Isaiah 66
English Standard Version
The Humble and Contrite in Spirit
66 (A)Thus says the Lord:
(B)“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
2 (C)All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
(D)But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.
3 (E)“He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;
he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck;
he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers (F)pig's blood;
he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.
(G)These have chosen their own ways,
and their soul delights in their abominations;
4 (H)I also will choose harsh treatment for them
and bring (I)their fears upon them,
(J)because when I called, no one answered,
when I spoke, they did not listen;
(K)but they did what was evil in my eyes
and chose that in which I did not delight.”
5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you who tremble at his word:
“Your brothers who hate you
and cast you out for my name's sake
have said, (L)‘Let the Lord be glorified,
that we may see your joy’;
but it is they who shall be put to shame.
6 “The sound of an uproar from the city!
A sound from the temple!
The sound of the Lord,
(M)rendering recompense to his enemies!
Rejoice with Jerusalem
7 (N)“Before she was in labor
she gave birth;
before her pain came upon her
she delivered a son.
8 Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?
For (O)as soon as Zion was in labor
she brought forth her children.
9 Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”
says the Lord;
“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”
says your God.
10 (P)“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her;
11 that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
from her glorious abundance.”[a]
12 For thus says the Lord:
(Q)“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and (R)you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,
and bounced upon her knees.
13 As one whom his mother comforts,
so (S)I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
(T)your bones shall flourish like the grass;
and (U)the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants,
and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.
Final Judgment and Glory of the Lord
15 “For behold, (V)the Lord will come in fire,
and (W)his chariots like the whirlwind,
to render his anger in fury,
and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For (X)by fire (Y)will the Lord enter into judgment,
and by his sword, with all flesh;
and those slain by the Lord shall be many.
17 (Z)“Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, (AA)eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.
18 “For I know[b] their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming[c] (AB)to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, 19 and I will set a sign among them. And from them (AC)I will send survivors to the nations, to (AD)Tarshish, (AE)Pul, and (AF)Lud, who draw the bow, to (AG)Tubal and (AH)Javan, (AI)to the coastlands far away, (AJ)that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. 20 (AK)And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations (AL)as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 (AM)And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.
22 “For as (AN)the new heavens and the new earth
that I make
shall remain before me, says the Lord,
so (AO)shall your offspring and your name remain.
23 (AP)From new moon to new moon,
and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
declares the Lord.
24 “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For (AQ)their worm shall not die, (AR)their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 66:11 Or breast
- Isaiah 66:18 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew lacks know
- Isaiah 66:18 Hebrew and it is coming
Isaiah 66
Common English Bible
Where God may be found
66 The Lord says:
Heaven is my throne,
and earth is my footstool.
So where could you build a house for me,
and where could my resting place be?
2 My hand made all these things
and brought them into being, says the Lord.
But here is where I will look:
to the humble and contrite in spirit,
who tremble at my word.
3 The one who slaughters an ox kills a person;
the one who sacrifices a sheep breaks a dog’s neck;
the one who makes a grain offering offers swine’s blood;
the one who burns incense blesses an idol.
All these have chosen their own ways,
and prefer their detestable things.
4 So I too will choose to punish them,
to bring horrors upon them,
since I called and no one answered.
I spoke and no one heard,
but they did evil in my eyes.
What I didn’t want, they chose.
5 Listen to the Lord’s word,
you who tremble at his word:
Your family members, those who hate and exclude you because of my name,
have said, “Let the Lord be glorified;
let’s see your joy.”
But they will be ashamed.
6 The sound of an uproar from the city! A sound from the temple!
The sound of the Lord repaying his enemies what they have earned.
Mother Zion
7 Before she was in labor, she gave birth.
Before her pangs came upon her, she delivered a boy.
8 Whoever heard of such a thing?
Whoever saw such things as these?
Can a land come to birth in one day?
Can a nation be born all at once?
Yet as soon as birth pangs came,
Zion bore her children.
9 Will I open the womb and not bring to birth? says the Lord.
Will I, who create life, close the womb? says your God.
10 Celebrate with Jerusalem; be happy with her,
all you who love her!
Rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her,
11 so that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her comforting breasts,
that you may drink and be refreshed
from her full breasts.
12 The Lord says:
Look, I’m extending prosperity to her like a river,
and the wealth of nations like an overflowing stream.
You will nurse and be carried on the hip
and bounced upon the knee.
13 As a mother comforts her child,
so I will comfort you;
in Jerusalem you will be comforted.
14 When you see this, your heart will rejoice;
your entire being will flourish like grass.
The Lord’s power will be known among his servants,
but his fury among his enemies.
15 The Lord will come with fire,
God’s chariots like a windstorm,
to repay in hot anger,
to rebuke with fiery flames.
16 With fire and with sword the Lord will judge all humanity;
many will be slain by the Lord.
17 Those who became holy and purify themselves, following their leader into the gardens,[a] who eat pork, detestable animals, and mice, will meet their end together, says the Lord.
Worshippers gathered from the nations
18 Because of their actions and thoughts, I’m coming to gather all nations and cultures. They will come to see my glory. 19 I will put a sign on them, by sending out some of the survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Libya, and Lydia, and to the archers of Cilicia and Greece—distant coastlands that haven’t heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will declare my glory among the nations. 20 They will bring your family members from all nations as an offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels—to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, like Israelites bringing an offering in purified containers to the Lord’s house. 21 I will select some of them as priests and Levites, says the Lord.
22 As the new heavens and the new earth that I’m making will endure before me, says the Lord,
so your descendants and your name will endure.
23 From month to month and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all humanity will come to worship me, says the Lord.
24 They will go out and see the corpses
of the people who rebelled against me,
where their worm never dies, where their fire is never extinguished.
They will be a horror to everyone.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 66:17 Heb uncertain
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible