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Isaiah 64-66
New International Version
Isaiah 64-66
New International Version
64 [a]Oh, that you would rend the heavens(A) and come down,(B)
that the mountains(C) would tremble before you!
2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze
and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name(D) known to your enemies
and cause the nations to quake(E) before you!
3 For when you did awesome(F) things that we did not expect,
you came down, and the mountains trembled(G) before you.
4 Since ancient times no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,(H)
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.(I)
5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right,(J)
who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
you were angry.(K)
How then can we be saved?
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,(L)
and all our righteous(M) acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,(N)
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.(O)
7 No one(P) calls on your name(Q)
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden(R) your face from us
and have given us over(S) to[b] our sins.
8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father.(T)
We are the clay, you are the potter;(U)
we are all the work of your hand.(V)
9 Do not be angry(W) beyond measure, Lord;
do not remember our sins(X) forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
for we are all your people.(Y)
10 Your sacred cities(Z) have become a wasteland;
even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.(AA)
11 Our holy and glorious temple,(AB) where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned with fire,
and all that we treasured(AC) lies in ruins.
12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?(AD)
Will you keep silent(AE) 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.(AF)
To a nation(AG) that did not call on my name,(AH)
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
2 All day long I have held out my hands
to an obstinate people,(AI)
who walk in ways not good,
pursuing their own imaginations(AJ)—
3 a people who continually provoke me
to my very face,(AK)
offering sacrifices in gardens(AL)
and burning incense(AM) on altars of brick;
4 who sit among the graves(AN)
and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,(AO)
and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
5 who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
for I am too sacred(AP) for you!’
Such people are smoke(AQ) in my nostrils,
a fire that keeps burning all day.
6 “See, it stands written before me:
I will not keep silent(AR) but will pay back(AS) in full;
I will pay it back into their laps(AT)—
7 both your sins(AU) and the sins of your ancestors,”(AV)
says the Lord.
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
and defied me on the hills,(AW)
I will measure into their laps
the full payment(AX) for their former deeds.”
8 This is what the Lord says:
“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes(AY)
and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
there is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;(AZ)
I will not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth descendants(BA) from Jacob,
and from Judah those who will possess(BB) my mountains;
my chosen(BC) people will inherit them,
and there will my servants live.(BD)
10 Sharon(BE) will become a pasture for flocks,(BF)
and the Valley of Achor(BG) a resting place for herds,
for my people who seek(BH) me.
11 “But as for you who forsake(BI) the Lord
and forget my holy mountain,(BJ)
who spread a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine(BK) for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,(BL)
and all of you will fall in the slaughter;(BM)
for I called but you did not answer,(BN)
I spoke but you did not listen.(BO)
You did evil in my sight
and chose what displeases me.”(BP)
13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“My servants will eat,(BQ)
but you will go hungry;(BR)
my servants will drink,(BS)
but you will go thirsty;(BT)
my servants will rejoice,(BU)
but you will be put to shame.(BV)
14 My servants will sing(BW)
out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out(BX)
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;(BY)
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,
but to his servants he will give another name.(BZ)
16 Whoever invokes a blessing(CA) in the land
will do so by the one true God;(CB)
whoever takes an oath in the land
will swear(CC) by the one true God.
For the past troubles(CD) 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.(CE)
The former things will not be remembered,(CF)
nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice(CG) forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem(CH) to be a delight
and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice(CI) over Jerusalem
and take delight(CJ) in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying(CK)
will be heard in it no more.
20 “Never again will there be in it
an infant(CL) who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;(CM)
the one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[c] a hundred
will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses(CN) and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.(CO)
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,(CP)
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,(CQ)
so will be the days(CR) of my people;
my chosen(CS) ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,(CT)
nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;(CU)
for they will be a people blessed(CV) by the Lord,
they and their descendants(CW) with them.
24 Before they call(CX) I will answer;(CY)
while they are still speaking(CZ) I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb(DA) will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,(DB)
and dust will be the serpent’s(DC) food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,”(DD)
says the Lord.
Judgment and Hope
66 This is what the Lord says:
“Heaven is my throne,(DE)
and the earth is my footstool.(DF)
Where is the house(DG) you will build for me?
Where will my resting place be?
2 Has not my hand made all these things,(DH)
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,(DI)
and who tremble at my word.(DJ)
3 But whoever sacrifices a bull(DK)
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(DL) blood,
and whoever burns memorial incense(DM)
is like one who worships an idol.
They have chosen their own ways,(DN)
and they delight in their abominations;(DO)
4 so I also will choose harsh treatment for them
and will bring on them what they dread.(DP)
For when I called, no one answered,(DQ)
when I spoke, no one listened.
They did evil(DR) in my sight
and chose what displeases me.”(DS)
5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you who tremble at his word:(DT)
“Your own people who hate(DU) 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.(DV)
6 Hear that uproar from the city,
hear that noise from the temple!
It is the sound(DW) of the Lord
repaying(DX) his enemies all they deserve.
7 “Before she goes into labor,(DY)
she gives birth;
before the pains come upon her,
she delivers a son.(DZ)
8 Who has ever heard of such things?
Who has ever seen(EA) things like this?
Can a country be born in a day(EB)
or a nation be brought forth in a moment?
Yet no sooner is Zion in labor
than she gives birth to her children.(EC)
9 Do I bring to the moment of birth(ED)
and not give delivery?” says the Lord.
“Do I close up the womb
when I bring to delivery?” says your God.
10 “Rejoice(EE) with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
all you who love(EF) her;
rejoice greatly with her,
all you who mourn(EG) over her.
11 For you will nurse(EH) and be satisfied
at her comforting breasts;(EI)
you will drink deeply
and delight in her overflowing abundance.”(EJ)
12 For this is what the Lord says:
“I will extend peace(EK) to her like a river,(EL)
and the wealth(EM) of nations like a flooding stream;
you will nurse and be carried(EN) on her arm
and dandled on her knees.
13 As a mother comforts her child,(EO)
so will I comfort(EP) you;
and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”
14 When you see this, your heart will rejoice(EQ)
and you will flourish(ER) like grass;
the hand(ES) of the Lord will be made known to his servants,(ET)
but his fury(EU) will be shown to his foes.
15 See, the Lord is coming with fire,(EV)
and his chariots(EW) are like a whirlwind;(EX)
he will bring down his anger with fury,
and his rebuke(EY) with flames of fire.
16 For with fire(EZ) and with his sword(FA)
the Lord will execute judgment(FB) on all people,
and many will be those slain(FC) by the Lord.
17 “Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens,(FD) following one who is among those who eat the flesh of pigs,(FE) rats(FF) and other unclean things—they will meet their end(FG) together with the one they follow,” declares the Lord.
18 “And I, because of what they have planned and done,(FH) am about to come[d] and gather the people of all nations(FI) and languages, and they will come and see my glory.(FJ)
19 “I will set a sign(FK) among them, and I will send some of those who survive(FL) to the nations—to Tarshish,(FM) to the Libyans[e] and Lydians(FN) (famous as archers), to Tubal(FO) and Greece,(FP) and to the distant islands(FQ) that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory.(FR) They will proclaim my glory among the nations. 20 And they will bring(FS) all your people, from all the nations, to my holy mountain(FT) in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,”(FU) says the Lord. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels.(FV) 21 And I will select some of them also to be priests(FW) and Levites,” says the Lord.
22 “As the new heavens and the new earth(FX) that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure.(FY) 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath(FZ) to another, all mankind will come and bow down(GA) before me,” says the Lord. 24 “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies(GB) of those who rebelled(GC) against me; the worms(GD) that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched,(GE) and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:1 In Hebrew texts 64:1 is numbered 63:19b, and 64:2-12 is numbered 64:1-11.
- Isaiah 64:7 Septuagint, Syriac and Targum; Hebrew have made us melt because of
- Isaiah 65:20 Or the sinner who reaches
- Isaiah 66:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
- Isaiah 66:19 Some Septuagint manuscripts Put (Libyans); Hebrew Pul
Isaiah 64-66
Amplified Bible
Isaiah 64-66
Amplified Bible
Prayer for Mercy and Help
64 Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and come down,
That the mountains might quake at Your presence—
2
As [sure as] fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at Your presence!
3
When You did awesome and amazing things which we did not expect,
You came down [at Sinai]; the mountains quaked at Your presence.
4
For from days of old no one has heard, nor has ear perceived,
Nor has the eye [a]seen a God besides You,
Who works and acts in behalf of the one who [gladly] waits for Him.
5
You meet him who rejoices in doing that which is morally right,
Who remembers You in Your ways.
Indeed, You were angry, for we sinned;
We have long continued in our sins [prolonging Your anger].
And shall we be saved [under such circumstances]?
6
For we all have become like one who is [ceremonially] unclean [like a leper],
And all our deeds of righteousness are like filthy rags;
We all wither and decay like a leaf,
And our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing], like the wind, takes us away [carrying us far from God’s favor, toward destruction].(A)
7
There is no one who calls on Your name,
Who awakens and causes himself to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us
And have handed us over to the [consuming and destructive] power of our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing].(B)
8
Yet, O Lord, You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our Potter,
And we all are the work of Your hand.
9
Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord,
Do not remember our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing] forever.
Now look, consider, for we are all Your people.
10
[b]Your holy cities have become a wilderness,
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11
Our holy and beautiful house [the temple built by Solomon],
Where our fathers praised You,
Has been burned by fire;
And all our precious objects are in ruins.
12
Considering these [tragedies], will You restrain Yourself, O Lord [and not help us]?
Will You keep silent and humiliate and oppress us beyond measure?
A Rebellious People
65 “I let Myself be sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I let Myself be found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’
To the nation [Israel] which did not call on My Name.(C)
2
“I have spread out My hands all the day long to a rebellious and stubborn people,
Who walk in the way that is not good, [following] after their own thoughts and intentions,
3
The people who continually provoke Me to My face,
Sacrificing [to idols] in gardens and making offerings with incense on bricks [instead of at the designated altar];
4
Who sit among the graves [trying to conjure up evil spirits] and spend the night in the secret places [where spirits are thought to dwell];
Who eat swine’s flesh,
And their pots hold the broth of [c]unclean meat;
5
Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me,
For I [d]am too holy for you [and you might defile me]!’
These [people] are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.
6
“Indeed, it is written before Me,
I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will even repay it [directly] into their [e]arms,
7
Both your own wickedness and the wickedness of your fathers,” says the Lord.
“Since they too have made offerings with incense on the mountains
And scorned and taunted Me on the hills,
I therefore will measure [punishment for] their former work [directly] into their [f]arms.”
8 This is what the Lord says,
“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing and benefit in it,’
So I will do for the sake of My servants
In order not to destroy all of them.
9
“I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
And an heir of My mountains from Judah;
Even My chosen ones shall inherit it,
And My servants will live there.
10
“And [the plain of] Sharon will be a place for flocks to graze,
And the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
For My people who seek Me [who long for Me and require My presence in their lives].
11
“But you who abandon (turn away from) the Lord,
Who forget and ignore My holy mountain (Zion),
Who set a table for Gad [the Babylonian god of fortune],
And who fill a jug of mixed wine for Meni [the god of fate],
12
I will destine you for the sword, [says the Lord],
And all of you will bow down to the slaughter,
Because when I called, you did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not listen or obey.
But you did [what was] evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”
13 Therefore, the Lord God says this,
“Listen carefully, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry;
Indeed, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty;
Indeed, My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
14
“Indeed, My servants will shout for joy from a happy heart,
But you will cry out with a heavy heart,
And you shall wail and howl from a broken spirit.
15
“And you will leave your name behind to My chosen ones [who will use it] as a curse,
And the Lord God will put you to death,
But He will call His servants by another name [a much greater name, just as the name Israel was greater than the name Jacob].(D)
16
“Because he who blesses himself on the earth
Will bless himself by the God of truth and faithfulness;
And he who swears [an oath] on the earth
Will swear by the God of truth and faithfulness;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My sight.(E)
New Heavens and a New Earth
17
“Behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things [of life] will not be remembered or come to mind.(F)
18
“But be glad and rejoice forever over what I create;
Behold, I am creating Jerusalem to be a source of rejoicing
And her people a joy.
19
“I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
20
“No longer shall there be [g]in it an infant who lives only a few days,
Or an old man who does not finish his days;
For the youth who dies at the age of a hundred,
And the one who does not reach the age of a hundred
Will be thought of as accursed.
21
“They will build houses and live in them;
They will plant vineyards and eat the fruit.
22
“They will not build and another occupy;
They will not plant and another eat [the fruit].
For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,
And My chosen [people] will fully enjoy [and long make use of] the work of their hands.
23
“They will not labor in vain,
Or bear children for disaster;
For they are the descendants of those blessed by the Lord,
And their offspring with them.
24 “It shall also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.(G) 25 The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox [there will no longer be predator and prey]; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain (Zion),” says the Lord.
Heaven Is God’s Throne
66 This is what the Lord says,
“Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.
Where, then, is a house that you could build for Me?
And where will My resting place be?(H)
2
“For all these things My hand has made,
So all these things came into being [by and for Me],” declares the Lord.
“But to this one I will look [graciously],
To him who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who [reverently] trembles at My word and honors My commands.(I)
Hypocrisy Rebuked
3
“He who kills an ox [for pagan sacrifice] is [as guilty] as one who kills a man;
He who sacrifices a lamb, as one who breaks a dog’s neck;
He who offers a grain offering, as one who offers swine’s blood;
He who offers incense, as one who blesses an idol.
Such people have chosen their own ways,
And their soul delights in their repulsive acts;
4
So I will choose their punishments,
And will bring the things they dread upon them
Because I called, but no one answered;
I spoke, but they did not listen or obey.
But they did evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”
5
Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble [with awe-filled reverence] at His word:
“Your brothers who hate you, who exclude you for My Name’s sake,
Have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy.’
But they will be put to shame.
6
“The sound of an uproar from the city! A voice from the temple!
The voice of the Lord, providing retribution to His enemies.
7
“Before she (Zion) was in labor, she gave birth;
Before her labor pain came, she gave birth to a boy.
8
“Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things?
Can a land [h]be born in one day?
Or can a nation be brought forth in a moment?
As soon as Zion was in labor, she also brought forth her sons.
9
“Shall I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” says the Lord.
“Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God.
Joy in Jerusalem’s Future
10
“Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her;
Rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her,
11
That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts,
That you may drink deeply and be delighted with her bountiful bosom.”
12
For the Lord says this, “Behold, I extend peace to her (Jerusalem) like a river,
And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
And you will be nursed, you will be carried on her hip and [playfully] rocked on her knees.
13
“As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you;
And you will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
14
When you see this, your heart will rejoice;
Your bones will flourish like new grass.
And the [powerful] hand of the Lord will be revealed to His servants,
But His indignation will be toward His enemies.
15
For indeed, the Lord will come in fire
And His chariots will be like the stormy wind,
To render His anger with rage,
And His rebuke with flames of fire.
16
For the Lord will execute judgment by fire
And by His sword on all mankind,
And those slain by the Lord will be many.
17
“Those who [vainly attempt to] sanctify and cleanse themselves to go to the gardens [to sacrifice to idols],
Following after [i]one in the center,
Who eat swine’s flesh, [j]detestable things and mice,
Will come to an end together,” says the Lord.
18 “For I know their works and their thoughts. The time is coming to gather all nations and languages, and they will come and see My glory. 19 I will set up a [miraculous] sign among them, and from them I will send survivors to the nations: Tarshish, Pul (Put), Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant islands and coastlands that have not heard of My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare and proclaim My glory among the nations. 20 Then they shall bring all your countrymen (children of Israel) from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels—to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 I will also take some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
22
“For just as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I make will remain and endure before Me,” declares the Lord,
“So your offspring and your name will remain and endure.
23
“And it shall be that from New Moon to New Moon
And from Sabbath to Sabbath,
All mankind will come to bow down and worship before Me,” says the Lord.
24
“Then they will go forth and look
Upon the dead bodies of the [rebellious] men
Who have transgressed against Me;
For their worm (maggot) will not die,
And their fire will not go out;
And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:4 Or seen, O God, besides You, what He will do.... The ancient rabbis favored this translation or a variation of it, and some suggested that the unexpressed object (what) is wine preserved since the creation, or Eden. They all applied this verse to the future that follows the millennial kingdom, and was mostly a mystery to them. Heaven, or specifically the New Jerusalem, that follows the kingdom was partially revealed to John in Revelation. There is a story in the Talmud that when King Ahasuerus held a great banquet in Susa for seven days (Esth 1:5), he arrogantly asked the Jews if God could do better for them than that. They quoted this line to him in reply, and said that in the time to come if God provided nothing better for them than this feast, they could tell Him that they had already enjoyed such a feast at the table of Ahasuerus.
- Isaiah 64:10 After the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in a.d. 70 it became a religious tradition among the rabbis to recite vv 10 and 11 and to rip a tear in their robes whenever they saw the ruins.
- Isaiah 65:4 Meat that is ceremonially unclean or has been kept until the third day.
- Isaiah 65:5 Or would transfer holiness to you (and thereby make the recipient subject to inconvenient restrictions).
- Isaiah 65:6 Or bosom, i.e. the fold in the outer robe where personal items are sometimes kept.
- Isaiah 65:7 Or bosom.
- Isaiah 65:20 Lit from there.
- Isaiah 66:8 Never in the history of the world had such a thing happened before—but God keeps His word. As foretold here and in Ezek 37:21, 22, Israel became a recognized nation, actually “born in one day.” After being away from their homeland for almost 2,000 years, the Jews were given a national homeland in Palestine by the Balfour Declaration in November 1917. In 1922, the League of Nations gave Great Britain the mandate over Palestine. On May 14, 1948, Great Britain withdrew her mandate, and immediately Israel was declared a sovereign state, and her growth and importance among nations was astonishing.
- Isaiah 66:17 Perhaps referring to the image of the Syrian god Adad. Some commentators also suggest that this may refer to the cultic leader in the center who shows by his example how to conduct the ceremonies.
- Isaiah 66:17 This may refer to a reptile of some kind.
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