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
New English Translation
66 This is what the Lord says:
“The heavens are my throne
and the earth is my footstool.
Where then is the house you will build for me?
Where is the place where I will rest?
2 My hand made them;[a]
that is how they came to be,”[b] says the Lord.
“I show special favor[c] to the humble and contrite,
who respect what I have to say.[d]
3 The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man;[e]
the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck;[f]
the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it;[g]
the one who offers incense also praises an idol.[h]
They have decided to behave this way;[i]
they enjoy these disgusting practices.[j]
4 So I will choose severe punishment[k] for them;
I will bring on them what they dread,
because I called, and no one responded.
I spoke and they did not listen.
They did evil before me;[l]
they chose to do what displeases me.”
5 Listen to the Lord’s message,
you who respect[m] his word!
“Your countrymen,[n] who hate you
and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name,
say, ‘May the Lord be glorified,
then we will witness your joy.’[o]
But they will be put to shame.
6 The sound of battle comes from the city;
the sound comes from the temple!
It is the sound of the Lord paying back his enemies.
7 Before she goes into labor, she gives birth!
Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!
8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?
Who has ever seen this?
Can a country[p] be brought forth in one day?
Can a nation be born in a single moment?
Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!
9 Do I bring a baby to the birth opening and then not deliver it?”
asks the Lord.
“Or do I bring a baby to the point of delivery and then hold it back?”
asks your God.[q]
10 “Be happy for Jerusalem
and rejoice with her, all you who love her!
Share in her great joy,
all you who have mourned over her!
11 For[r] you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished;[s]
you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts.[t]
12 For this is what the Lord says:
“Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river,
the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks.[u]
You will nurse from her breast[v] and be carried at her side;
you will play on her knees.
13 As a mother consoles a child,[w]
so I will console you,
and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”
14 When you see this, you will be happy,[x]
and you will be revived.[y]
The Lord will reveal his power to his servants
and his anger to his enemies.[z]
15 For look, the Lord comes with fire,
his chariots come like a windstorm,[aa]
to reveal his raging anger,
his battle cry, and his flaming arrows.[ab]
16 For the Lord judges all humanity[ac]
with fire and his sword;
the Lord will kill many.[ad]
17 “As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards,[ae] those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice[af]—they will all be destroyed together,”[ag] says the Lord. 18 “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming[ah] to gather all the nations and ethnic groups;[ai] they will come and witness my splendor. 19 I will perform a mighty act among them[aj] and then send some of those who remain to the nations—to Tarshish, Pul,[ak] Lud[al] (known for its archers[am]), Tubal, Javan,[an] and to the distant coastlands[ao] that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor. 20 They will bring back all your countrymen[ap] from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them[aq] on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels[ar] to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers. 21 And I will choose some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord. 22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me,” says the Lord, “so your descendants and your name will remain. 23 From one month[as] to the next and from one Sabbath to the next, all people[at] will come to worship me,”[au] says the Lord. 24 “They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die,[av] and the fire that consumes them will not die out.[aw] All people will find the sight abhorrent.”[ax]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 66:2 tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.
- Isaiah 66:2 tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (veli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”
- Isaiah 66:2 tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).
- Isaiah 66:2 tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”
- Isaiah 66:3 tn Heb “one who slaughters a bull, one who strikes down a man.” Some understand a comparison here and in the following lines. In God’s sight the one who sacrifices is like (i.e., regarded as) a murderer or one whose worship is ritually defiled or idolatrous. The translation above assumes that the language is not metaphorical, but descriptive of the sinners’ hypocritical behavior. (Note the last two lines of the verse, which suggest they are guilty of abominable practices.) On the one hand, they act pious and offer sacrifices, but at the same time they commit violent crimes against men, defile their sacrifices, and worship other gods.
- Isaiah 66:3 tn Heb “one who sacrifices a lamb, one who breaks a dog’s neck.” Some understand a comparison, but see the previous note.sn The significance of breaking a dog’s neck is uncertain, though the structure of the statement when compared to the preceding and following lines suggests the action is viewed in a negative light. According to Exod 13:13 and 34:20, one was to “redeem” a firstborn donkey by offering a lamb; if one did not “redeem” the firstborn donkey in this way, then its neck must be broken. According to Deut 21:1-9 a heifer’s neck was to be broken as part of the atonement ritual to purify the land from the guilt of bloodshed. It is not certain if these passages relate in any way to the action described in Isa 66:3.
- Isaiah 66:3 tn Heb “one who offers an offering, pig’s blood.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line.
- Isaiah 66:3 tn Heb “one who offers incense as a memorial offering, one who blesses something false.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line. אָוֶן (ʾaven), which has a wide variety of attested nuances, here refers metonymically to an idol. See HALOT 22 s.v. and BDB 20 s.v. 2.
- Isaiah 66:3 tn Heb “also they have chosen their ways.”
- Isaiah 66:3 tn Heb “their being [or “soul”] takes delight in their disgusting [things].”
- Isaiah 66:4 tn The precise meaning of the noun is uncertain. It occurs only here and in 3:4 (but see the note there). It appears to be derived from the verbal root עָלַל (ʿalal), which can carry the nuance “deal severely.”
- Isaiah 66:4 tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”
- Isaiah 66:5 tn Heb “tremble.”
- Isaiah 66:5 tn Heb “brothers” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “Your own people”; NLT “Your close relatives.”
- Isaiah 66:5 tn Or “so that we might witness your joy.” The point of this statement is unclear.
- Isaiah 66:8 tn Heb “land,” but here אֶרֶץ (ʾerets) stands metonymically for an organized nation (see the following line).
- Isaiah 66:9 sn The rhetorical questions expect the answer, “Of course not!”
- Isaiah 66:11 tn Or “in order that”; ASV, NRSV “that.”
- Isaiah 66:11 tn Heb “you will suck and be satisfied from her comforting breast.”
- Isaiah 66:11 tn Heb “you will slurp and refresh yourselves from her heavy breast.”sn Zion’s residents will benefit from and enjoy her great material prosperity. See v. 12.
- Isaiah 66:12 tn Heb “Look, I am ready to extend to her like a river prosperity [or “peace”], and like an overflowing stream, the riches of nations.”
- Isaiah 66:12 tn The words “from her breast” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 11).
- Isaiah 66:13 tn Heb “like a man whose mother comforts him.”
- Isaiah 66:14 tn “and you will see and your heart will be happy.”
- Isaiah 66:14 tn Heb “and your bones like grass will sprout.”
- Isaiah 66:14 tn Heb “and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, and anger to his enemies.”
- Isaiah 66:15 sn Chariots are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way that they kick up dust.
- Isaiah 66:15 tn Heb “to cause to return with the rage of his anger, and his battle cry [or “rebuke”] with flames of fire.”
- Isaiah 66:16 tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “upon all men”; TEV “all the people of the world.”
- Isaiah 66:16 tn Heb “many are the slain of the Lord.”
- Isaiah 66:17 tn Heb “the ones who consecrate themselves and the ones who purify themselves toward the orchards [or “gardens”] after the one in the midst.” The precise meaning of the statement is unclear, though it is obvious that some form of idolatry is in view.
- Isaiah 66:17 tn Heb “ones who eat the flesh of the pig and the disgusting thing and the mouse.”
- Isaiah 66:17 tn Heb “together they will come to an end.”
- Isaiah 66:18 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may need emendation. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, baʾah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ʿet) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (baʾ) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).
- Isaiah 66:18 tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”
- Isaiah 66:19 tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).
- Isaiah 66:19 tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).
- Isaiah 66:19 sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).
- Isaiah 66:19 tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).
- Isaiah 66:19 sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).
- Isaiah 66:19 tn Or “islands” (NIV).
- Isaiah 66:20 tn Heb “brothers” (so NIV); NCV “fellow Israelites.”
- Isaiah 66:20 tn The words “they will bring them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Isaiah 66:20 tn The precise meaning of this word is uncertain. Some suggest it refers to “chariots.” See HALOT 498 s.v. *כִּרְכָּרָה.
- Isaiah 66:23 tn Heb “new moon.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
- Isaiah 66:23 tn Heb “all flesh” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NAB, NASB, NIV “all mankind”; NLT “All humanity.”
- Isaiah 66:23 tn Or “bow down before” (NASB).
- Isaiah 66:24 tn Heb “for their worm will not die.”
- Isaiah 66:24 tn Heb “and their fire will not be extinguished.”
- Isaiah 66:24 tn Heb “and they will be an abhorrence to all flesh.”sn This verse depicts a huge mass burial site where the seemingly endless pile of maggot-infested corpses are being burned.
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