Isaiah 66
Lexham English Bible
Proper Worship
66 Thus says Yahweh:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is the footstool for my feet.
Where is this house that you would build for me?
And where is this resting place for me?
2 And my hand has made all these things,
and all these came to be,”[a]
declares[b] Yahweh, “but[c] I look to this one:
to the humble and the contrite of spirit
and the one frightened at my word.
3 The one who slaughters a bull strikes a man;
the one who slaughters a lamb for sacrifice breaks the neck of a dog.
The one who offers an offering, the blood of swine;
the one who offers frankincense blesses an idol.
Indeed, they themselves have chosen their ways,
and their soul delights in their abhorrence.
4 Indeed, I myself I will choose their ill treatment,
and I will bring them objects of their dread,
because I called, and no one answered;[d]
I spoke and they did not listen,
but[e] they did the evil in my eyes,
and they chose that in which I do not delight.”
5 Hear the word of Yahweh, you who are frightened at his word:
Your brothers who hate you,
who exclude you for my name’s sake have said,
“Let Yahweh be honored so that[f] we may see your joy!”
But[g] they themselves shall be ashamed.
6 A voice, an uproar from the city!
A voice from the temple!
The voice of Yahweh paying back[h] his enemies!
Zion’s Delivery
7 Before she was in labor she gave birth;
before labor pains[i] came to her, she gave birth to a son.
8 Who has heard anything like this?
Who has seen anything like these things?
Can a land be born in one day?
Or can a nation be born in a moment?
Yet when she was in labor, Zion indeed gave birth to her children.
9 Shall I myself I break open and not deliver?”[j] says Yahweh,
“or I who delivers[k] lock up the womb?” says your God.
10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem
and shout in exultation with her, all those who love her!
Rejoice with her in joy, all those who mourn over her,
11 so that you may suck and be satisfied from her consoling breast,[l]
so that you may drink deeply and refresh yourselves from her heavy breast.”[m]
12 For thus says Yahweh:
“Look! I am about to spread prosperity out to her like a river,
and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream,
and you shall suck and be carried on the hip;
and you shall you shall be played with on the knees.
13 As a man whose mother comforts him, so I myself will comfort you,
and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
Yahweh’s Final Judgment
14 And you shall see and your heart shall rejoice,
and your bones shall flourish[n] like the grass,
and the hand of Yahweh shall make itself known to[o] his servants,
and he shall curse his enemies.
15 For look! Yahweh will come in fire,
and his chariots like the storm wind,
to give back[p] his anger in wrath,
and his rebuke in flames of fire.
16 For Yahweh enters into judgment on all flesh with fire and his sword,
and those slain by[q] Yahweh shall be many.
17 Those who sanctify themselves
and those who cleanse themselves to go into[r] the gardens after the one in the middle,
eating the flesh of swine
and detestable things[s] and rodents[t] together
shall come to an end!” declares[u] Yahweh.
18 “And I—their works and thoughts!—am about to come to gather all nations and tongues,
and they shall come and see my glory.
19 And I will set a sign among them,
and I will send survivors from them to the nations:
Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow;
Tubal and Javan, the faraway coastlands
that have not heard of my fame,
and have not seen my glory.
And they shall declare my glory among the nations, 20 and bring all your countrymen[v] from all the nations as an offering to Yahweh on horses and chariots[w] and in litters and on mules and camels, to[x] my holy mountain,[y] Jerusalem,” says Yahweh, “just as the sons of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of Yahweh. 21 And indeed, I will take some of them as priests and the Levites,” says Yahweh. 22 “For just as the new heavens and earth that I am about to make shall stand before me,” declares[z] Yahweh, “so shall your descendants[aa] and your name stand.
23 And this shall happen: From new moon to new moon[ab] and from Sabbath to Sabbath[ac] all flesh shall come to bow in worship before me,” says Yahweh. 24 “And they shall go out and look at the corpses of the people[ad] who have rebelled[ae] against me,
for their worm shall not die,
and their fire shall not be quenched,
and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 66:2 Literally “were”
- Isaiah 66:2 Literally “declaration of”
- Isaiah 66:2 Or “and”
- Isaiah 66:4 Literally “there was no one who answers”
- Isaiah 66:4 Or “and”
- Isaiah 66:5 Or “and”
- Isaiah 66:5 Or “And”
- Isaiah 66:6 Literally “rewarding retribution to”
- Isaiah 66:7 Hebrew “pain”
- Isaiah 66:9 Literally “cause to bring forth”
- Isaiah 66:9 Literally “causes to bring forth”
- Isaiah 66:11 Literally “breast of consolation”
- Isaiah 66:11 Literally “breast of heaviness “
- Isaiah 66:14 Literally “sprout”
- Isaiah 66:14 Literally “with”
- Isaiah 66:15 Literally “cause to turn around”
- Isaiah 66:16 Literally “the slain of”
- Isaiah 66:17 Literally “toward”
- Isaiah 66:17 Hebrew “thing”
- Isaiah 66:17 Hebrew “rodent”
- Isaiah 66:17 Literally “declaration of”
- Isaiah 66:20 Or “brothers”
- Isaiah 66:20 Hebrew “chariot”
- Isaiah 66:20 Or “on”
- Isaiah 66:20 Literally “the mountain of holiness me”
- Isaiah 66:22 Literally “declaration of”
- Isaiah 66:22 Hebrew “descendant”
- Isaiah 66:23 Literally “enough of new moon in his new moon”
- Isaiah 66:23 Literally “enough of Sabbath in his Sabbath”
- Isaiah 66:24 Or “men”
- Isaiah 66:24 Literally “rebelling”
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
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