Isaiah 65
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 65
Punishment of the Idolaters
1 I was eager to respond
to those who did not consult me.
I was anxious to be approached
by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am! Here I am!”
to a nation that did not summon me.
2 Throughout each day I held out my hands
and appealed to a rebellious people
who walk along evil paths
in pursuit of their own desires.
3 [a]These people provoke me to anger
continually, to my face,
offering sacrifices in gardens
and burning incense on bricks.
4 They live in the midst of tombs
and spend the night in secret places,
eating the flesh of pigs
and filling their plates with unclean food,
5 as they cry out, “Keep away!
Do not touch me,
for I am too sacred for you.”
Such people to me are like choking smoke,
a fire that smolders throughout the day.
6 Their deeds have been inscribed in my memory;
I will not remain silent until I have repaid in full
7 your iniquities and those of your ancestors,
says the Lord.
Since they burned incense on the mountains
and shamed me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
the full payment that their deeds deserve.
Fate of Israel’s Righteous and Unfaithful
8 Thus says the Lord:
As in the harvest of grapes
juice is often still found in the cluster,
and people say, “Do not discard them,
for some good still remains in them,”
so I will act for the sake of my servants
and not destroy them all.
9 From Jacob I will bring forth descendants,
and from Judah those who will inherit my mountains.
My chosen ones will take possession of the land,
and my servants will settle there.
10 Sharon will serve as a pasture for flocks
and the Valley of Achor will be
a resting place for cattle.
11 However, those of you who forsake the Lord
and forget my holy mountain,
who spread a table for Fortune[b]
and fill cups of mixed wine for Fate,
12 I will destine you for the sword,
and all of you will submit to the slaughter,
because, when I called, you did not respond,
and when I spoke, you refused to listen.
Rather, you did what was evil in my sight
and chose to do what displeases me.
13 Therefore, this is what I have decreed,
says the Lord God:
My servants will eat,
but you will go hungry;
my servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty;
my servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame;
14 with gladness in their hearts
my servants will sing for joy,
but you will cry out in heartfelt grief
and wail in your anguish of spirit.
15 The Lord God will strike you dead
and his chosen ones will use your name as a curse,
but he will call his servants by a different name.
16 Then anyone in the land who blesses himself
will bless himself by the God of truth,
and anyone who takes an oath in the land
will swear by the God of truth,
because the troubles of the past will be forgotten
and hidden from my sight.
A Renewed World[c]
17 For behold, I am about to create
new heavens and a new earth.
The past will not be remembered
or ever again called to mind.
18 Rather, rejoice and be filled with delight forever
at what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a delight
and her people as a cause of joy.
19 I will take delight in Jerusalem
and rejoice in my people.
No more will be heard there
the sound of weeping or the cries of distress.
20 Never again will an infant be there
who dies after a few days of life
or an old man who fails to live his allotted days.
For one who dies at the age of one hundred
will be regarded as a youth,
while one who fails to achieve a hundred years
will be considered accursed.[d]
21 They will live in the houses they have built;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will not build houses for others to dwell in
or plant for others to eat.
For the days of my people will be
like the days of a tree,
and my chosen ones will enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain
or bear children destined for calamity.
For they will be offspring blessed by the Lord,
as will their descendants after them.
24 Even before they call out to me,
I will answer;
while they are still speaking,
I will respond.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
but as for the serpent,
its food will be dust.
No harm or destruction will be done
on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:3 Allusions to idolatrous practices. The night spent in secret places refers perhaps to the rite of incubation, during which people awaited revelations through dreams.
- Isaiah 65:11 Fortune: literally, “Gad,” the Aramean god of fortune. Fate: literally, “Meni,” another divinity.
- Isaiah 65:17 The oracle looks beyond a restored Jerusalem to a future time when the prosperity and harmony that marked the beginnings of humankind are to be restored; this prosperity and harmony are expressed in images of paradisal life that were familiar to the ancients. Amid oracles that strike terror, here is a song of indestructible hope: a renewed world is coming in which sin will no longer exist (see also Isa 11:6-9). The Church awaits this new world for all of humanity; the dawn of this world breaks on Easter morning (2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21).
- Isaiah 65:20 Since the prospect of resurrection is still unknown, longevity is seen as a special sign of divine protection.
Isaiah 65
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 65
1 [a]I was ready to respond to those who did not ask,
to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said: Here I am! Here I am!
To a nation that did not invoke my name.(A)
2 I have stretched out my hands all day
to a rebellious people,
Who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own designs;(B)
3 A people who provoke me
continually to my face,
Offering sacrifices in gardens
and burning incense on bricks,
4 Sitting in tombs
and spending the night in caves,
Eating the flesh of pigs,
with broth of unclean meat in their dishes;
5 Crying out, “Hold back,
do not come near me, lest I render you holy!”[b]
These things are smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all the day.
6 See, it stands written before me;
I will not remain quiet until I have repaid in full
7 Your crimes and the crimes of your ancestors as well,
says the Lord.
Since they burned incense on the mountains,
and insulted me on the hills,
I will at once pour out in full measure
their recompense into their laps.
Fate of the Just and Unjust in Israel
8 [c]Thus says the Lord:
As when the juice is pressed from a cluster,
and someone says, “Do not destroy it,
for there is still good in it,”
So will I do for the sake of my servants:
I will not destroy them all.
9 From Jacob I will bring forth offspring,
from Judah, those who are to possess my mountains;
My chosen ones shall possess the land,
my servants shall dwell there.
10 Sharon shall become a pasture for the flocks,
the Valley of Achor a resting place for the cattle,
for my people who have sought me.(C)
11 But you who forsake the Lord,
who forget my holy mountain,
Who spread a table for Fortune
and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,[d]
12 You I will destine for the sword;
you shall all bow down for slaughter;
Because I called and you did not answer,
I spoke and you did not listen,
But did what is evil in my sight
and things I do not delight in, you chose,(D)
13 therefore thus says the Lord God:
My servants shall eat,
but you shall go hungry;
My servants shall drink,
but you shall be thirsty;
My servants shall rejoice,
but you shall be put to shame;
14 My servants shall shout
for joy of heart,
But you shall cry out for grief of heart,
and howl for anguish of spirit.
15 You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen ones
when the Lord God slays you,
and calls his servants by another name.
16 Whoever invokes a blessing in the land
shall bless by the God of truth;[e]
Whoever takes an oath in the land
shall swear by the God of truth;
For the hardships of the past shall be forgotten
and hidden from my eyes.
A World Renewed
17 [f]See, I am creating new heavens
and a new earth;
The former things shall not be remembered
nor come to mind.(E)
18 Instead, shout for joy and be glad forever
in what I am creating.
Indeed, I am creating Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight;
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and exult in my people.
No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there,
or the sound of crying;
20 No longer shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
nor anyone who does not live a full lifetime;
One who dies at a hundred years shall be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred shall be thought accursed.(F)
21 They shall build houses and live in them,
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit;
22 They shall not build and others live there;
they shall not plant and others eat.
As the years of a tree, so the years of my people;
and my chosen ones shall long enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They shall not toil in vain,
nor beget children for sudden destruction;
For they shall be a people blessed by the Lord
and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call, I will answer;
while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 [g]The wolf and the lamb shall pasture together,
and the lion shall eat hay like the ox—
but the serpent’s food shall be dust.(G)
None shall harm or destroy
on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
Footnotes
- 65:1–7 These verses serve as a response to the preceding questions about God’s inaction (64:6, 11). It is not God who has been absent, but the people who have walked away from God by idolatrous acts and rituals (vv. 3–4). That is the reason for their punishment (vv. 6–7).
- 65:5 Render you holy: unclean food is what these people claim has made them sacred! The prophet ridicules them. Sacredness was understood as something communicable (cf. Ex 19:9–15).
- 65:8 This verse reflects the remnant theology found elsewhere in the Book of Isaiah: 1:8–9; 4:3; 6:11–13; etc.
- 65:11–12 Destiny: the play on words is found in the Hebrew, in which “destiny” and “destine” are menî and manîthî.
- 65:16 God of truth: lit., “God of Amen,” i.e., the one who keeps his word.
- 65:17–18 The new creation (cf. 66:22) is described with apocalyptic exuberance: long life, material prosperity, and so forth. As the former events in 43:18 are to be forgotten, so also the new creation wipes out memory of the first creation.
- 65:25 The imagery reflects the ideal era described in 11:6–9; see note there.
Izaija 65
Biblija: suvremeni hrvatski prijevod
65 »Otkrio sam se onima
koji nisu za mene pitali.
Našli su me oni koji me nisu tražili.
‘Evo me!’, rekao sam narodu
koji nije prizivao moje ime.
2 Neprestano sam pružao ruke
nepokornom narodu,
koji hoda zlim putevima
i ide samo za svojim mislima.
3 To je narod koji me neprestano,
otvoreno izaziva na gnjev,
prinosi žrtve u vrtovima[a]
i pali tamjan na opekama.
4 To je narod koji sjedi među grobovima
i provodi noći u pećinama,[b]
koji jede svinjetinu,
a u loncima mu je nečista hrana.
5 Ali drugima kaže: ‘Makni se od mene!
Ne prilazi mi jer sam za tebe presvet!’
Oni su dim u mojim nosnicama,
vatra koja neprestano gori.
6 Evo, tu su popisani vaši grijesi.
Neću šutjeti, nego ću ih isplatiti do kraja,
i kaznit ću vas u potpunosti.
7 Učinit ću to zbog vaših grijeha
i grijeha vaših predaka.
Zato što su palili tamjan na gorama
i sramotili me na brdima,
kaznit ću ih za sva ta djela.«
8 Ovako kaže BOG:
»Kad u grozdu još ima soka,
ljudi kažu: ‘Nemojte ga uništiti,
u njemu ima još nešto dobro.’
Tako ću i ja učiniti za dobro svojih slugu
—neću ih sve uništiti.
9 Iz Jakova ću izvesti potomstvo
i iz Jude one koji će naslijediti planine.
Moji izabranici će ih naslijediti
i moje će se sluge tamo naseliti.
10 Dolina Šaron postat će pašnjak za sitnu stoku,
a dolina Akor odmorište za krupnu
—za moj narod, koji me traži.
11 Ali, vi koji ste ostavili BOGA,
zaboravljate moje Sveto brdo,
stol postavljate idolu Sreće
i vinom punite čaše idolu Sudbine.
12 Vas ću predati maču
i svi ćete se prignuti da vas zakolju.
Jer, zvao sam vas, a niste se odazvali,
govorio sam, a niste slušali.
Činili ste ono što je za mene zlo
i birali ono što mi nije drago.«
13 Stoga, ovako kaže Gospodar BOG:
»Moje sluge će jesti, a vi ćete gladovati.
Moje sluge će piti, a vi ćete biti žedni.
Moje sluge će se radovati, a vi ćete se sramiti.
14 Moje sluge će pjevati od sreće,
a vi ćete jaukati od bola
i zapomagati zbog tjeskobe.
15 Za moje izabrane,
vaše ime će biti kletva.
Gospodar BOG će vas pogubiti,
a svojim slugama dati drugo ime.
16 Tko god u zemlji za sebe traži blagoslov,
tražit će da ga blagoslovi istiniti Bog.
Tko god se bude zaklinjao u zemlji,
zaklinjat će se Bogom istinitim.
Jer, prijašnje nevolje bit će zaboravljene
i sakrivene od mojih očiju.«
Nova nebesa i nova zemlja
17 »Stvorit ću nova nebesa i novu zemlju.
Ono što je bilo prije, neće se spominjati.
Nitko neće na to misliti.
18 Radujte se i kličite dovijeka
zbog onoga što stvaram.
Stvaram Jeruzalem da bude grad veselja,
a njegov narod, narod radosti.
19 Tada ću se veseliti zbog Jeruzalema
i radovati se zbog svoga naroda.
U njemu se više neće čuti ni plač, ni vapaj.
20 U njemu više neće biti novorođenčeta
koje živi tek nekoliko dana,
ni starca koji se neće naživjeti.
Tko umre sa sto godina, smatrat će se mladim,
a tko ne doživi stotu, prokletim.
21 Zidat će kuće i živjeti u njima,
saditi vinograde i jesti njihov rod.
22 Neće više biti da jedni zidaju,
a drugi stanuju,
da jedni sade, a drugi jedu.
Životni vijek moga naroda
bit će kao vijek drveta.
Moji izabrani posve će iskoristiti
sve što su napravili.
23 Neće uzalud mukotrpno raditi,
ni djecu rađati za nesreću.
Bit će narod koji je BOG blagoslovio,
a s njima i njihove potomke.
24 Prije nego zovnu, odazvat ću se.
Dok još govore, odgovorit ću im.
25 Vuk i janje hranit će se zajedno.
Lav će jesti slamu kao vol,
a zmiji će prašina biti hrana.
Oni neće činiti štetu,
niti uništavati na mom Svetome brdu«.
Tako kaže BOG.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
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