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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;
    I spread out my hands all day to a stubborn people,
those who walk after their thoughts in the way that is not good,
    the people who provoke[a] me to anger continually to my face,
slaughtering for sacrifices in the garden,
    and making smoke offerings on bricks,
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,
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.
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
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.”

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]

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

  1. Isaiah 65:3 Literally “provoking”
  2. Isaiah 65:4 Literally “sitting”
  3. Isaiah 65:4 Literally “watches”
  4. Isaiah 65:4 Literally “eating”
  5. Isaiah 65:4 Or “and”
  6. Isaiah 65:4 The reading tradition (Qere) has “broth”
  7. Isaiah 65:5 Literally “saying”
  8. Isaiah 65:5 Literally “Come near to you”
  9. Isaiah 65:5 Literally “nose”
  10. Isaiah 65:6 Or “on”
  11. Isaiah 65:7 Or “fathers”
  12. Isaiah 65:8 Literally “to”
  13. Isaiah 65:8 Literally “all”
  14. Isaiah 65:9 Hebrew “descendant”
  15. Isaiah 65:9 Literally “man”
  16. Isaiah 65:10 Literally “of”
  17. Isaiah 65:10 Hebrew “flock”
  18. Isaiah 65:10 Or “of”
  19. Isaiah 65:10 Hebrew “herd”
  20. Isaiah 65:11 Or “and”
  21. Isaiah 65:11 Literally “forsaking”
  22. Isaiah 65:11 Literally “the mountain of my holiness”
  23. Isaiah 65:11 Literally “fill”
  24. Isaiah 65:12 Or “and”
  25. Isaiah 65:12 Or “and”
  26. Isaiah 65:12 Or “and”
  27. Isaiah 65:13 Or “and”
  28. Isaiah 65:13 Or “and”
  29. Isaiah 65:13 Or “and”
  30. Isaiah 65:14 Literally “from goodness of heart”
  31. Isaiah 65:14 Or “and”
  32. Isaiah 65:14 Literally “from pain of heart”
  33. Isaiah 65:14 Literally “from a breaking of the spirit”
  34. Isaiah 65:15 Literally “call”
  35. Isaiah 65:17 Literally “go up to heart”
  36. Isaiah 65:19 Or “and”
  37. Isaiah 65:20 Literally “of”
  38. Isaiah 65:20 Or “and”
  39. Isaiah 65:20 Literally “a son of a hundred year”
  40. Isaiah 65:20 Literally “misses”
  41. Isaiah 65:20 Literally “a son of a hundred year”
  42. Isaiah 65:20 Literally “treated”
  43. Isaiah 65:23 Literally “the offspring of the blessing of”
  44. Isaiah 65:25 Or “and”
  45. Isaiah 65:25 Literally “the mountain of my holiness”

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