
    and her people to be a gladness.
19 (DF)I will rejoice in Jerusalem
    and be glad in my people;
(DG)no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
    and the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for (DH)the young man shall die a hundred years old,
    and (DI)the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 (DJ)They shall build houses and inhabit them;
    they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 (DK)They shall not build and another inhabit;
    they shall not plant and another eat;
(DL)for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
    and my chosen shall long enjoy[r] the work of their hands.
23 (DM)They shall not labor in vain
    (DN)or bear children for calamity,[s]
for (DO)they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
    and their descendants with them.
24 (DP)Before they call I will answer;
    (DQ)while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 (DR)The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
    the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
    and (DS)dust shall be the serpent's food.
(DT)They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

The Humble and Contrite in Spirit

66 (DU)Thus says the Lord:
(DV)“Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
    and what is the place of my rest?
(DW)All these things my hand has made,
    and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
(DX)But this is the one to whom I will look:
    he who is humble and contrite in spirit
    and trembles at my word.

(DY)“He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;
    he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck;
he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers (DZ)pig's blood;
    he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.
(EA)These have chosen their own ways,
    and their soul delights in their abominations;
(EB)I also will choose harsh treatment for them
    and bring (EC)their fears upon them,
(ED)because when I called, no one answered,
    when I spoke, they did not listen;
(EE)but they did what was evil in my eyes
    and chose that in which I did not delight.”

Hear the word of the Lord,
    you who tremble at his word:
“Your brothers who hate you
    and cast you out for my name's sake
have said, (EF)‘Let the Lord be glorified,
    that we may see your joy’;
    but it is they who shall be put to shame.

“The sound of an uproar from the city!
    A sound from the temple!
The sound of the Lord,
    (EG)rendering recompense to his enemies!

Rejoice with Jerusalem

(EH)“Before she was in labor
    she gave birth;
before her pain came upon her
    she delivered a son.
Who has heard such a thing?
    Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
    Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?
For (EI)as soon as Zion was in labor
    she brought forth her children.
Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”
    says the Lord;
“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”
    says your God.

10 (EJ)“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
    all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
    all you who mourn over her;
11 that you may nurse and be satisfied
    from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
    from her glorious abundance.”[t]

12 For thus says the Lord:
(EK)“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
    and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and (EL)you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,
    and bounced upon her knees.
13 As one whom his mother comforts,
    so (EM)I will comfort you;
    you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
    (EN)your bones shall flourish like the grass;
and (EO)the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants,
    and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.

Final Judgment and Glory of the Lord

15 “For behold, (EP)the Lord will come in fire,
    and (EQ)his chariots like the whirlwind,
to render his anger in fury,
    and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For (ER)by fire (ES)will the Lord enter into judgment,
    and by his sword, with all flesh;
    and those slain by the Lord shall be many.

17 (ET)“Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, (EU)eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.

18 “For I know[u] their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming[v] (EV)to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, 19 and I will set a sign among them. And from them (EW)I will send survivors to the nations, to (EX)Tarshish, (EY)Pul, and (EZ)Lud, who draw the bow, to (FA)Tubal and (FB)Javan, (FC)to the coastlands far away, (FD)that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. 20 (FE)And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations (FF)as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 (FG)And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.

22 “For as (FH)the new heavens and the new earth
    that I make
shall remain before me, says the Lord,
    so (FI)shall your offspring and your name remain.
23 (FJ)From new moon to new moon,
    and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
declares the Lord.

24 “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For (FK)their worm shall not die, (FL)their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 62:4 Hebrew Azubah
  2. Isaiah 62:4 Hebrew Shemamah
  3. Isaiah 62:4 Hebrew Hephzibah
  4. Isaiah 62:4 Hebrew Beulah
  5. Isaiah 62:9 Or in my holy courts
  6. Isaiah 63:3 Or their juice; also verse 6
  7. Isaiah 63:4 Or the year of my redeemed
  8. Isaiah 63:9 Or he did not afflict
  9. Isaiah 63:11 Or Then his people remembered the days of old, of Moses
  10. Isaiah 63:15 Or holy and glorious
  11. Isaiah 63:18 Or They have dispossessed your holy people for a little while
  12. Isaiah 64:2 Ch 64:1 in Hebrew
  13. Isaiah 64:5 Or in your ways is continuance, that we might be saved
  14. Isaiah 64:7 Masoretic Text; Septuagint, Syriac, Targum have delivered us into
  15. Isaiah 64:11 Or holy and glorious
  16. Isaiah 65:1 Or that did not call upon
  17. Isaiah 65:7 Or I will first measure their payment into their lap
  18. Isaiah 65:22 Hebrew shall wear out
  19. Isaiah 65:23 Or for sudden terror
  20. Isaiah 66:11 Or breast
  21. Isaiah 66:18 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew lacks know
  22. Isaiah 66:18 Hebrew and it is coming

Zion’s New Name

62 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,(A)
    for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,
till her vindication(B) shines out like the dawn,(C)
    her salvation(D) like a blazing torch.
The nations(E) will see your vindication,
    and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name(F)
    that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
You will be a crown(G) of splendor in the Lord’s hand,
    a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
No longer will they call you Deserted,(H)
    or name your land Desolate.(I)
But you will be called Hephzibah,[a](J)
    and your land Beulah[b];
for the Lord will take delight(K) in you,
    and your land will be married.(L)
As a young man marries a young woman,
    so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom(M) rejoices over his bride,
    so will your God rejoice(N) over you.

I have posted watchmen(O) on your walls, Jerusalem;
    they will never be silent day or night.
You who call on the Lord,
    give yourselves no rest,(P)
and give him no rest(Q) till he establishes Jerusalem
    and makes her the praise(R) of the earth.

The Lord has sworn(S) by his right hand
    and by his mighty arm:
“Never again will I give your grain(T)
    as food for your enemies,
and never again will foreigners drink the new wine
    for which you have toiled;
but those who harvest it will eat(U) it
    and praise the Lord,(V)
and those who gather the grapes will drink it
    in the courts of my sanctuary.”(W)

10 Pass through, pass through the gates!(X)
    Prepare the way for the people.
Build up, build up the highway!(Y)
    Remove the stones.
Raise a banner(Z) for the nations.

11 The Lord has made proclamation
    to the ends of the earth:(AA)
“Say to Daughter Zion,(AB)
    ‘See, your Savior comes!(AC)
See, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense accompanies him.’”(AD)
12 They will be called(AE) the Holy People,(AF)
    the Redeemed(AG) of the Lord;
and you will be called Sought After,
    the City No Longer Deserted.(AH)

God’s Day of Vengeance and Redemption

63 Who is this coming from Edom,(AI)
    from Bozrah,(AJ) with his garments stained crimson?(AK)
Who is this, robed in splendor,
    striding forward in the greatness of his strength?(AL)

“It is I, proclaiming victory,
    mighty to save.”(AM)

Why are your garments red,
    like those of one treading the winepress?(AN)

“I have trodden the winepress(AO) alone;
    from the nations no one was with me.
I trampled(AP) them in my anger
    and trod them down in my wrath;(AQ)
their blood spattered my garments,(AR)
    and I stained all my clothing.
It was for me the day of vengeance;(AS)
    the year for me to redeem had come.
I looked, but there was no one(AT) to help,
    I was appalled that no one gave support;
so my own arm(AU) achieved salvation for me,
    and my own wrath sustained me.(AV)
I trampled(AW) the nations in my anger;
    in my wrath I made them drunk(AX)
    and poured their blood(AY) on the ground.”

Praise and Prayer

I will tell of the kindnesses(AZ) of the Lord,
    the deeds for which he is to be praised,
    according to all the Lord has done for us—
yes, the many good things(BA)
    he has done for Israel,
    according to his compassion(BB) and many kindnesses.
He said, “Surely they are my people,(BC)
    children who will be true to me”;
    and so he became their Savior.(BD)
In all their distress he too was distressed,
    and the angel(BE) of his presence(BF) saved them.[c]
In his love and mercy he redeemed(BG) them;
    he lifted them up and carried(BH) them
    all the days of old.(BI)
10 Yet they rebelled(BJ)
    and grieved his Holy Spirit.(BK)
So he turned and became their enemy(BL)
    and he himself fought(BM) against them.

11 Then his people recalled[d] the days of old,
    the days of Moses and his people—
where is he who brought them through the sea,(BN)
    with the shepherd of his flock?(BO)
Where is he who set
    his Holy Spirit(BP) among them,
12 who sent his glorious arm(BQ) of power
    to be at Moses’ right hand,
who divided the waters(BR) before them,
    to gain for himself everlasting renown,(BS)
13 who led(BT) them through the depths?(BU)
Like a horse in open country,
    they did not stumble;(BV)
14 like cattle that go down to the plain,
    they were given rest(BW) by the Spirit of the Lord.
This is how you guided your people
    to make for yourself a glorious name.

15 Look down from heaven(BX) and see,
    from your lofty throne,(BY) holy and glorious.
Where are your zeal(BZ) and your might?
    Your tenderness and compassion(CA) are withheld(CB) from us.
16 But you are our Father,(CC)
    though Abraham does not know us
    or Israel acknowledge(CD) us;
you, Lord, are our Father,
    our Redeemer(CE) from of old is your name.
17 Why, Lord, do you make us wander(CF) from your ways
    and harden our hearts(CG) so we do not revere(CH) you?
Return(CI) for the sake of your servants,
    the tribes that are your inheritance.(CJ)
18 For a little while(CK) your people possessed your holy place,
    but now our enemies have trampled(CL) down your sanctuary.(CM)
19 We are yours from of old;
    but you have not ruled over them,
    they have not been called[e] by your name.(CN)

64 [f]Oh, that you would rend the heavens(CO) and come down,(CP)
    that the mountains(CQ) would tremble before you!
As when fire sets twigs ablaze
    and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name(CR) known to your enemies
    and cause the nations to quake(CS) before you!
For when you did awesome(CT) things that we did not expect,
    you came down, and the mountains trembled(CU) before you.
Since ancient times no one has heard,
    no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,(CV)
    who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.(CW)
You come to the help of those who gladly do right,(CX)
    who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
    you were angry.(CY)
    How then can we be saved?
All of us have become like one who is unclean,(CZ)
    and all our righteous(DA) acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,(DB)
    and like the wind our sins sweep us away.(DC)
No one(DD) calls on your name(DE)
    or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden(DF) your face from us
    and have given us over(DG) to[g] our sins.

Yet you, Lord, are our Father.(DH)
    We are the clay, you are the potter;(DI)
    we are all the work of your hand.(DJ)
Do not be angry(DK) beyond measure, Lord;
    do not remember our sins(DL) forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
    for we are all your people.(DM)
10 Your sacred cities(DN) have become a wasteland;
    even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.(DO)
11 Our holy and glorious temple,(DP) where our ancestors praised you,
    has been burned with fire,
    and all that we treasured(DQ) lies in ruins.
12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?(DR)
    Will you keep silent(DS) and punish us beyond measure?

Judgment and Salvation

65 “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
    I was found by those who did not seek me.(DT)
To a nation(DU) that did not call on my name,(DV)
    I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
All day long I have held out my hands
    to an obstinate people,(DW)
who walk in ways not good,
    pursuing their own imaginations(DX)
a people who continually provoke me
    to my very face,(DY)
offering sacrifices in gardens(DZ)
    and burning incense(EA) on altars of brick;
who sit among the graves(EB)
    and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,(EC)
    and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
    for I am too sacred(ED) for you!’
Such people are smoke(EE) in my nostrils,
    a fire that keeps burning all day.

“See, it stands written before me:
    I will not keep silent(EF) but will pay back(EG) in full;
    I will pay it back into their laps(EH)
both your sins(EI) and the sins of your ancestors,”(EJ)
    says the Lord.
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
    and defied me on the hills,(EK)
I will measure into their laps
    the full payment(EL) for their former deeds.”

This is what the Lord says:

“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes(EM)
    and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
    there is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;(EN)
    I will not destroy them all.
I will bring forth descendants(EO) from Jacob,
    and from Judah those who will possess(EP) my mountains;
my chosen(EQ) people will inherit them,
    and there will my servants live.(ER)
10 Sharon(ES) will become a pasture for flocks,(ET)
    and the Valley of Achor(EU) a resting place for herds,
    for my people who seek(EV) me.

11 “But as for you who forsake(EW) the Lord
    and forget my holy mountain,(EX)
who spread a table for Fortune
    and fill bowls of mixed wine(EY) for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,(EZ)
    and all of you will fall in the slaughter;(FA)
for I called but you did not answer,(FB)
    I spoke but you did not listen.(FC)
You did evil in my sight
    and chose what displeases me.”(FD)

13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“My servants will eat,(FE)
    but you will go hungry;(FF)
my servants will drink,(FG)
    but you will go thirsty;(FH)
my servants will rejoice,(FI)
    but you will be put to shame.(FJ)
14 My servants will sing(FK)
    out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out(FL)
    from anguish of heart
    and wail in brokenness of spirit.
15 You will leave your name
    for my chosen ones to use in their curses;(FM)
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,
    but to his servants he will give another name.(FN)
16 Whoever invokes a blessing(FO) in the land
    will do so by the one true God;(FP)
whoever takes an oath in the land
    will swear(FQ) by the one true God.
For the past troubles(FR) will be forgotten
    and hidden from my eyes.

New Heavens and a New Earth

17 “See, I will create
    new heavens and a new earth.(FS)
The former things will not be remembered,(FT)
    nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice(FU) forever
    in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem(FV) to be a delight
    and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice(FW) over Jerusalem
    and take delight(FX) in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying(FY)
    will be heard in it no more.

20 “Never again will there be in it
    an infant(FZ) who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not live out his years;(GA)
the one who dies at a hundred
    will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[h] a hundred
    will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses(GB) and dwell in them;
    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.(GC)
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,(GD)
    or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,(GE)
    so will be the days(GF) of my people;
my chosen(GG) ones will long enjoy
    the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,(GH)
    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;(GI)
for they will be a people blessed(GJ) by the Lord,
    they and their descendants(GK) with them.
24 Before they call(GL) I will answer;(GM)
    while they are still speaking(GN) I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb(GO) will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,(GP)
    and dust will be the serpent’s(GQ) food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,”(GR)
says the Lord.

Judgment and Hope

66 This is what the Lord says:

“Heaven is my throne,(GS)
    and the earth is my footstool.(GT)
Where is the house(GU) you will build for me?
    Where will my resting place be?
Has not my hand made all these things,(GV)
    and so they came into being?”
declares the Lord.

“These are the ones I look on with favor:
    those who are humble and contrite in spirit,(GW)
    and who tremble at my word.(GX)
But whoever sacrifices a bull(GY)
    is like one who kills a person,
and whoever offers a lamb
    is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever makes a grain offering
    is like one who presents pig’s(GZ) blood,
and whoever burns memorial incense(HA)
    is like one who worships an idol.
They have chosen their own ways,(HB)
    and they delight in their abominations;(HC)
so I also will choose harsh treatment for them
    and will bring on them what they dread.(HD)
For when I called, no one answered,(HE)
    when I spoke, no one listened.
They did evil(HF) in my sight
    and chose what displeases me.”(HG)

Hear the word of the Lord,
    you who tremble at his word:(HH)
“Your own people who hate(HI) you,
    and exclude you because of my name, have said,
‘Let the Lord be glorified,
    that we may see your joy!’
    Yet they will be put to shame.(HJ)
Hear that uproar from the city,
    hear that noise from the temple!
It is the sound(HK) of the Lord
    repaying(HL) his enemies all they deserve.

“Before she goes into labor,(HM)
    she gives birth;
before the pains come upon her,
    she delivers a son.(HN)
Who has ever heard of such things?
    Who has ever seen(HO) things like this?
Can a country be born in a day(HP)
    or a nation be brought forth in a moment?
Yet no sooner is Zion in labor
    than she gives birth to her children.(HQ)
Do I bring to the moment of birth(HR)
    and not give delivery?” says the Lord.
“Do I close up the womb
    when I bring to delivery?” says your God.
10 “Rejoice(HS) with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
    all you who love(HT) her;
rejoice greatly with her,
    all you who mourn(HU) over her.
11 For you will nurse(HV) and be satisfied
    at her comforting breasts;(HW)
you will drink deeply
    and delight in her overflowing abundance.”(HX)

12 For this is what the Lord says:

“I will extend peace(HY) to her like a river,(HZ)
    and the wealth(IA) of nations like a flooding stream;
you will nurse and be carried(IB) on her arm
    and dandled on her knees.
13 As a mother comforts her child,(IC)
    so will I comfort(ID) you;
    and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”

14 When you see this, your heart will rejoice(IE)
    and you will flourish(IF) like grass;
the hand(IG) of the Lord will be made known to his servants,(IH)
    but his fury(II) will be shown to his foes.
15 See, the Lord is coming with fire,(IJ)
    and his chariots(IK) are like a whirlwind;(IL)
he will bring down his anger with fury,
    and his rebuke(IM) with flames of fire.
16 For with fire(IN) and with his sword(IO)
    the Lord will execute judgment(IP) on all people,
    and many will be those slain(IQ) by the Lord.

17 “Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens,(IR) following one who is among those who eat the flesh of pigs,(IS) rats(IT) and other unclean things—they will meet their end(IU) together with the one they follow,” declares the Lord.

18 “And I, because of what they have planned and done,(IV) am about to come[i] and gather the people of all nations(IW) and languages, and they will come and see my glory.(IX)

19 “I will set a sign(IY) among them, and I will send some of those who survive(IZ) to the nations—to Tarshish,(JA) to the Libyans[j] and Lydians(JB) (famous as archers), to Tubal(JC) and Greece,(JD) and to the distant islands(JE) that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory.(JF) They will proclaim my glory among the nations. 20 And they will bring(JG) all your people, from all the nations, to my holy mountain(JH) in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,”(JI) says the Lord. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels.(JJ) 21 And I will select some of them also to be priests(JK) and Levites,” says the Lord.

22 “As the new heavens and the new earth(JL) that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure.(JM) 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath(JN) to another, all mankind will come and bow down(JO) before me,” says the Lord. 24 “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies(JP) of those who rebelled(JQ) against me; the worms(JR) that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched,(JS) and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 62:4 Hephzibah means my delight is in her.
  2. Isaiah 62:4 Beulah means married.
  3. Isaiah 63:9 Or Savior in their distress. / It was no envoy or angel / but his own presence that saved them
  4. Isaiah 63:11 Or But may he recall
  5. Isaiah 63:19 Or We are like those you have never ruled, / like those never called
  6. Isaiah 64:1 In Hebrew texts 64:1 is numbered 63:19b, and 64:2-12 is numbered 64:1-11.
  7. Isaiah 64:7 Septuagint, Syriac and Targum; Hebrew have made us melt because of
  8. Isaiah 65:20 Or the sinner who reaches
  9. Isaiah 66:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
  10. Isaiah 66:19 Some Septuagint manuscripts Put (Libyans); Hebrew Pul