Isaiah 64-66
Complete Jewish Bible
64 (2) It would be like fire kindling the brush,
and the fire then makes the water boil.
Then your enemies would know your name,
the nations would tremble before you!
2 (3) When you did tremendous things
that we were not expecting,
we wished that you would come down,
so that the mountains would shake at your presence!
3 (4) No one has ever heard,
no ear perceived, no eye seen,
any God but you.
You work for him who waits for you.
4 (5) You favored those who were glad to do justice,
those who remembered you in your ways.
When you were angry, we kept sinning;
but if we keep your ancient ways, we will be saved.
5 (6) All of us are like someone unclean,
all our righteous deeds like menstrual rags;
we wither, all of us, like leaves;
and our misdeeds blow us away like the wind.
6 (7) No one calls on your name
or bestirs himself to take hold of you,
for you have hidden your face from us
and caused our misdeeds to destroy us.
7 (8) But now, Adonai, you are our father;
we are the clay, you are our potter;
and we are all the work of your hands.
8 (9) Do not be so very angry, Adonai!
Don’t remember crime forever.
Look, please, we are all your people.
9 (10) Your holy cities have become a desert,
Tziyon a desert, Yerushalayim a ruin.
10 (11) Our holy, beautiful house,
where our ancestors used to praise you,
has been burned to the ground;
all we cherished has been ruined.
11 (12) Adonai, after all this,
will you still hold back?
Will you still stay silent
and punish us past endurance?
65 “I made myself accessible
to those who didn’t ask for me,
I let myself be found
by those who didn’t seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’
to a nation not called by my name.
2 I spread out my hands all day long
to a rebellious people
who live in a way that is not good,
who follow their own inclinations;
3 a people who provoke me to my face all the time,
sacrificing in gardens and burning incense on bricks.
4 They sit among the graves
and spend the night in caverns;
they eat pig meat
and their pots hold soup made from disgusting things.
5 They say, ‘Keep your distance, don’t come near me,
because I am holier than you.’
These are smoke in my nose,
a fire that burns all day!
6 See, it is written before me;
I will not be silent until I repay them;
I will repay them to the full,
7 your own crimes and those of your ancestors together,”
says Adonai.
“They offered incense on the mountains
and insulted me on the hills.
First I will measure out their wages
and then repay them in full.”
8 Here is what Adonai says:
“As when juice is found in a cluster of grapes,
and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
there is still some good in it,’
so I will do likewise for the sake of my servants,
and not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth descendants from Ya‘akov,
heirs of my mountains from Y’hudah;
my chosen ones will possess them,
and my servants will live there.
10 The Sharon will be a pasture for flocks,
the Akhor Valley a place for cattle to rest,
for my people who have sought me.
11 “But as for you who abandon Adonai,
who forget my holy mountain,
who prepare a table for a Gad, a god of luck,
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Meni, a god of destiny —
12 I will destine you to the sword,
you will all bow down to be slaughtered;
because when I called, you did not answer;
when I spoke, you did not hear,
but did what was evil from my point of view
and chose what did not please me.”
13 Therefore this is what Adonai Elohim says:
“My servants will eat, while you go hungry;
my servants will drink, while you go thirsty.
My servants will rejoice,
while you will be ashamed.
14 Yes, my servants will sing for joy from their hearts,
but you will cry out from the pain in your heart
and howl from an anguished spirit.
15 My chosen will use your name as a curse —
‘May Adonai Elohim strike you dead!’
But to his servants he will give another name.
16 Thus someone on earth who blesses himself
will bless himself by the God of truth,
and someone on earth who swears an oath
will swear by the God of truth;
for past troubles will be forgotten,
hidden from my eyes.
17 “For, look! I create new heavens
and a new earth;
past things will not be remembered,
they will no more come to mind.
18 So be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for look! I am making Yerushalayim a joy,
and her people a delight.
19 I will rejoice in Yerushalayim
and take joy in my people.
The sound of weeping will no longer be heard in it,
no longer the sound of crying.
20 No more will babies die in infancy,
no more will an old man die short of his days —
he who dies at a hundred will be thought young,
and at less than a hundred thought cursed.
21 They will build houses and live in them,
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will not build and others live there,
they will not plant and others eat;
for the days of my people
will be like the days of a tree,
and my chosen will themselves enjoy
the use of what they make.
23 They will not toil in vain
or raise children to be destroyed,
for they are the seed blessed by Adonai;
and their offspring with them.
24 Before they call, I will answer;
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion eat straw like an ox
(but the serpent — its food will be dust).
They will not hurt or destroy
anywhere on my holy mountain,”
says Adonai.
66 “Heaven is my throne,” says Adonai,
“and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house could you build for me?
What sort of place could you devise for my rest?
2 Didn’t I myself make all these things?
This is how they all came to be,”
says Adonai.
“The kind of person on whom I look with favor
is one with a poor and humble spirit,
who trembles at my word.
3 Those others might as well kill a person as an ox,
as well break a dog’s neck as sacrifice a lamb,
as well offer pig’s blood as offer a grain offering,
as well bless an idol as burn incense.
Just as these have chosen their ways
and enjoy their disgusting practices,
4 so I will enjoy making fools of them,
and bring on them the very things they fear.
For when I called, no one answered;
when I spoke, they did not hear.
Instead they did what was evil in my sight
and chose what did not please me.”
5 Hear the word of Adonai,
you who tremble at his word:
“Your brothers, who hate you and reject you
because of my name, have said:
‘Let Adonai be glorified,
so we can see your joy.’
But they will be put to shame.”
6 That uproar in the city,
that sound from the temple,
is the sound of Adonai repaying
his foes what they deserve.
7 Before going into labor, she gave birth;
before her pains came, she delivered a male child.
8 Who ever heard of such a thing?
Who has ever seen such things?
Is a country born in one day?
Is a nation brought forth all at once?
For as soon as Tziyon went into labor,
she brought forth her children.
9 “Would I let the baby break through
and not be born?” asks Adonai.
“Would I, who cause the birth,
shut the womb?” asks your God.
10 Rejoice with Yerushalayim!
Be glad with her, all you who love her!
Rejoice, rejoice with her,
all of you who mourned for her;
11 so that you nurse and are satisfied
by her comforting breast,
drinking deeply and delighting
in the overflow of her glory.
12 For Adonai says, “I will spread shalom
over her like a river,
and the wealth of nations
like a flooding stream;
you will nurse and be carried in her arm
and cuddled in her lap.
13 Like someone comforted by his mother,
I will comfort you;
in Yerushalayim
you will be comforted.”
14 Your heart will rejoice at the sight,
your bodies will flourish like newly sprouted grass.
It will be known that the hand of Adonai
is with his servants; but with his enemies, his fury.
15 For — look! — Adonai will come in fire,
and his chariots will be like the whirlwind,
to render his anger furiously,
his rebuke with blazing fire.
16 For Adonai will judge all humanity
with fire and with the sword,
and those slain by Adonai will be many.
17 “Those who consecrate and purify themselves
in order to enter the gardens,
then follow the one who was already there,
eating pig meat, reptiles and mice,
will all be destroyed together,” says Adonai.
18 “For I [know] their deeds and their thoughts.
“[The time] is coming when I will gather together all nations and languages. They will come and see my glory, 19 and I will give them a sign. I will send some of their survivors to the nations of Tarshish, Pul, Lud (these are archers), Tuval, Greece and more distant coasts, where they have neither heard of my fame nor seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory in these nations; 20 and they will bring all your kinsmen out of all the nations as an offering to Adonai — on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, on camels — to my holy mountain Yerushalayim,” says Adonai, “just as the people of Isra’el themselves bring their offerings in clean vessels to the house of Adonai. 21 I will also take cohanim and L’vi’im from them,” says Adonai.
22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making will continue in my presence,” says Adonai, “so will your descendants and your name continue.
23 “Every month on Rosh-Hodesh
and every week on Shabbat,
everyone living will come
to worship in my presence,” says Adonai.
24 “As they leave, they will look on the corpses
of the people who rebelled against me.
For their worm will never die,
and their fire will never be quenched;
but they will be abhorrent
to all humanity.”
[“Every month on Rosh-Hodesh
and every week on Shabbat,
everyone living will come
to worship in my presence,” says Adonai.]
Yeshayah 64-66
Orthodox Jewish Bible
64 O, that Thou wouldest rend Shomayim, that Thou wouldest come down, so that the harim might shake at Thy presence,
2 (64:1) As eish burneth brushwood, eish causeth the mayim to boil, [O, that Thou wouldst come down] to make Thy Shem known to Thine adversaries, that the Goyim might tremble at Thy presence!
3 (2) When Thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, Thou camest down, the harim shook at Thy presence.
4 (3) For me’olam (since ancient times) no one hath heard, nor perceived by the ozen, neither hath the ayin seen any Elohim besides Thee, Who acts on behalf of him that waiteth for Him.
5 (4) Thou meetest with him that rejoiceth to work tzedek, those that remember Thee in Thy drakhim; see, Thou art in wrath; for we have been in sins; in them a long time, and shall we be saved?
6 (5) But we are all as the tameh (unclean thing), and kol tzidkoteinu (all our righteousness, our righteous deeds, works) are like beged iddim (filthy rags, a garment of menstruation); and we all do fade like the aleh (leaf); and avoneinu (our iniquities), like the ruach, have taken us away.
7 (6) And there is none that calleth upon Thy Shem, that stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee; for Thou hast hid Thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of avoneinu.
8 (7) But now, Hashem, Thou art Avinu (Our Father); we are the chomer (clay), and Thou, Yotzreinu (our Potter, Maker, Creator); and we all are the ma’aseh (work) of Thy yad.
9 (8) Be not in wrath ad me’od, Hashem, neither remember avon forever; behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all Thy people.
10 (9) Arei Kadsheicha (Thy holy cities) are a midbar, Tziyon is a midbar, Yerushalayim, a desolation.
11 (10) Beis Kadsheinu v’Tifarteinu, where Avoteinu praised Thee, is burned up with eish; and kol machamadeinu (all our desiring) is in ruins.
12 (11) Wilt Thou refrain Thyself after these things, Hashem? Wilt Thou hold Thy peace, and afflict us ad me’od?
65 I let Myself be sought of them that asked not for Me; I let Myself be found of them that sought me not; I said, Hineni, behold Me, unto a Goy (Nation, People) that was not called by My Shem.
2 I have spread out My yad kol hayom unto an Am Sorer (stubbornly rebellious people), which walketh in a derech lo tov, after their own machshevot (thoughts);
3 HaAm that provoketh Me to anger continually to My face; that sacrificeth in ganot (gardens), and burneth sacrifices upon brick;
4 Which remain among the kevarim, and spend the night in closed places, which eat basar hachazir, and broth of piggulim (unclean meat, Lv.7:18) in their vessels;
5 Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am kadosh to thee (holier than thou). These are a smoke in My nose, an eish that burneth kol hayom.
6 Hinei, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but will recompense fully, even recompense into their kheyk,
7 Your avonot, and the iniquities of your avot together, saith Hashem, because they burned sacrifices upon the mountains, and insulted Me upon the hills; therefore will I measure their former peulot into their kheyk.
8 Thus saith Hashem, As the tirosh is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a brocha is in it; so will I do in behalf of My Servants, that I may not destroy them all.
9 And I will bring forth a zera out of Ya’akov, and out of Yehudah a yoresh (inheritor) of My mountains; and Mine Bechir (Chosen ones) shall inherit it, and My Servants shall dwell there.
10 And Sharon shall be a meadow for tzon, and the valley of Achor a place for the flock to lie down, for Ami (My People) who seek Me.
11 But ye are they that forsake Hashem, that forget My Har Kadosh, that prepare a shulchan for Fortune, and that furnish the drink offering for Destiny.
12 Therefore will I destine you for the cherev, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughtering place; because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spoke, ye did not hear; but did the rah before Mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.
13 Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem, Hinei, My Servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; hinei, My Servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; hinei, My Servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed;
14 Hinei, My Servants shall sing for joy of lev, but ye shall cry out from anguish of lev, and shall wail from brokenness of ruach.
15 And ye shall leave your shem for a curse unto My Bechir; for Adonoi Hashem shall put thee to death, and call His Avadim by another shem;
16 That he who blesseth himself in ha’aretz shall bless himself by Elohei Omein (the G-d of [the] Amen, the G-d of Truth); and he that taketh an oath in ha’aretz shall take the oath by Elohei Omein; because the former tzoros are forgotten, and because they are hid from Mine eyes.
17 For, hinei, I create Shomayim Chadashim and eretz Chadashah; and the rishonot shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, hinei, I create Yerushalayim a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in Yerushalayim, and joy in Ami; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying out.
20 There shall be no more in there an infant of days, nor a zaken (old man) that hath not filled his days; for he that shall die a hundred years old will be regarded a na’ar; but the choteh (sinner), a hundred years old, will be accursed.
21 And they shall build batim (houses), and inhabit them; and they shall plant kramim (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 HaEtz are the days of Ami, and Mine Bechir shall long enjoy the ma’aseh of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for misfortune; for they are the Zera Beruchei Hashem (Seed of the Blessed ones of Hashem), and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet medaberim (speaking), I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and aphar shall be the lechem of the nachash. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My Har Kadosh, saith Hashem. [T.N. This last chapter makes a reference to Gehinnom and the just retribution coming.]
66 Thus saith Hashem, HaShomayim is My kisse, and ha’aretz is My footstool; where is the Beis that ye build for Me? And where is the Makom of My Menuchah?
2 For all those things hath Mine hand made, and so came they all into being, saith Hashem; but to this man will I look, even to him that is oni and of a contrite ruach, and trembleth at My Devar.
3 He that slaughtereth the bull is the slayer of a man; he that sacrificeth a seh, is a strangler of dogs; he that offereth a minchah, it is dahm chazir; he that burneth incense, blesseth idols. As they have chosen their own ways, and their nefesh delighteth in their shikkutzim (abominations),
4 I also will choose their illtreatments, and will bring their terrors upon them; because when I called, no one did answer; when I spoke, they did not hear; but they did the rah before Mine eyes, and chose that in which I took no pleasure.
5 Hear the Devar Hashem, ye that tremble at His word; Your achim that hated you, that cast you out from them l’ma’an Shemi, said, Let Hashem get honor, that we may see your simcha; they shall be ashamed.
6 Sound of tumult from the Ir, a sound from the Heikhal, a sound of Hashem that rendereth gemul (retribution) to His enemies.
7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her chevel (pain) came, she was delivered of a zachar (man child).
8 Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall Eretz be born in yom echad? Or shall a nation be born in a moment? For as soon as Tziyon travailed in labor, she gave birth to her banim.
9 Shall I bring to the moment of birth, and not cause to bring delivery? saith Hashem. Shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy G-d.
10 Rejoice ye with Yerushalayim, and be glad with her, all ye that love her; rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her;
11 That ye may nurse, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may drink in, be delighted with the abundance of her kavod.
12 For thus saith Hashem, Hineni, I will extend shalom to her like a river, and the kavod of the Goyim like an overflowing stream; then shall ye nurse, ye shall be borne upon arms, and be fondled upon her knees.
13 As one whom his em comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Yerushalayim.
14 And when ye see this, your lev shall rejoice, and your atzmot shall flourish like herbage; and the yad Hashem shall be made known to His avadim, and His indignation toward His enemies.
15 For, hinei, Hashem will come with eish, with His merkavot like the whirlwind, to render His anger in fury, His rebuke in flames of eish.
16 For by eish and by His cherev will Hashem execute judgment on kol basar; and the slain of Hashem shall be many.
17 They that set themselves apart as kodesh, and purify themselves to go into the ganot, following the one in the midst, eating basar hachazir, and the sheketz, and the akhbar (mouse), shall be consumed together, saith Hashem.
18 For I know their ma’asim and their machshevot; it shall come to pass, that I will gather kol Goyim and leshonot; they shall come, and see My kavod.
19 And I will set an ot (sign) among them, and I will send away those that escape of them unto the Goyim, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud (that draw the bow), to Tuval, and Yavan [Greece], to the isles afar off, that have not heard My fame, neither have seen My kavod; and they shall declare My kavod among the Goyim.
20 And they shall bring all your achim out of all heathen nations for a minchah unto Hashem upon susim, and in chariots, and in wagons, and upon mules, and upon camels, to My Har Kodesh, to Yerushalayim, saith Hashem, as the Bnei Yisroel bring the minchah in a keli tahor into the Beis Hashem.
21 And I will also take of them for kohanim and for Levi’im, saith Hashem.
22 For as the Shomayim HaChadashim and HaAretz HaChadashah, which I will make, shall continue before Me, saith Hashem, so shall your zera and your shem remain.
23 And it shall come to pass, that from one Rosh Chodesh to another, and from one Shabbos to another, kol basar shall come to bow down before Me, saith Hashem.
24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the pigrei ha’anashim that have rebelled against Me; for their tola’at (worm) shall not die, neither shall their eish be quenched; and they shall be dera’on (loathsome, an abomination) to kol basar [See also on Gehinnom Dan 12:2].
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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