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

65 I let Myself be sought of them that asked not for Me; I let Myself be found of them that sought me not; I said, Hineni, behold Me, unto a Goy (Nation, People) that was not called by My Shem.

I have spread out My yad kol hayom unto an Am Sorer (stubbornly rebellious people), which walketh in a derech lo tov, after their own machshevot (thoughts);

HaAm that provoketh Me to anger continually to My face; that sacrificeth in ganot (gardens), and burneth sacrifices upon brick;

Which remain among the kevarim, and spend the night in closed places, which eat basar hachazir, and broth of piggulim (unclean meat, Lv.7:18) in their vessels;

Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am kadosh to thee (holier than thou). These are a smoke in My nose, an eish that burneth kol hayom.

Hinei, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but will recompense fully, even recompense into their kheyk,

Your avonot, and the iniquities of your avot together, saith Hashem, because they burned sacrifices upon the mountains, and insulted Me upon the hills; therefore will I measure their former peulot into their kheyk.

Thus saith Hashem, As the tirosh is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a brocha is in it; so will I do in behalf of My Servants, that I may not destroy them all.

And I will bring forth a zera out of Ya’akov, and out of Yehudah a yoresh (inheritor) of My mountains; and Mine Bechir (Chosen ones) shall inherit it, and My Servants shall dwell there.

10 And Sharon shall be a meadow for tzon, and the valley of Achor a place for the flock to lie down, for Ami (My People) who seek Me.

11 But ye are they that forsake Hashem, that forget My Har Kadosh, that prepare a shulchan for Fortune, and that furnish the drink offering for Destiny.

12 Therefore will I destine you for the cherev, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughtering place; because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spoke, ye did not hear; but did the rah before Mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.

13 Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem, Hinei, My Servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; hinei, My Servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; hinei, My Servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed;

14 Hinei, My Servants shall sing for joy of lev, but ye shall cry out from anguish of lev, and shall wail from brokenness of ruach.

15 And ye shall leave your shem for a curse unto My Bechir; for Adonoi Hashem shall put thee to death, and call His Avadim by another shem;

16 That he who blesseth himself in ha’aretz shall bless himself by Elohei Omein (the G-d of [the] Amen, the G-d of Truth); and he that taketh an oath in ha’aretz shall take the oath by Elohei Omein; because the former tzoros are forgotten, and because they are hid from Mine eyes.

17 For, hinei, I create Shomayim Chadashim and eretz Chadashah; and the rishonot shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

18 But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, hinei, I create Yerushalayim a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

19 And I will rejoice in Yerushalayim, and joy in Ami; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying out.

20 There shall be no more in there an infant of days, nor a zaken (old man) that hath not filled his days; for he that shall die a hundred years old will be regarded a na’ar; but the choteh (sinner), a hundred years old, will be accursed.

21 And they shall build batim (houses), and inhabit them; and they shall plant kramim (vineyards), and eat the fruit of them.

22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat; for as the days of HaEtz are the days of Ami, and Mine Bechir shall long enjoy the ma’aseh of their hands.

23 They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for misfortune; for they are the Zera Beruchei Hashem (Seed of the Blessed ones of Hashem), and their offspring with them.

24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet medaberim (speaking), I will hear.

25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and aphar shall be the lechem of the nachash. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My Har Kadosh, saith Hashem. [T.N. This last chapter makes a reference to Gehinnom and the just retribution coming.]