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Isaiah 65
New International Version
Isaiah 65
New International Version
Judgment and Salvation
65 “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
I was found by those who did not seek me.(A)
To a nation(B) that did not call on my name,(C)
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
2 All day long I have held out my hands
to an obstinate people,(D)
who walk in ways not good,
pursuing their own imaginations(E)—
3 a people who continually provoke me
to my very face,(F)
offering sacrifices in gardens(G)
and burning incense(H) on altars of brick;
4 who sit among the graves(I)
and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,(J)
and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
5 who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
for I am too sacred(K) for you!’
Such people are smoke(L) in my nostrils,
a fire that keeps burning all day.
6 “See, it stands written before me:
I will not keep silent(M) but will pay back(N) in full;
I will pay it back into their laps(O)—
7 both your sins(P) and the sins of your ancestors,”(Q)
says the Lord.
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
and defied me on the hills,(R)
I will measure into their laps
the full payment(S) for their former deeds.”
8 This is what the Lord says:
“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes(T)
and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
there is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;(U)
I will not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth descendants(V) from Jacob,
and from Judah those who will possess(W) my mountains;
my chosen(X) people will inherit them,
and there will my servants live.(Y)
10 Sharon(Z) will become a pasture for flocks,(AA)
and the Valley of Achor(AB) a resting place for herds,
for my people who seek(AC) me.
11 “But as for you who forsake(AD) the Lord
and forget my holy mountain,(AE)
who spread a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine(AF) for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,(AG)
and all of you will fall in the slaughter;(AH)
for I called but you did not answer,(AI)
I spoke but you did not listen.(AJ)
You did evil in my sight
and chose what displeases me.”(AK)
13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“My servants will eat,(AL)
but you will go hungry;(AM)
my servants will drink,(AN)
but you will go thirsty;(AO)
my servants will rejoice,(AP)
but you will be put to shame.(AQ)
14 My servants will sing(AR)
out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out(AS)
from anguish of heart
and wail in brokenness of spirit.
15 You will leave your name
for my chosen ones to use in their curses;(AT)
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,
but to his servants he will give another name.(AU)
16 Whoever invokes a blessing(AV) in the land
will do so by the one true God;(AW)
whoever takes an oath in the land
will swear(AX) by the one true God.
For the past troubles(AY) will be forgotten
and hidden from my eyes.
New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.(AZ)
The former things will not be remembered,(BA)
nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice(BB) forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem(BC) to be a delight
and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice(BD) over Jerusalem
and take delight(BE) in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying(BF)
will be heard in it no more.
20 “Never again will there be in it
an infant(BG) who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;(BH)
the one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred
will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses(BI) and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.(BJ)
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,(BK)
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,(BL)
so will be the days(BM) of my people;
my chosen(BN) ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,(BO)
nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;(BP)
for they will be a people blessed(BQ) by the Lord,
they and their descendants(BR) with them.
24 Before they call(BS) I will answer;(BT)
while they are still speaking(BU) I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb(BV) will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,(BW)
and dust will be the serpent’s(BX) food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,”(BY)
says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:20 Or the sinner who reaches
Isaiah 65
The Message
Isaiah 65
The Message
The People Who Bothered to Reach Out to God
65 1-7 “I’ve made myself available
to those who haven’t bothered to ask.
I’m here, ready to be found
by those who haven’t bothered to look.
I kept saying ‘I’m here, I’m right here’
to a nation that ignored me.
I reached out day after day
to a people who turned their backs on me,
People who make wrong turns,
who insist on doing things their own way.
They get on my nerves,
are rude to my face day after day,
Make up their own kitchen religion,
a potluck religious stew.
They spend the night in tombs
to get messages from the dead,
Eat forbidden foods
and drink a witch’s brew of potions and charms.
They say, ‘Keep your distance.
Don’t touch me. I’m holier than thou.’
These people gag me.
I can’t stand their stench.
Look at this! Their sins are all written out—
I have the list before me.
I’m not putting up with this any longer.
I’ll pay them the wages
They have coming for their sins.
And for the sins of their parents lumped in,
a bonus.” God says so.
“Because they’ve practiced their blasphemous worship,
mocking me at their hillside shrines,
I’ll let loose the consequences
and pay them in full for their actions.”
* * *
8-10 God’s Message:
“But just as one bad apple doesn’t ruin the whole bushel,
there are still plenty of good apples left.
So I’ll preserve those in Israel who obey me.
I won’t destroy the whole nation.
I’ll bring out my true children from Jacob
and the heirs of my mountains from Judah.
My chosen will inherit the land,
my servants will move in.
The lush valley of Sharon in the west
will be a pasture for flocks,
And in the east, the valley of Achor,
a place for herds to graze.
These will be for the people
who bothered to reach out to me, who wanted me in their lives,
who actually bothered to look for me.
* * *
11-12 “But you who abandon me, your God,
who forget the holy mountains,
Who hold dinners for Lady Luck
and throw cocktail parties for Sir Fate,
Well, you asked for it. Fate it will be:
your destiny, Death.
For when I invited you, you ignored me;
when I spoke to you, you brushed me off.
You did the very things I exposed as evil;
you chose what I hate.”
13-16 Therefore, this is the Message from the Master, God:
“My servants will eat,
and you’ll go hungry;
My servants will drink,
and you’ll go thirsty;
My servants will rejoice,
and you’ll hang your heads.
My servants will laugh from full hearts,
and you’ll cry out heartbroken,
yes, wail from crushed spirits.
Your legacy to my chosen
will be your name reduced to a cussword.
I, God, will put you to death
and give a new name to my servants.
Then whoever prays a blessing in the land
will use my faithful name for the blessing,
And whoever takes an oath in the land
will use my faithful name for the oath,
Because the earlier troubles are gone and forgotten,
banished far from my sight.
New Heavens and a New Earth
17-25 “Pay close attention now:
I’m creating new heavens and a new earth.
All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain
are things of the past, to be forgotten.
Look ahead with joy.
Anticipate what I’m creating:
I’ll create Jerusalem as sheer joy,
create my people as pure delight.
I’ll take joy in Jerusalem,
take delight in my people:
No more sounds of weeping in the city,
no cries of anguish;
No more babies dying in the cradle,
or old people who don’t enjoy a full lifetime;
One-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal—
anything less will seem like a cheat.
They’ll build houses
and move in.
They’ll plant fields
and eat what they grow.
No more building a house
that some outsider takes over,
No more planting fields
that some enemy confiscates,
For my people will be as long-lived as trees,
my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work.
They won’t work and have nothing come of it,
they won’t have children snatched out from under them.
For they themselves are plantings blessed by God,
with their children and grandchildren likewise God-blessed.
Before they call out, I’ll answer.
Before they’ve finished speaking, I’ll have heard.
Wolf and lamb will graze the same meadow,
lion and ox eat straw from the same trough,
but snakes—they’ll get a diet of dirt!
Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill
anywhere on my Holy Mountain,” says God.
Isaiah 65
The Voice
Isaiah 65
The Voice
65 Eternal One: I was ready and willing to help before anyone even asked.
I was found by people who did not seek Me;
I showed My face and said, “Here I am! I am right here!”
to a nation which did not call on Me.[a]
2 I kept extending Myself to a people who don’t care a whit.
All day long I opened my hands to those who constantly work against Me,
Those busy pursuing their own rotten path, inspired by their own rotten schemes.[b]
3 These people continue to insult Me, right to My face,
pursuing other gods, sacrificing in gardens
And offering incense on altars made of bricks.
4 They sit among the graves and spend their nights in secret rituals;
they eat the flesh of pigs and pollute their pots with unclean meats.
5 They have the gall to say, “Oooh, not so close! I am holier than you!”
These unholy people are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns and burns all day.
6 Look and see what stands written before Me:
“I will not remain silent and watch this disgrace;
But I will pay them back for what they have done.
I will pour their pay directly into their laps.
7 They will pay for their sins and the sins of their parents too.
For they turned to other gods, burned incense on the mountains
And insulted Me on the hillsides.
I will bring everything they deserve back to them, to their very core.”
8 This is what the Eternal has to say:
Eternal One: It’s like noticing the promise of new wine in a cluster of grapes.
One will say, “Don’t destroy them all; some of them are bound to be good.”
So for the sake of My servants,
I won’t destroy absolutely everyone.
9 But I will bring up children from Jacob’s line to inherit this land.
To Jacob’s son Judah I will give My mountains.
These, My chosen ones, will inherit it;
these, My servants, will live there and call it home.
10 From the plains of Sharon to the valley of Achor,
My people—who look to Me and no other—
Will have pasture for their sheep
and safe places for their herds.
11 But those of you who ignore Me, the Eternal One—
who turn away from My sanctuaries
And reject My holy mountain
to chase Lady Luck and cater to Destiny—
12 Will find yourselves a bit unlucky and your destiny an early death.
You’ll bow down and be killed like sheep brought to the slaughter
Because when I called you, you did not answer;
when I spoke, you refused to listen.
Instead you did all the wrong things and made terrible choices—
what I expressly said that I hate.
13 So this is what the Lord, the Eternal, has to say:
Eternal One: My servants will eat and eat well, while you go hungry;
My servants will drink and be satisfied, while you are parched with thirst;
My servants will celebrate with joy, while you are put to shame.
14 My servants will sing with gladness in their hearts,
While you cry out in anguish and despair and bemoan your brokenness.
15 And when you are gone, your name will become a curse—
a repugnant byword—to My chosen people;
The Eternal God will put you to death
and call His servants by a new name altogether.
16 Whoever speaks a blessing in this special land
will invoke the God of truth;
Whoever takes a vow in the land of promise
will make his pledge by the God of truth.
For the bitterness and pain of earlier times will nevermore come to mind;
they’ll be hidden even from My eyes, God says.
17 Eternal One: Now look here!
I am creating new heavens and a new earth.
The weary and painful past will be as if it never happened.
No one will talk or even think about it anymore.
18 So take joy and celebrate with unending gladness
on account of what I am creating.
Look carefully! I am making this place I’ve chosen, this Jerusalem, a city of joy.
I’m making her citizens, My people, a people of gladness.
19 This Jerusalem, My pride and joy, and her people will be a delight to Me.
Though you listen at every corner,
You will never hear crying, never hear despair or grief.
20 Never again will a person not live a full life,
for the young will live to be a hundred
And any who die earlier will be considered cursed.
21 People will confidently build houses and make them their homes;
they will plant vineyards and enjoy their fruit for years to come.
22 They won’t worry that someone else will come along, drive them out,
and take it all away.
For My people will live as long as these age-old trees;
My chosen will use up and wear out whatever they make.
23 They will not work hard for what others take away;
they will not lose children to sudden terror and death.
For they are the offspring of those blessed by the Eternal;
they and their descendants will enjoy God’s blessings.
24 I’ll anticipate their prayers and respond before they know it;
even as they speak, I will hear.
25 But they’ll all eat together like friends—wolf and lamb, lion and ox,
and the biting snake will feed on dust.
When that day arrives, there will be no evil, no violence, no hurt or wrong
in all My sacred mountain.
Footnotes
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
The Voice (VOICE)
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.