Isaiah 65
New King James Version
The Righteousness of God’s Judgment
65 “I was (A)sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’
To a nation that (B)was not called by My name.
2 (C)I have stretched out My hands all day long to a (D)rebellious people,
Who (E)walk in a way that is not good,
According to their own thoughts;
3 A people (F)who provoke Me to anger continually to My face;
(G)Who sacrifice in gardens,
And burn incense on altars of brick;
4 (H)Who sit among the graves,
And spend the night in the tombs;
(I)Who eat swine’s flesh,
And the broth of [a]abominable things is in their vessels;
5 (J)Who say, ‘Keep to yourself,
Do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!’
These [b]are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.
6 “Behold, (K)it is written before Me:
(L)I will not keep silence, (M)but will repay—
Even repay into their bosom—
7 Your iniquities and (N)the iniquities of your fathers together,”
Says the Lord,
(O)“Who have burned incense on the mountains
(P)And blasphemed Me on the hills;
Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”
8 Thus says the Lord:
“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it,
For (Q)a blessing is in it,’
So will I do for My servants’ sake,
That I may not destroy them (R)all.
9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
And from Judah an heir of My mountains;
My (S)elect shall inherit it,
And My servants shall dwell there.
10 (T)Sharon shall be a fold of flocks,
And (U)the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
For My people who have (V)sought Me.
11 “But you are those who forsake the Lord,
Who forget (W)My holy mountain,
Who prepare (X)a table for [c]Gad,
And who furnish a drink offering for [d]Meni.
12 Therefore I will number you for the sword,
And you shall all bow down to the slaughter;
(Y)Because, when I called, you did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not hear,
But did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight.”
13 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, 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 ashamed;
14 Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart,
But you shall cry for sorrow of heart,
And (Z)wail for [e]grief of spirit.
15 You shall leave your name (AA)as a curse to (AB)My chosen;
For the Lord God will slay you,
And (AC)call His servants by another name;
16 (AD)So that he who blesses himself in the earth
Shall bless himself in the God of truth;
And (AE)he who swears in the earth
Shall swear by the God of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My eyes.
The Glorious New Creation
17 “For behold, I create (AF)new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or [f]come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
19 (AG)I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in My people;
The (AH)voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her,
Nor the voice of crying.
20 “No more shall an infant from there live but a few days,
Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days;
For the child shall die one hundred years old,
(AI)But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 (AJ)They shall build houses and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
They shall not plant and (AK)another eat;
For (AL)as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people,
And (AM)My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain,
(AN)Nor bring forth children for trouble;
For (AO)they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord,
And their offspring with them.
24 “It shall come to pass
That (AP)before they call, I will answer;
And while they are still speaking, I will (AQ)hear.
25 The (AR)wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
The lion shall eat straw like the ox,
(AS)And dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,”
Says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:4 Unclean meats, Lev. 7:18; 19:7
- Isaiah 65:5 Cause My wrath to smoke
- Isaiah 65:11 Lit. Troop or Fortune; a pagan deity
- Isaiah 65:11 Lit. Number or Destiny; a pagan deity
- Isaiah 65:14 Or a broken spirit
- Isaiah 65:17 Lit. come upon the heart
Isaiah 65
EasyEnglish Bible
Punishment and salvation
65 The Lord says,
‘I was ready to answer,
even when my people did not ask me anything.
I showed myself to people
who were not even looking for me.
I said, “Look! Here I am!” to a nation
who did not even use my name to pray.
2 All the time, I have been ready to help my people,
even though they turned against me.
But they continue to live in a way that is not good.
They do whatever they want to do.
3 They continue to make me angry,
as they insult me without shame.
They offer sacrifices to their idols in their gardens.
They burn incense to them
on altars that are made from bricks.
4 They sit among the graves
and they hide in caves.[a]
They eat meat from pigs.
They use unclean meat to make their soup.
5 They say to each other,
“Keep away from me! Do not come near me!
I am too holy for you!”
These people are like smoke in my nose!
They are like a fire that burns all day.’
6 The Lord says,
‘Look! I have decided what I will do,
and I have written it down:
I will not keep quiet.
I will punish them completely.
I will give them everything that they deserve,
7 as punishment for their sins
and for the sins of their ancestors.
They burned incense to their idols on the mountains,
and they insulted me on the hills.
So I will punish them completely,
as much as they deserve.’
8 This is what the Lord says:
‘If grapes still have some juice in them,
someone will say, “Do not destroy them.
There is some juice there that we can use.”
I will do the same thing for my servants.
I will not destroy them all.
9 I will cause Jacob's family to have descendants.
There will be people of Judah's family
who will live on my mountains.
The land will belong to the people that I have chosen.
My servants will live there.
10 Sharon will become a field where sheep safely eat grass.
Cows will rest in the Valley of Achor.
Those places will belong to my people,
those who want to serve me.
11 But punishment will come
to those people who turn away from the Lord.
You forget to worship me on my holy mountain.[b]
Instead, you prepare food and wine
to offer to your false gods called “Luck” and “Fate”.
12 So this will be your fate:
a sword will kill you.
You will all bend down low for someone to kill you.
This will happen because you did not answer me
when I spoke to you.
You did not even listen to my words.
You did evil things against me.
You chose to do things that I would hate.’
13 So the Almighty Lord says this:
‘Look! My servants will eat,
but you will be hungry.
Look! My servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty.
Look! My servants will be happy,
but you will be ashamed.
14 Yes, my servants will sing with joy
because they are so happy.
But you will cry aloud
because you are so sad.
You will weep
because you are very upset.
15 My own people will use your names when they curse others.
The Almighty Lord will kill you,
but he will give to his servants another name.
16 People in the land will use the name of the true God,
when they want to say a blessing.
People in the land who want to make a strong promise
will also use the name of the true God.
I will forget the troubles that happened in past years.
I will no longer even think about them.
17 Listen! I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
People will not remember what things were like before.
Those thoughts will not be in their minds at all.
18 But be happy about what I will create!
Be happy for ever!
I will create Jerusalem as a happy place.
The people who live there will be full of joy.
19 And Jerusalem will cause me to be happy.
My people will give me joy.
There will be no noise of people who are weeping.
People will not be sad in Jerusalem again.
20 Never again will there be a baby
who only lives for a few days.
Old men will continue to live a long life.
People will live until they are 100 years old
and they will still seem young.
If anyone dies before he is 100 years old,
people will think that God has cursed him.
21 My people will build houses
and they will live in them.
They will plant vineyards
and they will eat the fruit from them.
22 They will no longer build houses
and then other people live in them.
They will not plant trees
and then other people to eat the fruit.
My people will have long lives,
as long as trees live.
My own people will live to enjoy the things
that they have worked hard to get.
23 Their work will not be useless.
They will not give birth to children
who will live in fear.
Instead, the Lord will bless their children.
He will bless them
and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call to me for help,
I will answer them.
While they are still praying,
I will hear them.
25 At that time,
wolves and lambs will eat together.
Lions will eat straw like cows.
A snake's food will be dirt.
Nothing will hurt or destroy anything else
anywhere on my holy mountain.’
That is what the Lord says.[c]
Isaiah 65
Tree of Life Version
Outstretched Hands
65 “I was sought by those who did not ask for Me,
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Hineni, hineni!’
to a nation not called by My Name.[a]
2 I have stretched out My hands all day
to a rebellious people,[b]
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own thoughts.
3 These people provoke Me continually
to My face,
sacrificing in gardens,
burning incense on bricks,
4 sitting among graves,
spending the night in cave-tombs;
eating swine’s flesh,
and the broth of detestable things is in their pots,
5 who say, ‘Keep to yourself, don’t come to me,
for I am holier than you!’
These are smoke in My nostrils,
a fire that burns all day.
6 Behold, it is written before Me;
I will not keep silence, but will repay,
even repay into their laps,
7 your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together,”
says Adonai,
“because they burned incense on the mountains,
and scorned Me on the hills.
So I will measure into their laps
full wages for their former deeds.”
8 Thus says Adonai:
“As new wine is found in a cluster,
and one says, ‘Do not destroy it,
for a blessing is in it,’
so I will do for My servants’ sakes,
that I may not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
an heir of My mountains from Judah.
My chosen ones will inherit it,
and My servants will dwell there.
10 Sharon will be a fold of flocks,
and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in,
for My people who seek Me.
11 But you who forsake Adonai,
who forget My holy mountain,
who prepare a table for Fortune,
who fill cups of mixed wine for Fate,
12 I will fate you to the sword,
and all of you will kneel to slaughter.
For I called, but you did not answer,
I spoke, but you did not hear.
So you did what was evil in My sight,
and chose what I did not delight in.”
13 Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim:
“Behold, My servants will eat,
while you will go hungry.
Behold, My servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty.
Behold, My servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame.
14 Behold, My servants will sing for joy
with a happy heart,
but you will cry from pain of heart,
and wail out of a broken spirit.
15 You will leave your name behind
as a curse for My chosen ones,
and Adonai Elohim will slay you.
But He will call His servants by another name.
16 So he who says a bracha in the land
will be blessed by the God of truth,
and he who swears in the land
will swear by the God of truth.
For the former troubles are forgotten,
because they are hidden from My sight!
New Heavens and New Earth
17 For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth.[c]
The former things will not be remembered
or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating.
For behold, I am creating Jerusalem for rejoicing,
and her people for joy.
19 Then I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and be glad in My people.
No longer will the voice of weeping
or the voice of crying be heard in her.
20 No longer will there be in it an infant
who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days.
For the youth will die at a hundred years,
But one who misses the mark of a hundred
must be accursed.
21 They will build houses and inhabit them.
They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will not build and another inhabit,
nor plant and another eat.
For like the days of a tree,
so will be the days of My people,
and My chosen ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain
nor bear children for calamity.
For they are the offspring of those blessed by Adonai,
as well as descendants with them.
24 And it will come to pass that before they call,
I will answer,
and while they are still speaking,
I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together.
The lion will eat straw like the ox,
but dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will not hurt or destroy
in all My holy mountain,” says Adonai.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:1 cf. Rom. 10:20.
- Isaiah 65:2 cf. Rom. 10:21.
- Isaiah 65:17 cf. 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.