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The Lord Judges and Saves

65 The Lord says, “I made myself known to those who were not asking for me.
    I was found by those who were not trying to find me.
I spoke to a nation that did not pray to me.
    ‘Here I am,’ I said. ‘Here I am.’
All day long I have held out my hands
    to welcome a stubborn nation.
They lead sinful lives.
    They go where their evil thoughts take them.
They are always making me very angry.
    They do it right in front of me.
They offer sacrifices in the gardens of other gods.
    They burn incense on altars that are made out of bricks.
They sit among the graves.
    They spend their nights talking to the spirits of the dead.
They eat the meat of pigs.
    Their cooking pots hold soup that has ‘unclean’ meat in it.
They say, ‘Keep away! Don’t come near us!
    We are too sacred for you!’
Those people are like smoke in my nose.
    They are like a fire that keeps burning all day.

“I will judge them. I have even written it down.
    I will not keep silent.
    Instead, I will pay them back for all their sins.
I will punish them for their sins.
    I will also punish them for the sins of their people before them.”
    This is what the Lord says.
“They burned sacrifices on the mountains.
    They disobeyed me by worshiping other gods on the hills.
So I will make sure they are fully punished
    for all the sins they have committed.”

The Lord says,

“Sometimes juice is still left in grapes that have been crushed.
    So people say, ‘Don’t destroy them.’
    They are still of some benefit.”
That is what I will do for the good of those who serve me.
    I will not destroy all my people.
I will give children
    to the families of Jacob and Judah.
    They will possess my entire land.
My chosen people will be given all of it.
    Those who serve me will live there.
10 Their flocks will eat in the rich grasslands of Sharon.
    Their herds will rest in the Valley of Achor.
    That is what I will do for my people who follow me.

11 “But some of you have deserted me.
    You no longer worship on my holy mountain of Zion.
You spread a table for the god called Good Fortune.
    You offer bowls of mixed wine to the god named Fate.
12 So I will make it your fate to be killed by swords.
    All of you will die in the battle.
That’s because I called out to you, but you did not answer me.
    I spoke to you, but you did not listen.
You did what is evil in my sight.
    You chose to do what does not please me.”

13 So the Lord and King says,

“Those who serve me will have food to eat.
    But you will be hungry.
My servants will have plenty to drink.
    But you will be thirsty.
Those who serve me will be full of joy.
    But you will be put to shame.
14 My servants will sing
    with joy in their hearts.
But you will cry out
    because of the great pain in your hearts.
    You will cry because your spirits are sad.
15 My chosen ones will use your names
    when they curse others.
I am your Lord and King.
    I will put you to death.
    But I will give new names to those who serve me.
16 They will ask me to bless their land.
    They will do it in my name.
    I am the one true God.
They will make promises in their land.
    They will do it in my name.
    I am the one true God.
The troubles of the past will be forgotten.
    They will be hidden from my eyes.

The Lord Will Create New Heavens and a New Earth

17 “I will create new heavens and a new earth.
    The things that have happened before will not be remembered.
    They will not even enter your minds.
18 So be glad and full of joy forever
    because of what I will create.
I will cause others to take delight in Jerusalem.
    They will be filled with joy
    when they see its people.
19 And I will be full of joy because of Jerusalem.
    I will take delight in my people.
Weeping and crying
    will not be heard there anymore.

20 “Babies in Jerusalem will no longer
    live only a few days.
Old people will not fail
    to live for a very long time.
Those who live to the age of 100
    will be thought of as mere children when they die.
Those who die before they are 100
    will be considered as having been under God’s curse.
21 My people will build houses and live in them.
    They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will no longer build houses
    only to have others live in them.
They will no longer plant crops
    only to have others eat them.
My people will live to be as old as trees.
    My chosen ones will enjoy for a long time
    the things they have worked for.
23 Their work will not be worthless anymore.
    They will not have children who are sure to face sudden terror.
Instead, I will bless them.
    I will also bless their children after them.
24 Even before they call out to me, I will answer them.
    While they are still speaking, I will hear them.
25 Wolves and lambs will eat together.
    Lions will eat straw like oxen.
    Serpents will eat nothing but dust.
None of those animals will harm or destroy
    anything or anyone on my holy mountain of Zion,”
    says the Lord.

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.(A)
To a nation(B) that did not call on my name,(C)
    I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
All day long I have held out my hands
    to an obstinate people,(D)
who walk in ways not good,
    pursuing their own imaginations(E)
a people who continually provoke me
    to my very face,(F)
offering sacrifices in gardens(G)
    and burning incense(H) on altars of brick;
who sit among the graves(I)
    and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,(J)
    and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
    for I am too sacred(K) for you!’
Such people are smoke(L) in my nostrils,
    a fire that keeps burning all day.

“See, it stands written before me:
    I will not keep silent(M) but will pay back(N) in full;
    I will pay it back into their laps(O)
both your sins(P) and the sins of your ancestors,”(Q)
    says the Lord.
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
    and defied me on the hills,(R)
I will measure into their laps
    the full payment(S) for their former deeds.”

This is what the Lord says:

“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes(T)
    and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
    there is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;(U)
    I will not destroy them all.
I will bring forth descendants(V) from Jacob,
    and from Judah those who will possess(W) my mountains;
my chosen(X) people will inherit them,
    and there will my servants live.(Y)
10 Sharon(Z) will become a pasture for flocks,(AA)
    and the Valley of Achor(AB) a resting place for herds,
    for my people who seek(AC) me.

11 “But as for you who forsake(AD) the Lord
    and forget my holy mountain,(AE)
who spread a table for Fortune
    and fill bowls of mixed wine(AF) for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,(AG)
    and all of you will fall in the slaughter;(AH)
for I called but you did not answer,(AI)
    I spoke but you did not listen.(AJ)
You did evil in my sight
    and chose what displeases me.”(AK)

13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“My servants will eat,(AL)
    but you will go hungry;(AM)
my servants will drink,(AN)
    but you will go thirsty;(AO)
my servants will rejoice,(AP)
    but you will be put to shame.(AQ)
14 My servants will sing(AR)
    out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out(AS)
    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;(AT)
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,
    but to his servants he will give another name.(AU)
16 Whoever invokes a blessing(AV) in the land
    will do so by the one true God;(AW)
whoever takes an oath in the land
    will swear(AX) by the one true God.
For the past troubles(AY) 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.(AZ)
The former things will not be remembered,(BA)
    nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice(BB) forever
    in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem(BC) to be a delight
    and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice(BD) over Jerusalem
    and take delight(BE) in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying(BF)
    will be heard in it no more.

20 “Never again will there be in it
    an infant(BG) who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not live out his years;(BH)
the one who dies at a hundred
    will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred
    will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses(BI) and dwell in them;
    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.(BJ)
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,(BK)
    or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,(BL)
    so will be the days(BM) of my people;
my chosen(BN) ones will long enjoy
    the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,(BO)
    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;(BP)
for they will be a people blessed(BQ) by the Lord,
    they and their descendants(BR) with them.
24 Before they call(BS) I will answer;(BT)
    while they are still speaking(BU) I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb(BV) will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,(BW)
    and dust will be the serpent’s(BX) food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,”(BY)
says the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 65:20 Or the sinner who reaches

65 I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.

I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;

A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;

Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;

Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.

Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom,

Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom.

Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all.

And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.

10 And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.

11 But ye are they that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.

12 Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.

13 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed:

14 Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.

15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:

16 That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes.

17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.

20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.

21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.

24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.