Isaiah 65:1-7
Lexham English Bible
Judgment and Salvation
65 “I let myself be sought by those who did not ask;
I let myself be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am; here I am!’ to a nation that did not call on my name;
2 I spread out my hands all day to a stubborn people,
those who walk after their thoughts in the way that is not good,
3 the people who provoke[a] me to anger continually to my face,
slaughtering for sacrifices in the garden,
and making smoke offerings on bricks,
4 who sit[b] in graves
and spend the night in secret places,[c]
who eat[d] the flesh of swine
with[e] a fragment[f] of impurity in their vessels,
5 who say,[g] “Keep to yourself![h]
You must not come near me, for I am too holy for you!”
These are a smoke in my nostrils,[i]
a fire burning all day.
6 Look! It is written before me: I will not be silent, but I will repay;
and I will repay in[j] the fold of their garment
7 your iniquities and the iniquities of your ancestors[k] together, says Yahweh,
because they made smoke offerings on the mountains
and they taunted me on the hills,
I will measure their punishment from the beginning into the fold of their garment.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:3 Literally “provoking”
- Isaiah 65:4 Literally “sitting”
- Isaiah 65:4 Literally “watches”
- Isaiah 65:4 Literally “eating”
- Isaiah 65:4 Or “and”
- Isaiah 65:4 The reading tradition (Qere) has “broth”
- Isaiah 65:5 Literally “saying”
- Isaiah 65:5 Literally “Come near to you”
- Isaiah 65:5 Literally “nose”
- Isaiah 65:6 Or “on”
- Isaiah 65:7 Or “fathers”
Isaiah 65:1-7
New English Translation
The Lord Will Distinguish Between Sinners and the Godly
65 “I made myself available to those who did not ask for me;[a]
I appeared to those who did not look for me.[b]
I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’
to a nation that did not invoke[c] my name.
2 I spread out my hands all day long
to my rebellious people,
who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable,
and who did what they desired.[d]
3 These people continually and blatantly offend me[e]
as they sacrifice in their sacred orchards[f]
and burn incense on brick altars.[g]
4 They sit among the tombs[h]
and keep watch all night long.[i]
They eat pork,[j]
and broth[k] from unclean sacrificial meat is in their pans.
5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself!
Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’
These people are like smoke in my nostrils,
like a fire that keeps burning all day long.
6 Look, I have decreed:[l]
I will not keep silent, but will pay them back;
I will pay them back exactly what they deserve,[m]
7 for your sins and your ancestors’ sins,”[n] says the Lord.
“Because they burned incense on the mountains
and offended[o] me on the hills,
I will punish them in full measure.”[p]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:1 tn Heb “I allowed myself to be sought by those who did not ask.”
- Isaiah 65:1 tn Heb “I allowed myself to be found by those who did not seek.”
- Isaiah 65:1 tn Heb “call out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “call on.”
- Isaiah 65:2 tn Heb “who walked [in] the way that is not good, after their thoughts.”
- Isaiah 65:3 tn Heb “the people who provoke me to anger to my face continually.”
- Isaiah 65:3 tn Or “gardens” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
- Isaiah 65:3 tn Or perhaps, “on tiles.”
- Isaiah 65:4 sn Perhaps the worship of underworld deities or dead spirits is in view.
- Isaiah 65:4 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and in the watches they spend the night.” Some understand נְּצוּרִים (netsurim) as referring to “secret places” or “caves,” while others emend the text to וּבֵין צוּרִים (uven tsurim, “between the rocky cliffs”).
- Isaiah 65:4 tn Heb “the flesh of the pig”; KJV, NAB, NASB “swine’s flesh.”
- Isaiah 65:4 tc The marginal reading (Qere), supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa, reads מְרַק (meraq, “broth”), while the consonantal text (Kethib) has פְרַק (feraq, “fragment”).
- Isaiah 65:6 tn Heb “Look, it is written before me.”
- Isaiah 65:6 tn Heb “I will pay back into their lap.”
- Isaiah 65:7 tn Heb “the iniquities of your fathers.”
- Isaiah 65:7 tn Or perhaps, “taunted”; KJV “blasphemed”; NAB “disgraced”; NASB “scorned”; NIV “defied”; NRSV “reviled.”
- Isaiah 65:7 tn Heb “I will measure out their pay [from the] beginning into their lap,” i.e., he will give them everything they have earned.
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