Isaiah 65
New Living Translation
Judgment and Final Salvation
65 The Lord says,
“I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help.
I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’
to a nation that did not call on my name.[a]
2 All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people.[b]
But they follow their own evil paths
and their own crooked schemes.
3 All day long they insult me to my face
by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens.
They burn incense on pagan altars.
4 At night they go out among the graves,
worshiping the dead.
They eat the flesh of pigs
and make stews with other forbidden foods.
5 Yet they say to each other,
‘Don’t come too close or you will defile me!
I am holier than you!’
These people are a stench in my nostrils,
an acrid smell that never goes away.
6 “Look, my decree is written out[c] in front of me:
I will not stand silent;
I will repay them in full!
Yes, I will repay them—
7 both for their own sins
and for those of their ancestors,”
says the Lord.
“For they also burned incense on the mountains
and insulted me on the hills.
I will pay them back in full!
8 “But I will not destroy them all,”
says the Lord.
“For just as good grapes are found among a cluster of bad ones
(and someone will say, ‘Don’t throw them all away—
some of those grapes are good!’),
so I will not destroy all Israel.
For I still have true servants there.
9 I will preserve a remnant of the people of Israel[d]
and of Judah to possess my land.
Those I choose will inherit it,
and my servants will live there.
10 The plain of Sharon will again be filled with flocks
for my people who have searched for me,
and the valley of Achor will be a place to pasture herds.
11 “But because the rest of you have forsaken the Lord
and have forgotten his Temple,
and because you have prepared feasts to honor the god of Fate
and have offered mixed wine to the god of Destiny,
12 now I will ‘destine’ you for the sword.
All of you will bow down before the executioner.
For when I called, you did not answer.
When I spoke, you did not listen.
You deliberately sinned—before my very eyes—
and chose to do what you know I despise.”
13 Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“My servants will eat,
but you will starve.
My servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty.
My servants will rejoice,
but you will be sad and ashamed.
14 My servants will sing for joy,
but you will cry in sorrow and despair.
15 Your name will be a curse word among my people,
for the Sovereign Lord will destroy you
and will call his true servants by another name.
16 All who invoke a blessing or take an oath
will do so by the God of truth.
For I will put aside my anger
and forget the evil of earlier days.
17 “Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,
and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
18 Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!
And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness.
Her people will be a source of joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and delight in my people.
And the sound of weeping and crying
will be heard in it no more.
20 “No longer will babies die when only a few days old.
No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life.
No longer will people be considered old at one hundred!
Only the cursed will die that young!
21 In those days people will live in the houses they build
and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.
22 Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses
and confiscate their vineyards.
For my people will live as long as trees,
and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains.
23 They will not work in vain,
and their children will not be doomed to misfortune.
For they are people blessed by the Lord,
and their children, too, will be blessed.
24 I will answer them before they even call to me.
While they are still talking about their needs,
I will go ahead and answer their prayers!
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together.
The lion will eat hay like a cow.
But the snakes will eat dust.
In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Footnotes
- 65:1 Or to a nation that did not bear my name.
- 65:1-2 Greek version reads I was found by people who were not looking for me. / I showed myself to those who were not asking for me. / All day long I opened my arms to them, / but they were disobedient and rebellious. Compare Rom 10:20-21.
- 65:6 Or their sins are written out; Hebrew reads it stands written.
- 65:9 Hebrew remnant of Jacob. See note on 14:1.
Isaiah 65
English Standard Version
Judgment and Salvation
65 (A)I was ready to be sought by (B)those who did not ask for me;
I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
to a nation that was not called by[a] my name.
2 (C)I spread out my hands all the day
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices;
3 a people who provoke me
to my face continually,
(D)sacrificing in gardens
and making offerings on bricks;
4 who sit in tombs,
and spend the night in secret places;
(E)who eat pig's flesh,
and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;
5 who say, “Keep to yourself,
do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”
(F)These are a smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all the day.
6 Behold, (G)it is written before me:
(H)“I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
(I)I will indeed repay into their lap
7 both your iniquities (J)and your fathers' iniquities together,
says the Lord;
(K)because they made offerings on the mountains
(L)and insulted me on the hills,
I will measure into their lap
payment for their former deeds.”[b]
8 Thus says the Lord:
(M)“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,
for there is a blessing in it,’
so I will do for my servants' sake,
(N)and not destroy them all.
9 (O)I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
and from Judah possessors of my mountains;
my chosen shall possess it,
and my servants shall dwell there.
10 (P)Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks,
and (Q)the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
for my people (R)who have sought me.
11 But (S)you who forsake the Lord,
who forget (T)my holy mountain,
who (U)set a table for Fortune
and (V)fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you to the sword,
and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
(W)because, when I called, you did not answer;
when I spoke, you did not listen,
(X)but you did what was evil in my eyes
and chose what I did not delight in.”
13 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, (Y)my servants shall eat,
but you shall be hungry;
behold, my servants shall drink,
but you shall be thirsty;
behold, my servants shall rejoice,
but you shall be put to shame;
14 behold, (Z)my servants shall sing for gladness of heart,
but you shall cry out for pain of heart
and shall wail for breaking of spirit.
15 You shall leave your name to (AA)my chosen (AB)for a curse,
and the Lord God will put you to death,
but his servants (AC)he will call by another name,
16 so that he who (AD)blesses himself in the land
shall bless himself by (AE)the God of truth,
and he who takes an oath in the land
shall swear by (AF)the God of truth;
(AG)because the former troubles are forgotten
and are hidden from my eyes.
New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “For behold, (AH)I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, (AI)I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
19 (AJ)I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
(AK)no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for (AL)the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and (AM)the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 (AN)They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 (AO)They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
(AP)for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy[c] the work of their hands.
23 (AQ)They shall not labor in vain
(AR)or bear children for calamity,[d]
for (AS)they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.
24 (AT)Before they call I will answer;
(AU)while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 (AV)The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and (AW)dust shall be the serpent's food.
(AX)They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:1 Or that did not call upon
- Isaiah 65:7 Or I will first measure their payment into their lap
- Isaiah 65:22 Hebrew shall wear out
- Isaiah 65:23 Or for sudden terror
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.