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65 “I am inquired of by those who didn’t ask.
    I am found by those who didn’t seek me.
    I said, ‘See me, see me,’ to a nation that was not called by my name.
I have spread out my hands all day to a rebellious people,
    who walk in a way that is not good,
    after their own thoughts;
a people who provoke me to my face continually,
    sacrificing in gardens,
    and burning incense on bricks;
who sit among the graves,
    and spend nights in secret places;
who eat pig’s meat,
    and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
who say, ‘Stay by yourself,
    don’t come near to me,
    for I am holier than you.’
These are smoke in my nose,
    a fire that burns all day.

“Behold, it is written before me:
    I will not keep silence,
    but will repay,
    yes, I will repay into their bosom,
your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together”, says Yahweh,
    “who have burned incense on the mountains,
    and blasphemed me on the hills.
    Therefore I will first measure their work into their bosom.”

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Judgment and Final Salvation

65 The Lord says,

“I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help.
    I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’
    to a nation that did not call on my name.[a]
All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people.[b]
    But they follow their own evil paths
    and their own crooked schemes.
All day long they insult me to my face
    by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens.
    They burn incense on pagan altars.
At night they go out among the graves,
    worshiping the dead.
They eat the flesh of pigs
    and make stews with other forbidden foods.
Yet they say to each other,
    ‘Don’t come too close or you will defile me!
    I am holier than you!’
These people are a stench in my nostrils,
    an acrid smell that never goes away.

“Look, my decree is written out[c] in front of me:
    I will not stand silent;
I will repay them in full!
    Yes, I will repay them—
both for their own sins
    and for those of their ancestors,”
    says the Lord.
“For they also burned incense on the mountains
    and insulted me on the hills.
    I will pay them back in full!

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Footnotes

  1. 65:1 Or to a nation that did not bear my name.
  2. 65:1-2 Greek version reads I was found by people who were not looking for me. / I showed myself to those who were not asking for me. / All day long I opened my arms to them, / but they were disobedient and rebellious. Compare Rom 10:20-21.
  3. 65:6 Or their sins are written out; Hebrew reads it stands written.