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17 For look, I am ready to create
new heavens and a new earth![a]
The former ones[b] will not be remembered;
no one will think about them anymore.[c]
18 But be happy and rejoice forevermore
over what I am about to create!
For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem to be a source of joy,[d]
and her people to be a source of happiness.[e]
19 Jerusalem will bring me joy,
and my people will bring me happiness.[f]
The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow
will never be heard in her again.
20 Never again will one of her infants live just a few days[g]
or an old man die before his time.[h]
Indeed, no one will die before the age of one hundred;[i]
anyone who fails to reach[j] the age of one hundred will be considered cursed.
21 They will build houses and live in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it,[k]
or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit,[l]
for my people will live as long as trees,[m]
and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced.[n]
23 They will not work in vain,
or give birth to children that will experience disaster.[o]
For the Lord will bless their children
and their descendants.[p]
24 Before they even call out,[q] I will respond;
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 A wolf and a lamb will graze together;[r]
a lion, like an ox, will eat straw,[s]
and a snake’s food will be dirt.[t]
They will no longer injure or destroy
on my entire royal mountain,”[u] says the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 65:17 sn This hyperbolic statement likens the coming transformation of Jerusalem (see vv. 18-19) to a new creation of the cosmos.
  2. Isaiah 65:17 tn Or perhaps, “the former things” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “The events of the past.”
  3. Isaiah 65:17 tn Heb “and they will not come up on the mind.”
  4. Isaiah 65:18 tn Heb “Jerusalem, joy.” The next verse suggests the meaning: The Lord will create Jerusalem to be a source of joy to himself.
  5. Isaiah 65:18 tn Heb “her people, happiness.” See the preceding note.
  6. Isaiah 65:19 tn Heb “and I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be happy in my people.”
  7. Isaiah 65:20 tn Heb “and there will not be from there again a nursing infant of days,” i.e., one that lives just a few days.
  8. Isaiah 65:20 tn Heb “or an old [man] who does not fill out his days.”
  9. Isaiah 65:20 tn Heb “for the child as a son of one hundred years will die.” The point seems to be that those who die at the age of a hundred will be considered children, for the average life span will be much longer than that. The category “child” will be redefined in light of the expanded life spans that will characterize this new era.
  10. Isaiah 65:20 tn Heb “the one who misses.” חָטָא (khataʾ) is used here in its basic sense of “miss the mark.” See HALOT 305 s.v. חטא. Another option is to translate, “and the sinner who reaches the age of a hundred will be cursed.”
  11. Isaiah 65:22 tn Heb “they will not build, and another live [in it].”
  12. Isaiah 65:22 tn Heb “they will not plant, and another eat.”
  13. Isaiah 65:22 tn Heb “for like the days of the tree [will be] the days of my people.”
  14. Isaiah 65:22 tn Heb “the work of their hands” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “their hard-won gains.”
  15. Isaiah 65:23 tn Heb “and they will not give birth to horror.”
  16. Isaiah 65:23 tn Heb “for offspring blessed by the Lord they [will be], and their descendants along with them.”
  17. Isaiah 65:24 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
  18. Isaiah 65:25 sn A similar statement appears in 11:6.
  19. Isaiah 65:25 sn These words also appear in 11:7.
  20. Isaiah 65:25 sn Some see an allusion to Gen 3:14 (note “you will eat dirt”). The point would be that even in this new era the snake (often taken as a symbol of Satan) remains under God’s curse. However, it is unlikely that such an allusion exists. Even if there is an echo of Gen 3:14, the primary allusion is to 11:8, where snakes are pictured as no longer dangerous. They will no longer attack other living creatures, but will be content to crawl along the ground. (The statement “you will eat dirt” in Gen 3:14 means “you will crawl on the ground.” In the same way the statement “dirt will be its food” in Isa 65:25 means “it will crawl on the ground.”)
  21. Isaiah 65:25 tn Heb “in all my holy mountain.” These same words appear in 11:9. See the note there.sn As in 11:1-9 the prophet anticipates a time when the categories predator-prey no longer exist. See the note at the end of 11:8.

A New Creation

17 “For I will create new heavens and a new earth;(A)
the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.
18 Then be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people.
The sound of weeping and crying
will no longer be heard in her.(B)
20 In her, a nursing infant will no longer live
only a few days,[a]
or an old man not live out his days.
Indeed, the one who dies at a hundred years old
will be mourned as a young man,[b]
and the one who misses a hundred years
will be considered cursed.(C)
21 People will build houses and live in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.(D)
22 They will not build and others live in them;
they will not plant and others eat.
For my people’s lives will be
like the lifetime of a tree.(E)
My chosen ones will fully enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor without success(F)
or bear children destined for disaster,
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord
along with their descendants.(G)
24 Even before they call, I will answer;(H)
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,[c]
and the lion will eat straw like cattle,(I)
but the serpent’s food will be dust!(J)
They will not do what is evil or destroy
on my entire holy mountain,”(K)
says the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. 65:20 Lit her, no longer infant of days
  2. 65:20 Lit the youth of a hundred years will die
  3. 65:25 Lit as one