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.
(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;
a people who provoke me
    to my face continually,
(D)sacrificing in gardens
    and making offerings on bricks;
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;
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.
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
    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]

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.
(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

  1. Isaiah 65:1 Or that did not call upon
  2. Isaiah 65:7 Or I will first measure their payment into their lap
  3. Isaiah 65:22 Hebrew shall wear out
  4. Isaiah 65:23 Or for sudden terror

See (A)what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called (B)children of God; and so we are. The reason why (C)the world does not know us is that (D)it did not know him. Beloved, we are (E)God's children (F)now, and what we will be (G)has not yet appeared; but we know that (H)when he appears[a] (I)we shall be like him, because (J)we shall see him as he is. And everyone who (K)thus hopes in him (L)purifies himself as he is pure.

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; (M)sin is lawlessness. You know that (N)he appeared in order to (O)take away sins, and (P)in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; (Q)no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, (R)let no one deceive you. (S)Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. (T)Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was (U)to destroy the works of the devil. (V)No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's[b] seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, (W)nor is the one who (X)does not love his brother.

Love One Another

11 For (Y)this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, (Z)that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like (AA)Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? (AB)Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers,[c] (AC)that the world hates you. 14 We know that (AD)we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 (AE)Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that (AF)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 By this we know love, that (AG)he laid down his life for us, and (AH)we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But (AI)if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet (AJ)closes his heart against him, (AK)how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not (AL)love in word or talk but in deed and (AM)in truth.

19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, (AN)if our heart does not condemn us, (AO)we have confidence before God; 22 and (AP)whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and (AQ)do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, (AR)that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and (AS)love one another, (AT)just as he has commanded us. 24 (AU)Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God,[d] and God[e] in him. And (AV)by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

Footnotes

  1. 1 John 3:2 Or when it appears
  2. 1 John 3:9 Greek his
  3. 1 John 3:13 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verses 14, 16
  4. 1 John 3:24 Greek him
  5. 1 John 3:24 Greek he

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