Isaiah 65 New King James Version

The Righteousness of God’s Judgment

65 “I was ^(A)sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’
To a nation that ^(B)was not called by My name.
²^(C)I have stretched out My hands all day long to a ^(D)rebellious people,
Who ^(E)walk in a way that is not good,
According to their own thoughts;
³A people ^(F)who provoke Me to anger continually to My face;
^(G)Who sacrifice in gardens,
And burn incense on altars of brick;
⁴^(H)Who sit among the graves,
And spend the night in the tombs;
^(I)Who eat swine’s flesh,
And the broth of ^[a]abominable things is in their vessels;
⁵^(J)Who say, ‘Keep to yourself,
Do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!’
These ^[b]are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.

⁶“Behold, ^(K)it is written before Me:
^(L)I will not keep silence, ^(M)but will repay—
Even repay into their bosom—
⁷Your iniquities and ^(N)the iniquities of your fathers together,”
Says the Lord,
^(O)“Who have burned incense on the mountains
^(P)And blasphemed Me on the hills;
Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”

⁸Thus says the Lord:

“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it,
For ^(Q)a blessing is in it,’
So will I do for My servants’ sake,
That I may not destroy them ^(R)all.
⁹I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
And from Judah an heir of My mountains;
My ^(S)elect shall inherit it,
And My servants shall dwell there.
¹⁰^(T)Sharon shall be a fold of flocks,
And ^(U)the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
For My people who have ^(V)sought Me.

¹¹“But you are those who forsake the Lord,
Who forget ^(W)My holy mountain,
Who prepare ^(X)a table for ^[c]Gad,
And who furnish a drink offering for ^[d]Meni.
¹²Therefore I will number you for the sword,
And you shall all bow down to the slaughter;
^(Y)Because, when I called, you did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not hear,
But did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight.”

¹³Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, 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 ashamed;
¹⁴Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart,
But you shall cry for sorrow of heart,
And ^(Z)wail for ^[e]grief of spirit.
¹⁵You shall leave your name ^(AA)as a curse to ^(AB)My chosen;
For the Lord God will slay you,
And ^(AC)call His servants by another name;
¹⁶^(AD)So that he who blesses himself in the earth
Shall bless himself in the God of truth;
And ^(AE)he who swears in the earth
Shall swear by the God of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My eyes.

The Glorious New Creation

¹⁷“For behold, I create ^(AF)new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or ^[f]come to mind.
¹⁸But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
¹⁹^(AG)I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in My people;
The ^(AH)voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her,
Nor the voice of crying.

²⁰“No more shall an infant from there live but a few days,
Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days;
For the child shall die one hundred years old,
^(AI)But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.
²¹^(AJ)They shall build houses and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²²They shall not build and another inhabit;
They shall not plant and ^(AK)another eat;
For ^(AL)as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people,
And ^(AM)My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
²³They shall not labor in vain,
^(AN)Nor bring forth children for trouble;
For ^(AO)they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord,
And their offspring with them.

²⁴“It shall come to pass
That ^(AP)before they call, I will answer;
And while they are still speaking, I will ^(AQ)hear.
²⁵The ^(AR)wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
The lion shall eat straw like the ox,
^(AS)And dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,”
Says the Lord.