Isaiah 65
Lexham English Bible
Judgment and Salvation
65 “I let myself be sought by those who did not ask;
I let myself be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am; here I am!’ to a nation that did not call on my name;
2 I spread out my hands all day to a stubborn people,
those who walk after their thoughts in the way that is not good,
3 the people who provoke[a] me to anger continually to my face,
slaughtering for sacrifices in the garden,
and making smoke offerings on bricks,
4 who sit[b] in graves
and spend the night in secret places,[c]
who eat[d] the flesh of swine
with[e] a fragment[f] of impurity in their vessels,
5 who say,[g] “Keep to yourself![h]
You must not come near me, for I am too holy for you!”
These are a smoke in my nostrils,[i]
a fire burning all day.
6 Look! It is written before me: I will not be silent, but I will repay;
and I will repay in[j] the fold of their garment
7 your iniquities and the iniquities of your ancestors[k] together, says Yahweh,
because they made smoke offerings on the mountains
and they taunted me on the hills,
I will measure their punishment from the beginning into the fold of their garment.”
8 Thus says Yahweh: “Just as the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say ‘You must not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,’ so I will do for the sake of my servants by[l] not destroying everyone.[m]
9 And I will bring descendant s[n] out from Jacob,
and a people[o] from Judah to take possession of my mountain,
and my chosen ones shall inherit it,
and my servants shall settle there.
10 And Sharon shall become a pasture for[p] flocks,[q]
and the valley of Achor a resting place for[r] herds[s]
for my people who have sought me.
11 But[t] you who forsake[u] Yahweh,
forgetting my holy mountain,[v]
who set a table for Fortune,
and who pour out[w] a jug of mixed wine for Destiny,
12 and I will remit you to the sword,
and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
because I called, but[x] you did not answer;
I spoke, but[y] you did not listen,
but[z] you did the evil in my eyes,
and you chose that in which I do not delight.”
13 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh:
“Look! My servants shall eat but[aa] you, you shall be hungry.
Look! My servants shall drink but[ab] you, you shall be thirsty.
Look! My servants shall rejoice but[ac] you, you shall be ashamed.
14 Look! My servants shall shout for joy,[ad] but[ae] you, you shall cry out for pain[af] and howl for sadness.[ag]
15 And you shall leave your name to my chosen ones as a curse,
and the Lord Yahweh will kill you, and he will give[ah] his servants another name.
16 Whoever blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of trustworthiness,
and the one who swears an oath in the land shall swear by the God of trustworthiness,
because the former troubles are forgotten,
and they are hidden from my eyes.
New Creation
17 For look! I am about to create new heavens and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered,
and they shall not come to mind.[ai]
18 But rejoice and shout in exultation forever and ever over what I am about to create!
For look! I am about to create Jerusalem as a source of rejoicing,
and her people as a source of joy.
19 And I will shout in exultation over Jerusalem,
and I will rejoice over my people,
and the sound of weeping shall no longer be heard in it,
or[aj] the sound of a cry for help.
20 There will no longer be a nursing infant who lives only a few[ak] days,
or[al] an old man who does not fill his days,
for the boy will die a hundred years old,[am]
and the one who fails to reach[an] a hundred years[ao] will be considered[ap] accursed.
21 And they shall build houses and inhabit them,
and they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat.
For the days of my people shall be like the days of a tree,
and my chosen ones shall enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor for nothing,
and they shall not give birth to horror,
for they shall be offspring blessed by[aq] Yahweh,
and their descendants with them.
24 And this will happen: before they call, I myself will answer;
while still they are speaking, I myself will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed like one,
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
but[ar] dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall do no evil,
and they shall not destroy on all my holy mountain,”[as] says Yahweh.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:3 Literally “provoking”
- Isaiah 65:4 Literally “sitting”
- Isaiah 65:4 Literally “watches”
- Isaiah 65:4 Literally “eating”
- Isaiah 65:4 Or “and”
- Isaiah 65:4 The reading tradition (Qere) has “broth”
- Isaiah 65:5 Literally “saying”
- Isaiah 65:5 Literally “Come near to you”
- Isaiah 65:5 Literally “nose”
- Isaiah 65:6 Or “on”
- Isaiah 65:7 Or “fathers”
- Isaiah 65:8 Literally “to”
- Isaiah 65:8 Literally “all”
- Isaiah 65:9 Hebrew “descendant”
- Isaiah 65:9 Literally “man”
- Isaiah 65:10 Literally “of”
- Isaiah 65:10 Hebrew “flock”
- Isaiah 65:10 Or “of”
- Isaiah 65:10 Hebrew “herd”
- Isaiah 65:11 Or “and”
- Isaiah 65:11 Literally “forsaking”
- Isaiah 65:11 Literally “the mountain of my holiness”
- Isaiah 65:11 Literally “fill”
- Isaiah 65:12 Or “and”
- Isaiah 65:12 Or “and”
- Isaiah 65:12 Or “and”
- Isaiah 65:13 Or “and”
- Isaiah 65:13 Or “and”
- Isaiah 65:13 Or “and”
- Isaiah 65:14 Literally “from goodness of heart”
- Isaiah 65:14 Or “and”
- Isaiah 65:14 Literally “from pain of heart”
- Isaiah 65:14 Literally “from a breaking of the spirit”
- Isaiah 65:15 Literally “call”
- Isaiah 65:17 Literally “go up to heart”
- Isaiah 65:19 Or “and”
- Isaiah 65:20 Literally “of”
- Isaiah 65:20 Or “and”
- Isaiah 65:20 Literally “a son of a hundred year”
- Isaiah 65:20 Literally “misses”
- Isaiah 65:20 Literally “a son of a hundred year”
- Isaiah 65:20 Literally “treated”
- Isaiah 65:23 Literally “the offspring of the blessing of”
- Isaiah 65:25 Or “and”
- Isaiah 65:25 Literally “the mountain of my holiness”
Isaiah 65
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Lord’s Response
65 “I was sought by those who did not ask;[a]
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said: Here I am, here I am,
to a nation that was not called by[b] My name.(A)
2 I spread out My hands all day long
to a rebellious people(B)
who walk in the wrong path,
following their own thoughts.
3 These people continually provoke Me
to My face,
sacrificing in gardens,(C)
burning incense on bricks,
4 sitting among the graves,
spending nights in secret places,
eating the meat of pigs,(D)
and putting polluted broth in their bowls.[c]
5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself,
don’t come near me, for I am too holy for you!’
These practices are smoke in My nostrils,
a fire that burns all day long.
6 It is written before Me:
I will not keep silent,(E) but I will repay;(F)
I will repay them fully[d]
7 for your iniquities and the iniquities(G)
of your[e] fathers together,”
says the Lord.
“Because they burned incense on the mountains
and reproached Me on the hills,(H)
I will reward them fully[f]
for their former deeds.”
8 The Lord says this:
As the new wine is found in a bunch of grapes,
and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it,
for there’s some good[g] in it,’
so I will act because of My servants
and not destroy them all.
9 I will produce descendants from Jacob,(I)
and heirs to My mountains from Judah;
My chosen(J) ones will possess it,
and My servants will dwell there.(K)
10 Sharon will be a pasture for flocks,(L)
and the Valley of Achor a place for cattle to lie down,(M)
for My people who have sought Me.(N)
11 But you who abandon the Lord,
who forget My holy mountain,
who prepare a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,[h]
12 I will destine you for the sword,
and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered,
because I called and you did not answer,
I spoke and you did not hear;
you did what was evil in My sight
and chose what I did not delight in.(O)
13 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:
My servants will eat,
but you will be hungry;
My servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty;
My servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame.
14 My servants will shout for joy from a glad heart,
but you will cry out from an anguished heart,
and you will lament out of a broken spirit.
15 You will leave your name behind
as a curse for My chosen ones,(P)
and the Lord God will kill you;
but He will give His servants another name.(Q)
16 Whoever is blessed in the land
will be blessed by the God of truth,(R)
and whoever swears in the land
will swear by the God of truth.
For the former troubles will be forgotten
and hidden from My sight.
A New Creation
17 “For I will create a new heaven and a new earth;(S)
the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.
18 Then be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in My people.
The sound of weeping and crying
will no longer be heard in her.(T)
20 In her, a nursing infant will no longer live
only a few days,[i]
or an old man not live out his days.
Indeed, the youth will die at a hundred years,
and the one who misses a hundred years will be cursed.(U)
21 People will build houses and live in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.(V)
22 They will not build and others live in them;
they will not plant and others eat.
For My people’s lives will be
like the lifetime of a tree.(W)
My chosen ones will fully enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor without success(X)
or bear children destined for disaster,
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord
along with their descendants.(Y)
24 Even before they call, I will answer;(Z)
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,[j]
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,(AA)
but the serpent’s food will be dust!(AB)
They will not do what is evil or destroy
on My entire holy mountain,”(AC)
says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:1 LXX, Syr, DSS, Tg read ask for Me
- Isaiah 65:1 LXX, Syr, DSS, Tg, Vg read that did not call on
- Isaiah 65:4 These vv. describe pagan worship.
- Isaiah 65:6 Lit repay into their lap
- Isaiah 65:7 LXX, Syr read [for] their iniquities and the iniquities of their
- Isaiah 65:7 Lit reward into their lap
- Isaiah 65:8 Or there’s a blessing
- Isaiah 65:11 Pagan gods
- Isaiah 65:20 Lit her, no longer infant of days
- Isaiah 65:25 Lit as one
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.