Bible in 90 Days
Suffering servant
13 Look, my servant will succeed.
He will be exalted and lifted very high.
14 Just as many were appalled by you,
he too appeared disfigured, inhuman,
his appearance unlike that of mortals.
15 But he will astonish[a] many nations.
Kings will be silenced because of him,
because they will see what they haven’t seen before;
what they haven’t heard before, they will ponder.
53 Who can believe what we have heard,
and for whose sake has the Lord’s arm[b] been revealed?
2 He grew up like a young plant before us,[c]
like a root from dry ground.
He possessed no splendid form for us to see,
no desirable appearance.
3 He was despised and avoided by others;
a man who suffered, who knew sickness well.
Like someone from whom people hid their faces,
he was despised, and we didn’t think about him.
4 It was certainly our sickness that he carried,
and our sufferings that he bore,
but we thought him afflicted,
struck down by God and tormented.
5 He was pierced because of our rebellions
and crushed because of our crimes.
He bore the punishment that made us whole;
by his wounds we are healed.
6 Like sheep we had all wandered away,
each going its own way,
but the Lord let fall on him all our crimes.
7 He was oppressed and tormented,
but didn’t open his mouth.
Like a lamb being brought to slaughter,
like a ewe silent before her shearers,
he didn’t open his mouth.
8 Due to an unjust ruling he was taken away,
and his fate—who will think about it?
He was eliminated from the land of the living,
struck dead because of my people’s rebellion.
9 His grave was among the wicked,
his tomb with evildoers,[d]
though he had done no violence,
and had spoken nothing false.
10 But the Lord wanted to crush him
and to make him suffer.
If his life is offered[e] as restitution,
he will see his offspring; he will enjoy long life.
The Lord’s plans will come to fruition through him.
11 After his deep anguish he will see light,[f] and he will be satisfied.
Through his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant,
will make many righteous,
and will bear their guilt.
12 Therefore, I will give him a share with the great,
and he will divide the spoil with the strong,
in return for exposing his life to death
and being numbered with rebels,
though he carried the sin of many
and pleaded on behalf of those who rebelled.
Sing, barren woman
54 Sing, barren woman who has borne no child;
break forth into singing and cry out,
you who were never in labor,
for the children of the wife who has been deserted will be more numerous than the children of the married, says the Lord.
2 Enlarge the site of your tent,
and stretch out the drapes of your dwellings;
don’t hold back.
Lengthen your tent ropes and strengthen your stakes.
3 To the right and to the left you will burst out,
and your children will possess the nations’ land
and settle their desolate cities.
4 Don’t fear,
because you won’t be ashamed;
don’t be dismayed,
because you won’t be disgraced.
You will forget the shame of your youth;
you’ll no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood.
5 The one marrying you is the one who made you—
the Lord of heavenly forces is his name.
The one redeeming you is the holy one of Israel,
the one called the God of all the earth.
6 As an abandoned and dejected woman the Lord has summoned you;
as a young wife when she is rejected,
says your God.
7 For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great mercy I will bring you back.
8 In an outburst of rage,
I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting love I have consoled you,
says your redeemer, the Lord.
9 These are like the days[g] of Noah for me,
when I promised that Noah’s waters would never again cover the earth.
Likewise I promise not to rage against you or rebuke you.
10 The mountains may shift,
and the hills may be shaken,
but my faithful love won’t shift from you,
and my covenant of peace won’t be shaken,
says the Lord, the one who pities you.
11 Suffering one, storm-tossed, uncomforted,
look, I am setting your gemstones in silvery metal
and your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will make your towers of rubies,
and your gates of beryl,
and all your walls of precious jewels.
13 All your children will be disciples of the Lord—
I will make peace abound for your children.
14 You will be firmly founded in righteousness.
You will stay far from oppression because you won’t fear,
far from terror because it won’t come near you.
15 If anyone attacks you, it’s none of my doing.
Whoever attacks you will fall because of you.
16 Look, I myself created the metalworker who blows the fire of coal and who produces a tool for his work.
And I myself created the looter to destroy.
17 No weapon fashioned against you will succeed,
and you may condemn every tongue that disputes with you.
This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants,
whose righteousness comes from me, says the Lord.
Invitation to the feast
55 All of you who are thirsty, come to the water!
Whoever has no money, come, buy food and eat!
Without money, at no cost, buy wine and milk!
2 Why spend money for what isn’t food,
and your earnings for what doesn’t satisfy?
Listen carefully to me and eat what is good;
enjoy the richest of feasts.
3 Listen and come to me;
listen, and you will live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful loyalty to David.
4 Look, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a prince and commander of peoples.
5 Look, you will call a nation you don’t know,
a nation you don’t know will run to you
because of the Lord your God,
the holy one of Israel, who has glorified you.
6 Seek the Lord when he can still be found;
call him while he is yet near.
7 Let the wicked abandon their ways
and the sinful their schemes.
Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy on them,
to our God, because he is generous with forgiveness.
8 My plans aren’t your plans,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
9 Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my plans than your plans.
10 Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky
and don’t return there without watering the earth,
making it conceive and yield plants
and providing seed to the sower and food to the eater,
11 so is my word that comes from my mouth;
it does not return to me empty.
Instead, it does what I want,
and accomplishes what I intend.
12 Yes, you will go out with celebration,
and you will be brought back in peace.
Even the mountains and the hills will burst into song before you;
all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
13 In place of the thorn the cypress will grow;
in place of the nettle the myrtle will grow.
This will attest to the Lord’s stature,
an enduring reminder that won’t be removed.
Keepers of God’s Sabbath
56 The Lord says:
Act justly and do what is righteous,
because my salvation is coming soon,
and my righteousness will be revealed.
2 Happy is the one who does this,
the person who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath, not making it impure,
and avoids doing any evil.
3 Don’t let the immigrant who has joined with the Lord say,
“The Lord will exclude me from the people.”
And don’t let the eunuch say,
“I’m just a dry tree.”
4 The Lord says:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
choose what I desire,
and remain loyal to my covenant.
5 In my temple and courts, I will give them
a monument and a name better than sons and daughters.
I will give to them an enduring name
that won’t be removed.
6 The immigrants who have joined me,[h]
serving me and loving my name,[i] becoming my servants,[j]
everyone who keeps the Sabbath without making it impure,
and those who hold fast to my covenant:
7 I will bring them to my holy mountain,
and bring them joy in my house of prayer.
I will accept their entirely burned offerings and sacrifices on my altar.
My house will be known as a house of prayer for all peoples,
8 says the Lord God,
who gathers Israel’s outcasts.
I will gather still others to those I have already gathered.
Neglectful leaders
9 All you beasts of the field,
come and eat, all you beasts of the forest!
10 The lookouts are blind;
they all lack sense.
They are all mute dogs that can’t bark,
dreamers, loungers, loving to sleep.
11 But the dogs have monstrous appetites.
They never have enough.
They are shepherds who don’t understand.
All of them have turned to their own ways,
every last one greedy for profit.
12 “Come! I’ll get some wine!
Let’s drink beer!
Tomorrow will be like today, or even much better.”
57 The righteous person perishes,
and no one takes it to heart.
Loyal people are gathered together,
and no one understands that because of evil
the righteous one passed away.
2 They will find peace;
those who walk in straight paths
will find rest on their burial beds.
Accusations against idolators
3 Come here, you children of sorcery,
offspring of adultery and prostitution!
4 Whom are you mocking?
Against whom do you open your mouth wide
and stick out your tongue?
Aren’t you children of rebellion, offspring of lies,
5 who console yourselves with idols under every green tree,
who slaughter children in the valleys, under the rocky cliffs?
6 You belong with the smooth talkers[k] in the valley;
they, they are your lot.
For them you poured out a drink offering,
and presented a grain offering.
Should I condone these things?
7 On a very high mountain you made your bed.
You went up there to offer a sacrifice.
8 Behind the door and the doorpost
you placed your symbols.
You abandoned me and lay down,
making room in your bed
and making deals for yourself with them.[l]
You loved their bed;
you saw their nakedness.
9 You went down to Molech[m] with oil,
and you slathered on your ointments;
you sent your messengers far away,
sent them down to the underworld.[n]
10 Worn out by all your efforts,
yet you wouldn’t say, “This is useless.”
You found new strength;
therefore, you weren’t tired.
11 Whom did you dread and fear so that you lied,
didn’t remember me or give me a thought?
Isn’t it because I was silent and closed my eyes
that you stopped fearing me?
12 I will bring evidence about your righteousness and your actions;
they won’t help you.
13 When you cry out,
let those things you’ve gathered save you!
The wind will lift them all;
one breath will take them away.
but those taking refuge in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.
Peace for the remorseful
14 It will be said: “Survey, survey; build a road!
Remove barriers from my people’s road!”
15 The one who is high and lifted up,
who lives forever, whose name is holy, says:
I live on high, in holiness,
and also with the crushed[o] and the lowly,
reviving the spirit of the lowly,
reviving the heart of those who have been crushed.[p]
16 I won’t always accuse,
nor will I be enraged forever.
It is my own doing that their spirit is exhausted—
I gave them breath!
17 I was enraged about their illegal profits;
I struck them; in rage I withdrew from them.
Yet they went on wandering wherever they wanted.
18 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them.
I will guide them,
and reward them with comfort.
And for those who mourn,
19 I will create reason for praise:[q]
utter prosperity to those far and near,
and I will heal them, says the Lord.
20 But the wicked are like the churning sea that can’t keep still.
They churn up from their waters muck and mud.
21 There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.
Fasting from injustice
58 Shout loudly; don’t hold back;
raise your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their crime,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 They seek me day after day,
desiring knowledge of my ways
like a nation that acted righteously,
that didn’t abandon their God.
They ask me for righteous judgments,
wanting to be close to God.
3 “Why do we fast and you don’t see;
why afflict ourselves and you don’t notice?”
Yet on your fast day you do whatever you want,
and oppress all your workers.
4 You quarrel and brawl, and then you fast;
you hit each other violently with your fists.
You shouldn’t fast as you are doing today
if you want to make your voice heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I choose,
a day of self-affliction,
of bending one’s head like a reed
and of lying down in mourning clothing and ashes?
Is this what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Isn’t this the fast I choose:
releasing wicked restraints, untying the ropes of a yoke,
setting free the mistreated,
and breaking every yoke?
7 Isn’t it sharing your bread with the hungry
and bringing the homeless poor into your house,
covering the naked when you see them,
and not hiding from your own family?
8 Then your light will break out like the dawn,
and you will be healed quickly.
Your own righteousness will walk before you,
and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and God will say, “I’m here.”
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the finger-pointing, the wicked speech;
10 if you open your heart to the hungry,
and provide abundantly for those who are afflicted,
your light will shine in the darkness,
and your gloom will be like the noon.
11 The Lord will guide you continually
and provide for you, even in parched places.
He will rescue your bones.
You will be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water that won’t run dry.
12 They will rebuild ancient ruins on your account;
the foundations of generations past you will restore.
You will be called Mender of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Livable Streets.
13 If you stop trampling the Sabbath,
stop doing whatever you want on my holy day,
and consider the Sabbath a delight,
sacred to the Lord, honored,
and honor it instead of doing things your way,
seeking what you want and doing business as usual,
14 then you will take delight in the Lord.
I will let you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will sustain you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob.
The mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Alienation from God
59 Look! The Lord does not lack the power to save,
nor are his ears too dull to hear,
2 but your misdeeds have separated you from your God.
Your sins have hidden his face from you
so that you aren’t heard.
3 Your hands are stained with blood,
and your fingers with guilt.
Your lips speak lies;
your tongues mutter malice.
4 No one sues honestly;
no one pleads truthfully.
By trusting in emptiness and speaking deceit,
they conceive harm and give birth to malice.
5 They hatch adders’ eggs,
and weave spiderwebs.
Whoever eats their eggs will die.
Moreover, the crushed egg hatches a viper.
6 Their webs can’t serve as clothing;
they can’t cover themselves with their deeds.
Their deeds are deeds of malice,
and the work of violence is in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil;
they rush to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are thoughts of malice;
desolation and destruction litter their highways.
8 They don’t know the way of peace;
there’s no justice in their paths.
They make their roads crooked;
no one who walks in them knows peace.
Injustice obscures vision
9 Because of all this, justice is far from us,
and righteousness beyond our reach.
We expect light, and there is darkness;
we await a gleam of light, but walk about in gloom.
10 We grope along the wall like the blind;
like those without eyes we grope.
We stumble at noonday as if it were twilight,
and among the strong as if we were dying.
11 All of us growl like bears,
and like doves we moan.
We expect justice, but there is none;
we await salvation, but it is far from us.
12 Our rebellions are numerous in your presence;
our sins testify against us.
Our rebellions are with us;
we’re aware of our guilt:
13 defying and denying the Lord,
turning away from our God,
planning oppression and revolt,
muttering lying words conceived in our minds.
14 Justice is pushed aside;
righteousness stands far off,
because truth has stumbled in the public square,
and honesty can’t enter.
15 Truth is missing;
anyone turning from evil is plundered.
God will intervene
The Lord looked and was upset at the absence of justice.
16 Seeing that there was no one,
and astonished that no one would intervene,
God’s arm brought victory,
upheld by righteousness,
17 putting on righteousness as armor
and a helmet of salvation on his head,
putting on garments of vengeance,
and wrapping himself in a cloak of zeal.
18 God will repay according to their actions:
wrath to his foes, retribution to enemies,
retribution to the coastlands,
19 so those in the west will fear the Lord’s name,
and those in the east will fear God’s glory.
It will come like a rushing river
that the Lord’s wind drives on.
20 A redeemer will come to Zion
and to those in Jacob who stop rebelling,
says the Lord.
21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord.
My spirit, which is upon you,
and my words, which I have placed in your mouth
won’t depart from your mouth,
nor from the mouths of your descendants,
nor from the mouths of your descendants’ children,
says the Lord,
forever and always.
Jerusalem’s coming radiance
60 Arise! Shine! Your light has come;
the Lord’s glory has shone upon you.
2 Though darkness covers the earth
and gloom the nations,
the Lord will shine upon you;
God’s glory will appear over you.
3 Nations will come to your light
and kings to your dawning radiance.
4 Lift up your eyes and look all around:
they are all gathered; they have come to you.
Your sons will come from far away,
and your daughters on caregivers’ hips.
5 Then you will see and be radiant;
your heart will tremble and open wide,
because the sea’s abundance will be turned over to you;
the nations’ wealth will come to you.
6 Countless camels will cover your land,
young camels from Midian and Ephah.
They will all come from Sheba,
carrying gold and incense,
proclaiming the Lord’s praises.
7 All Kedar’s sheep will be gathered for you;
rams from Nebaioth will be your offerings;
they will be accepted on my altar,
and I will glorify my splendid house.
8 Who are these who fly like a cloud,
like doves to their shelters?
9 I’m the hope of the coastlands.
Ships from Tarshish are in the lead
to bring your children from afar,
their silver and gold with them
for the name of the Lord your God
and for the holy one of Israel, who has glorified you.
10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls,
and their kings will serve you.
Though in my rage I struck you down,
in my favor I have consoled you.
11 Your gates will be open continually;
day and night they won’t close,
to bring to you the wealth of nations,
and their kings led in procession.
12 The nation and the dynasty
that won’t serve you will perish;
such nations will be devastated.
13 Lebanon’s glory will come upon you,
cypress, elm, and pine,
to glorify the site of my sanctuary,
and I will honor my royal footstool.
14 The children of your tormenters will come bending low to you;
all who despised you will bow down at your feet.
They will call you The Lord’s City,
Zion, of the holy one of Israel.
15 Instead of being abandoned,
hated, and forbidden,
I will make you majestic forever,
a joy for all generations.
16 You will suck the milk of nations,
and nurse at royal breasts.
You will know that I am the Lord, your savior
and your redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.
17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold;
instead of iron I will bring silver;
instead of wood, bronze;
and instead of stones, iron.
I will make peace your governor
and righteousness your taskmaster.
18 Violence will no longer resound throughout your land,
nor devastation or destruction within your borders.
You will call your walls Salvation,
and your gates Praise.
19 The sun will no longer be your light by day,
nor will the moon shine for illumination by night.[r]
The Lord will be your everlasting light;
your God will be your glory.
20 Your sun will no longer set;
your moon will no longer wane.
The Lord will be an everlasting light for you,
and your days of mourning will be ended.
21 Your people will all be righteous;
they will possess the land forever.
They are the shoot that I planted,
the work of my hands, to glorify myself.
22 The least will become a thousand,
and the smallest a powerful people.
I am the Lord; at the right moment, I will hurry it along.
Joyful proclamations
61 The Lord God’s spirit is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me
to bring good news to the poor,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim release for captives,
and liberation for prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and a day of vindication for our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 to provide for Zion’s mourners,
to give them a crown in place of ashes,
oil of joy in place of mourning,
a mantle of praise in place of discouragement.
They will be called Oaks of Righteousness,
planted by the Lord to glorify himself.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins;
they will restore formerly deserted places;
they will renew ruined cities,
places deserted in generations past.
5 Foreigners will stay and shepherd your sheep,
and strangers will be your farmers and vinedressers.
6 You will be called The Priests of the Lord;
Ministers of Our God, they will say about you.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and fatten[s] yourself on their riches.
7 Instead of shame, their[t] portion will be double;
instead of disgrace, they will rejoice over their share.
They will possess a double portion in their land;
everlasting joy will be theirs.
8 I, the Lord, love justice;
I hate robbery and dishonesty.[u]
I will faithfully give them their wage,
and make with them an enduring covenant.
9 Their offspring will be known among the nations,
and their descendants among the peoples.
All who see them will recognize
that they are a people blessed by the Lord.
10 I surely rejoice in the Lord;
my heart is joyful because of my God,
because he has clothed me with clothes of victory,
wrapped me in a robe of righteousness
like a bridegroom in a priestly crown,
and like a bride adorned in jewelry.
11 As the earth puts out its growth,
and as a garden grows its seeds,
so the Lord God will grow righteousness and praise before all the nations.
Jerusalem redeemed
62 For Zion’s sake I won’t keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I won’t sit still
until her righteousness shines out like a light,
and her salvation blazes like a torch.
2 Nations will see your righteousness,
all kings your glory.
You will be called by a new name,
which the Lord’s own mouth will determine.
3 You will be a splendid garland in the Lord’s hand,
a royal turban in the palm of God’s hand.
4 You will no longer be called Abandoned,
and your land will no longer be called Deserted.
Instead, you will be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land, Married.
Because the Lord delights in you,
your land will be cared for once again.
5 As a young man marries a young woman,
so your sons will marry you.
With the joy of a bridegroom because of his bride,
so your God will rejoice because of you.
6 Upon your walls, Jerusalem,
I have appointed sentinels.
Continually, all day and all night,
they won’t keep silent.
You who call on the Lord, don’t rest,
7 and don’t allow God to rest
until he establishes Jerusalem,
and makes it the praise of the earth.
8 The Lord has promised
with raised hand and strong arm:
I will never again give your grain
as food for your enemies.
Foreigners won’t drink your wine
for which you labored.
9 Those who harvest will eat it
and will praise the Lord;
those who gather will drink it
in my holy courtyards.
10 Pass through, pass through the gates;
prepare the way for the people!
Build, build the road;
clear away the stones!
Raise up a signal for the peoples.
11 This is what the Lord announced
to the earth’s distant regions:
Say to Daughter Zion, “Look! Your deliverer arrives,
bringing reward and payment!”
12 They will be called The Holy People,
Redeemed By the Lord.
And you will be called Sought After—
A City That Is Not Abandoned.
Vengeance against the nations
63 Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah in bright red garments,
this splendidly dressed one, striding[v] with great power?
It is I, proclaiming righteousness, powerful to save!
2 Why is your clothing red,
and your garments like those of one who stomps on grapes?
3 I have pressed out in the vat by myself—from the peoples, no one was with me.
I stomped on them in my anger,
trampled them in my wrath.
Their blood splashed on my garments,
and stained all my clothing,
4 because I intended a day of vengeance;
the year of my deliverance had arrived.
5 I looked and found no helper;
I was astonished to find no supporter.
But my arm brought victory for me;
my wrath helped me.
6 I trampled down nations in my anger
and made them drunk on my wrath;
I spilled their blood on the ground.
Prayer of yearning
7 I will recount the Lord’s faithful acts;
I will sing the Lord’s praises,
because of all the Lord did for us,
for God’s great favor toward the house of Israel.
God treated them compassionately
and with deep affection.
8 God said, “Truly, they are my people,
children who won’t do what is wrong.”
God became their savior.
9 During all their distress, God also was distressed,
so a messenger who served him saved them.
In love and mercy God redeemed them,
lifting and carrying them throughout earlier times.
10 But they rebelled,
and made God’s holy spirit terribly sad,
so that he turned into their enemy—
he fought against them!
11 Then they remembered earlier times,
when he rescued his people.[w]
Where was the one who drew them up from the sea,
the shepherd[x] of the flock?
Where was the one who put within them his holy spirit;
12 the one who guided Moses’ strong hand
with his glorious arm;
who split the water for them
to create an enduring reputation for himself,
13 and who guided them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert, they didn’t stumble.
14 Like cattle descending to the valley,
the Lord’s spirit brought them to rest.
In this way you led your people
and made for yourself a glorious reputation.
15 Look down from heaven and see,
from your holy and glorious perch.
Where are your energy and your might,
your concern and your pity?
Don’t hold back![y]
16 You are surely our father,
even though Abraham doesn’t know us,
and Israel doesn’t recognize us.
You, Lord, are our father;
your reputation since long ago is that of our redeemer.
17 Why do you lead us astray, Lord,
from your ways?
Why do you harden our heart
so we don’t fear you?
Return for the sake of your servants
the tribes that are your heritage!
18 Why did the wicked bring down your holy place?[z]
Why did our enemies trample your sanctuary?
19 For too long we have been like those you don’t rule,
like those not known by your name.
64 [aa] If only you would tear open the heavens and come down!
Mountains would quake before you
2 like fire igniting brushwood or making water boil.
[ab] If you would make your name known to your enemies,
the nations would tremble in your presence.
3 When you accomplished wonders beyond all our expectations;
when you came down, mountains quaked before you.
4 From ancient times,
no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any god but you
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him![ac]
5 You look after those who gladly do right;
they will praise you for your ways.[ad]
But you were angry when we sinned;
you hid yourself when we did wrong.[ae]
6 We have all become like the unclean;
all our righteous deeds are like a menstrual rag.
All of us wither like a leaf;
our sins, like the wind, carry us away.
7 No one calls on your name;
no one bothers to hold on to you,
for you have hidden yourself from us,
and have handed us over[af] to our sin.
8 But now, Lord, you are our father.
We are the clay, and you are our potter.
All of us are the work of your hand.
9 Don’t rage so fiercely, Lord;
don’t hold our sins against us forever,
but gaze now on your people, all of us:
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a wasteland.
11 Our holy, glorious house,
where our ancestors praised you,
has gone up in flames;
all that we treasured has become a ruin.
12 After all this, will you hold back, Lord?
Will you keep silent and torment us so terribly?
Judgment for idolators
65 I was ready to respond to those who didn’t ask.
I was ready to be found by those who didn’t look for me.
I said, “I’m here! I’m here!” to a nation
that didn’t call on my name.
2 I extended my hands all day
to a rebellious people
walking in a way that isn’t good,
following their own plans;
3 people who provoke me to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens and burning incense on bricks,
4 who sit in tombs
and spend the night among rocks;[ag]
who eat swine’s flesh
with broth of unclean meat in their bowls;
5 who say, “Keep to yourself!
Keep away from me! I’m too holy for you.”
These people ignite my anger
like a fire that burns all day.
6 Look, this stands written before me.
I won’t be silent, but I will repay;
I will repay in full measure
7 your sins and the sins of your ancestors as well,
says the Lord.
Since they burned incense on the mountains,
and mocked me in the hills,
I will count out to them
full payment for their actions.
8 The Lord proclaims:
As new wine is found in the grape cluster,
and someone says, “Don’t destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,”
so I will do for the sake of my servants
and not destroy everything:
9 I will bring out offspring from Jacob,
and from Judah, heirs to my mountains.
My chosen ones will take possession;
my servants will dwell there.
10 Sharon will become a pasture for sheep,
and the Achor Valley a resting place for cattle,
for my people who seek me.
11 But you who abandon the Lord,
who forget my holy mountain,
who set a table for a god of good fortune,
and fill cups of mixed wine for a god of fate:
12 I will offer you to the sword.
You will all bow down for slaughter,
because I called and you didn’t answer;
I spoke and you wouldn’t hear.
You did what I considered evil,
and chose what I didn’t want.
13 Therefore, the Lord God says:
Look, my servants will eat, but you will hunger.
My servants will drink, but you will thirst.
My servants will rejoice, but you will be ashamed.
14 My servants will sing with contented hearts,
but you will cry out from heartache;
with broken spirits you will wail.
15 You will leave your name behind for my chosen ones to curse:
“May the Lord God kill you!
May he call his servants by a different name!”
16 Those who pronounce a blessing in the land
will do so by the God called Amen;
those who make a solemn pledge in the land will do so by the God called Amen.[ah]
Past troubles will be forgotten
and hidden from my sight.
New creation and new Jerusalem
17 Look! I’m creating a new heaven and a new earth:
past events won’t be remembered;
they won’t come to mind.
18 Be glad and rejoice forever
in what I’m creating,
because I’m creating Jerusalem as a joy
and her people as a source of gladness.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad about my people.
No one will ever hear the sound of weeping or crying in it again.
20 No more will babies live only a few days,
or the old fail to live out their days.
The one who dies at a hundred will be like a young person,
and the one falling short of a hundred will seem cursed.
21 They will build houses and live in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They won’t build for others to live in,
nor plant for others to eat.
Like the days of a tree will be the days of my people;
my chosen will make full use of their handiwork.
23 They won’t labor in vain,
nor bear children to a world of horrors,
because they will be people blessed by the Lord,
they along with their descendants.
24 Before they call, I will answer;
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 Wolf and lamb will graze together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
but the snake—its food will be dust.
They won’t hurt or destroy at any place on my holy mountain,
says the Lord.
Where God may be found
66 The Lord says:
Heaven is my throne,
and earth is my footstool.
So where could you build a house for me,
and where could my resting place be?
2 My hand made all these things
and brought them into being, says the Lord.
But here is where I will look:
to the humble and contrite in spirit,
who tremble at my word.
3 The one who slaughters an ox kills a person;
the one who sacrifices a sheep breaks a dog’s neck;
the one who makes a grain offering offers swine’s blood;
the one who burns incense blesses an idol.
All these have chosen their own ways,
and prefer their detestable things.
4 So I too will choose to punish them,
to bring horrors upon them,
since I called and no one answered.
I spoke and no one heard,
but they did evil in my eyes.
What I didn’t want, they chose.
5 Listen to the Lord’s word,
you who tremble at his word:
Your family members, those who hate and exclude you because of my name,
have said, “Let the Lord be glorified;
let’s see your joy.”
But they will be ashamed.
6 The sound of an uproar from the city! A sound from the temple!
The sound of the Lord repaying his enemies what they have earned.
Mother Zion
7 Before she was in labor, she gave birth.
Before her pangs came upon her, she delivered a boy.
8 Whoever heard of such a thing?
Whoever saw such things as these?
Can a land come to birth in one day?
Can a nation be born all at once?
Yet as soon as birth pangs came,
Zion bore her children.
9 Will I open the womb and not bring to birth? says the Lord.
Will I, who create life, close the womb? says your God.
10 Celebrate with Jerusalem; be happy with her,
all you who love her!
Rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her,
11 so that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her comforting breasts,
that you may drink and be refreshed
from her full breasts.
12 The Lord says:
Look, I’m extending prosperity to her like a river,
and the wealth of nations like an overflowing stream.
You will nurse and be carried on the hip
and bounced upon the knee.
13 As a mother comforts her child,
so I will comfort you;
in Jerusalem you will be comforted.
14 When you see this, your heart will rejoice;
your entire being will flourish like grass.
The Lord’s power will be known among his servants,
but his fury among his enemies.
15 The Lord will come with fire,
God’s chariots like a windstorm,
to repay in hot anger,
to rebuke with fiery flames.
16 With fire and with sword the Lord will judge all humanity;
many will be slain by the Lord.
17 Those who became holy and purify themselves, following their leader into the gardens,[ai] who eat pork, detestable animals, and mice, will meet their end together, says the Lord.
Worshippers gathered from the nations
18 Because of their actions and thoughts, I’m coming to gather all nations and cultures. They will come to see my glory.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible