Isaiah 65:17-25
New English Translation
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.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:17 sn This hyperbolic statement likens the coming transformation of Jerusalem (see vv. 18-19) to a new creation of the cosmos.
- Isaiah 65:17 tn Or perhaps, “the former things” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “The events of the past.”
- Isaiah 65:17 tn Heb “and they will not come up on the mind.”
- 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.
- Isaiah 65:18 tn Heb “her people, happiness.” See the preceding note.
- Isaiah 65:19 tn Heb “and I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be happy in my people.”
- 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.
- Isaiah 65:20 tn Heb “or an old [man] who does not fill out his days.”
- 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.
- 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.”
- Isaiah 65:22 tn Heb “they will not build, and another live [in it].”
- Isaiah 65:22 tn Heb “they will not plant, and another eat.”
- Isaiah 65:22 tn Heb “for like the days of the tree [will be] the days of my people.”
- Isaiah 65:22 tn Heb “the work of their hands” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “their hard-won gains.”
- Isaiah 65:23 tn Heb “and they will not give birth to horror.”
- Isaiah 65:23 tn Heb “for offspring blessed by the Lord they [will be], and their descendants along with them.”
- 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.
- Isaiah 65:25 sn A similar statement appears in 11:6.
- Isaiah 65:25 sn These words also appear in 11:7.
- 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.”)
- 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.
Isaiah 65:17-25
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Glorious New Creation
17 For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.(A)
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating,
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy
and its people as a delight.(B)
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it
or the cry of distress.(C)
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime,
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.(D)
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.(E)
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat,
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.(F)
23 They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,[a]
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
and their descendants as well.(G)
24 Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.(H)
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.(I)
Footnotes
- 65.23 Or sudden terror
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