Isaiah 64:8-66:6

New International Version

⁸Yet you, Lord, are our Father.^(A)
    We are the clay, you are the potter;^(B)
    we are all the work of your hand.^(C)
⁹Do not be angry^(D) beyond measure, Lord;
    do not remember our sins^(E) forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
    for we are all your people.^(F)
¹⁰Your sacred cities^(G) have become a wasteland;
    even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.^(H)
¹¹Our holy and glorious temple,^(I) where our ancestors praised you,
    has been burned with fire,
    and all that we treasured^(J) lies in ruins.
¹²After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?^(K)
    Will you keep silent^(L) and punish us beyond measure?

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.^(M)
To a nation^(N) that did not call on my name,^(O)
    I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
²All day long I have held out my hands
    to an obstinate people,^(P)
who walk in ways not good,
    pursuing their own imaginations^(Q)—
³a people who continually provoke me
    to my very face,^(R)
offering sacrifices in gardens^(S)
    and burning incense^(T) on altars of brick;
⁴who sit among the graves^(U)
    and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,^(V)
    and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
⁵who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
    for I am too sacred^(W) for you!’
Such people are smoke^(X) in my nostrils,
    a fire that keeps burning all day.

⁶“See, it stands written before me:
    I will not keep silent^(Y) but will pay back^(Z) in full;
    I will pay it back into their laps^(AA)—
⁷both your sins^(AB) and the sins of your ancestors,”^(AC)
    says the Lord.
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
    and defied me on the hills,^(AD)
I will measure into their laps
    the full payment^(AE) for their former deeds.”

⁸This is what the Lord says:

“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes^(AF)
    and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
    there is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;^(AG)
    I will not destroy them all.
⁹I will bring forth descendants^(AH) from Jacob,
    and from Judah those who will possess^(AI) my mountains;
my chosen^(AJ) people will inherit them,
    and there will my servants live.^(AK)
¹⁰Sharon^(AL) will become a pasture for flocks,^(AM)
    and the Valley of Achor^(AN) a resting place for herds,
    for my people who seek^(AO) me.

¹¹“But as for you who forsake^(AP) the Lord
    and forget my holy mountain,^(AQ)
who spread a table for Fortune
    and fill bowls of mixed wine^(AR) for Destiny,
¹²I will destine you for the sword,^(AS)
    and all of you will fall in the slaughter;^(AT)
for I called but you did not answer,^(AU)
    I spoke but you did not listen.^(AV)
You did evil in my sight
    and chose what displeases me.”^(AW)

¹³Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“My servants will eat,^(AX)
    but you will go hungry;^(AY)
my servants will drink,^(AZ)
    but you will go thirsty;^(BA)
my servants will rejoice,^(BB)
    but you will be put to shame.^(BC)
¹⁴My servants will sing^(BD)
    out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out^(BE)
    from anguish of heart
    and wail in brokenness of spirit.
¹⁵You will leave your name
    for my chosen ones to use in their curses;^(BF)
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,
    but to his servants he will give another name.^(BG)
¹⁶Whoever invokes a blessing^(BH) in the land
    will do so by the one true God;^(BI)
whoever takes an oath in the land
    will swear^(BJ) by the one true God.
For the past troubles^(BK) 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.^(BL)
The former things will not be remembered,^(BM)
    nor will they come to mind.
¹⁸But be glad and rejoice^(BN) forever
    in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem^(BO) to be a delight
    and its people a joy.
¹⁹I will rejoice^(BP) over Jerusalem
    and take delight^(BQ) in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying^(BR)
    will be heard in it no more.

²⁰“Never again will there be in it
    an infant^(BS) who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not live out his years;^(BT)
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.
²¹They will build houses^(BU) and dwell in them;
    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.^(BV)
²²No longer will they build houses and others live in them,^(BW)
    or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,^(BX)
    so will be the days^(BY) of my people;
my chosen^(BZ) ones will long enjoy
    the work of their hands.
²³They will not labor in vain,^(CA)
    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;^(CB)
for they will be a people blessed^(CC) by the Lord,
    they and their descendants^(CD) with them.
²⁴Before they call^(CE) I will answer;^(CF)
    while they are still speaking^(CG) I will hear.
²⁵The wolf and the lamb^(CH) will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,^(CI)
    and dust will be the serpent’s^(CJ) food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,”^(CK)
says the Lord.

Judgment and Hope

66 This is what the Lord says:

“Heaven is my throne,^(CL)
    and the earth is my footstool.^(CM)
Where is the house^(CN) you will build for me?
    Where will my resting place be?
²Has not my hand made all these things,^(CO)
    and so they came into being?”
declares the Lord.

“These are the ones I look on with favor:
    those who are humble and contrite in spirit,^(CP)
    and who tremble at my word.^(CQ)
³But whoever sacrifices a bull^(CR)
    is like one who kills a person,
and whoever offers a lamb
    is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever makes a grain offering
    is like one who presents pig’s^(CS) blood,
and whoever burns memorial incense^(CT)
    is like one who worships an idol.
They have chosen their own ways,^(CU)
    and they delight in their abominations;^(CV)
⁴so I also will choose harsh treatment for them
    and will bring on them what they dread.^(CW)
For when I called, no one answered,^(CX)
    when I spoke, no one listened.
They did evil^(CY) in my sight
    and chose what displeases me.”^(CZ)

⁵Hear the word of the Lord,
    you who tremble at his word:^(DA)
“Your own people who hate^(DB) you,
    and exclude you because of my name, have said,
‘Let the Lord be glorified,
    that we may see your joy!’
    Yet they will be put to shame.^(DC)
⁶Hear that uproar from the city,
    hear that noise from the temple!
It is the sound^(DD) of the Lord
    repaying^(DE) his enemies all they deserve.