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Isaiah 64-66
New International Reader's Version
Isaiah 64-66
New International Reader's Version
64 I wish you would open up your heavens
and come down to us!
I wish the mountains would tremble
when you show your power!
2 Be like a fire that causes twigs to burn.
It also makes water boil.
So come down and make yourself known to your enemies.
Cause the nations to shake with fear
when they see your power!
3 Long ago you did some wonderful things we didn’t expect.
You came down, and the mountains trembled
when you showed your power.
4 No one’s ears have ever heard of a God like you.
No one’s eyes have ever seen a God who is greater than you.
No God but you acts for the good
of those who trust in him.
5 You come to help those who enjoy doing what is right.
You help those who thank you for teaching them how to live.
But when we continued to disobey you,
you became angry with us.
So how can we be saved?
6 All of us have become like someone who is “unclean.”
All the good things we do are like dirty rags to you.
All of us are like leaves that have dried up.
Our sins sweep us away like the wind.
7 No one prays to you.
No one asks you for help.
You have turned your face away from us.
You have let us feel the effects of our sins.
8 Lord, you are our Father.
We are the clay. You are the potter.
Your hands made all of us.
9 Don’t be so angry with us, Lord.
Don’t remember our sins anymore.
Please have mercy on us.
All of us belong to you.
10 Your sacred cities have become a desert.
Even Zion is a desert.
Jerusalem is a dry and empty place.
11 Our people of long ago used to praise you in our holy and glorious temple.
But now it has been burned down.
Everything we treasured has been destroyed.
12 Lord, won’t you help us even after everything that’s happened?
Will you keep silent and punish us more than we can stand?
The Lord Judges and Saves
65 The Lord says, “I made myself known to those who were not asking for me.
I was found by those who were not trying to find me.
I spoke to a nation that did not pray to me.
‘Here I am,’ I said. ‘Here I am.’
2 All day long I have held out my hands
to welcome a stubborn nation.
They lead sinful lives.
They go where their evil thoughts take them.
3 They are always making me very angry.
They do it right in front of me.
They offer sacrifices in the gardens of other gods.
They burn incense on altars that are made out of bricks.
4 They sit among the graves.
They spend their nights talking to the spirits of the dead.
They eat the meat of pigs.
Their cooking pots hold soup that has ‘unclean’ meat in it.
5 They say, ‘Keep away! Don’t come near us!
We are too sacred for you!’
Those people are like smoke in my nose.
They are like a fire that keeps burning all day.
6 “I will judge them. I have even written it down.
I will not keep silent.
Instead, I will pay them back for all their sins.
7 I will punish them for their sins.
I will also punish them for the sins of their people before them.”
This is what the Lord says.
“They burned sacrifices on the mountains.
They disobeyed me by worshiping other gods on the hills.
So I will make sure they are fully punished
for all the sins they have committed.”
8 The Lord says,
“Sometimes juice is still left in grapes that have been crushed.
So people say, ‘Don’t destroy them.’
They are still of some benefit.”
That is what I will do for the good of those who serve me.
I will not destroy all my people.
9 I will give children
to the families of Jacob and Judah.
They will possess my entire land.
My chosen people will be given all of it.
Those who serve me will live there.
10 Their flocks will eat in the rich grasslands of Sharon.
Their herds will rest in the Valley of Achor.
That is what I will do for my people who follow me.
11 “But some of you have deserted me.
You no longer worship on my holy mountain of Zion.
You spread a table for the god called Good Fortune.
You offer bowls of mixed wine to the god named Fate.
12 So I will make it your fate to be killed by swords.
All of you will die in the battle.
That’s because I called out to you, but you did not answer me.
I spoke to you, but you did not listen.
You did what is evil in my sight.
You chose to do what does not please me.”
13 So the Lord and King says,
“Those who serve me will have food to eat.
But you will be hungry.
My servants will have plenty to drink.
But you will be thirsty.
Those who serve me will be full of joy.
But you will be put to shame.
14 My servants will sing
with joy in their hearts.
But you will cry out
because of the great pain in your hearts.
You will cry because your spirits are sad.
15 My chosen ones will use your names
when they curse others.
I am your Lord and King.
I will put you to death.
But I will give new names to those who serve me.
16 They will ask me to bless their land.
They will do it in my name.
I am the one true God.
They will make promises in their land.
They will do it in my name.
I am the one true God.
The troubles of the past will be forgotten.
They will be hidden from my eyes.
The Lord Will Create New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “I will create new heavens and a new earth.
The things that have happened before will not be remembered.
They will not even enter your minds.
18 So be glad and full of joy forever
because of what I will create.
I will cause others to take delight in Jerusalem.
They will be filled with joy
when they see its people.
19 And I will be full of joy because of Jerusalem.
I will take delight in my people.
Weeping and crying
will not be heard there anymore.
20 “Babies in Jerusalem will no longer
live only a few days.
Old people will not fail
to live for a very long time.
Those who live to the age of 100
will be thought of as mere children when they die.
Those who die before they are 100
will be considered as having been under God’s curse.
21 My people will build houses and live in them.
They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will no longer build houses
only to have others live in them.
They will no longer plant crops
only to have others eat them.
My people will live to be as old as trees.
My chosen ones will enjoy for a long time
the things they have worked for.
23 Their work will not be worthless anymore.
They will not have children who are sure to face sudden terror.
Instead, I will bless them.
I will also bless their children after them.
24 Even before they call out to me, I will answer them.
While they are still speaking, I will hear them.
25 Wolves and lambs will eat together.
Lions will eat straw like oxen.
Serpents will eat nothing but dust.
None of those animals will harm or destroy
anything or anyone on my holy mountain of Zion,”
says the Lord.
The Lord Judges Some People and Blesses Others
66 The Lord says,
“Heaven is my throne.
The earth is under my control.
So how could you ever build a house for me?
Where would my resting place be?
2 Didn’t I make everything by my power?
That is how all things were created,”
announces the Lord.
“The people I value are not proud.
They are sorry for the wrong things they have done.
They have great respect for what I say.
3 But others are not like that.
They sacrifice bulls to me,
but at the same time they kill people.
They offer lambs to me,
but they also sacrifice dogs to other gods.
They bring grain offerings to me,
but they also offer pig’s blood to other gods.
They burn incense to me,
but they also worship statues of gods.
They have chosen to go their own way.
They take delight in things I hate.
4 So I have also made a choice.
I will make them suffer greatly.
I will bring on them what they are afraid of.
When I called out to them, no one answered me.
When I spoke to them, no one listened.
They did what is evil in my sight.
They chose to do what displeases me.”
5 Listen to the word of the Lord.
Listen, you who tremble with fear when he speaks. He says,
“Some of your own people hate you.
They turn their backs on you because you are faithful to me.
They make fun of you and say,
‘Let the Lord show his glory by saving you.
Then we can see how happy you are.’
But they will be put to shame.
6 Hear the loud sounds coming from the city!
Listen to the noise coming from the temple!
I am the one causing it.
I am paying back my enemies for everything they have done.
7 “Zion is like a woman who has a baby
before she goes into labor.
She has a son
even before her labor pains begin.
8 Who has ever heard of anything like that?
Who has ever seen such a thing?
Can a country be born in a day?
Can a nation be created in a moment?
But as soon as Zion goes into labor,
there are many more of her people.
9 Zion, would I bring you to the moment of birth
and not let it happen?”
says the Lord.
“Would I close up a mother’s body
when it is time for her baby to be born?”
says your God.
10 “Be glad along with Jerusalem, all you who love her.
Be filled with joy because of her.
Take great delight in her,
all you who mourn over her.
11 You will nurse at her comforting breasts.
And you will be satisfied.
You will drink until you are full.
And you will delight in her rich and plentiful supply.”
12 The Lord continues,
“I will cause peace to flow over her like a river.
I will make the wealth of nations sweep over her like a flooding stream.
You will nurse and be carried in her arms.
You will play on her lap.
13 As a mother comforts her child,
I will comfort you.
You will find comfort in Jerusalem.”
14 When you see that happen, your hearts will be filled with joy.
Just as grass grows quickly, you will succeed.
The Lord will show his power to those who serve him.
But he will pour out his anger on his enemies.
15 The Lord will judge them with fire.
His chariots are coming like a windstorm.
He will pour out his burning anger on his enemies.
It will blaze out like flames of fire.
16 The Lord will judge with fire and with his sword.
He will judge all people.
He will put many people to death.
17 “Some people set themselves apart and make themselves pure. They do it so they can go into the gardens to worship other gods. They follow what the worship leader tells them to do. They are among those who eat the meat of pigs and rats. They also eat other ‘unclean’ things. Those people and the one they follow will come to a horrible end,” announces the Lord.
18 “They have planned to do many evil things. And they have carried out their plans. So I will come and gather the people of every nation and language. They will see my glory when I act.
19 “I will give them a sign. I will send to the nations some of those who are left alive. I will send some of them to the people of Tarshish, Libya and Lydia, who are famous for using bows. I will send others to Tubal and Greece. And I will send still others to islands far away. The people who live there have not heard about my fame. They have not seen my glory. But when I act, those I send will tell the nations about my glory. 20 And they will bring back all the people of Israel from all those nations. They will bring them to my holy mountain in Jerusalem. My people will ride on horses, mules and camels. They will come in chariots and wagons,” says the Lord. “Those messengers will bring my people as an offering to me. They will bring them to my temple, just as the Israelites bring their grain offerings in bowls that are ‘clean.’ 21 And I will choose some of them to be priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
22 “I will make new heavens and a new earth. And they will last forever,” announces the Lord. “In the same way, your name and your children after you will last forever. 23 Everyone will come and bow down to me. They will do it at every New Moon feast and on every Sabbath day,” says the Lord. 24 “When they go out of Jerusalem, they will see the dead bodies of those who refused to obey me. The worms that eat their bodies will not die. The fire that burns them will not be put out. It will make everyone sick just to look at them.”
Isaiah 64-66
New International Version
Isaiah 64-66
New International Version
64 [a]Oh, that you would rend the heavens(A) and come down,(B)
that the mountains(C) would tremble before you!
2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze
and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name(D) known to your enemies
and cause the nations to quake(E) before you!
3 For when you did awesome(F) things that we did not expect,
you came down, and the mountains trembled(G) before you.
4 Since ancient times no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,(H)
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.(I)
5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right,(J)
who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
you were angry.(K)
How then can we be saved?
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,(L)
and all our righteous(M) acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,(N)
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.(O)
7 No one(P) calls on your name(Q)
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden(R) your face from us
and have given us over(S) to[b] our sins.
8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father.(T)
We are the clay, you are the potter;(U)
we are all the work of your hand.(V)
9 Do not be angry(W) beyond measure, Lord;
do not remember our sins(X) forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
for we are all your people.(Y)
10 Your sacred cities(Z) have become a wasteland;
even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.(AA)
11 Our holy and glorious temple,(AB) where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned with fire,
and all that we treasured(AC) lies in ruins.
12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?(AD)
Will you keep silent(AE) 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.(AF)
To a nation(AG) that did not call on my name,(AH)
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
2 All day long I have held out my hands
to an obstinate people,(AI)
who walk in ways not good,
pursuing their own imaginations(AJ)—
3 a people who continually provoke me
to my very face,(AK)
offering sacrifices in gardens(AL)
and burning incense(AM) on altars of brick;
4 who sit among the graves(AN)
and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,(AO)
and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
5 who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
for I am too sacred(AP) for you!’
Such people are smoke(AQ) in my nostrils,
a fire that keeps burning all day.
6 “See, it stands written before me:
I will not keep silent(AR) but will pay back(AS) in full;
I will pay it back into their laps(AT)—
7 both your sins(AU) and the sins of your ancestors,”(AV)
says the Lord.
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
and defied me on the hills,(AW)
I will measure into their laps
the full payment(AX) for their former deeds.”
8 This is what the Lord says:
“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes(AY)
and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
there is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;(AZ)
I will not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth descendants(BA) from Jacob,
and from Judah those who will possess(BB) my mountains;
my chosen(BC) people will inherit them,
and there will my servants live.(BD)
10 Sharon(BE) will become a pasture for flocks,(BF)
and the Valley of Achor(BG) a resting place for herds,
for my people who seek(BH) me.
11 “But as for you who forsake(BI) the Lord
and forget my holy mountain,(BJ)
who spread a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine(BK) for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,(BL)
and all of you will fall in the slaughter;(BM)
for I called but you did not answer,(BN)
I spoke but you did not listen.(BO)
You did evil in my sight
and chose what displeases me.”(BP)
13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“My servants will eat,(BQ)
but you will go hungry;(BR)
my servants will drink,(BS)
but you will go thirsty;(BT)
my servants will rejoice,(BU)
but you will be put to shame.(BV)
14 My servants will sing(BW)
out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out(BX)
from anguish of heart
and wail in brokenness of spirit.
15 You will leave your name
for my chosen ones to use in their curses;(BY)
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,
but to his servants he will give another name.(BZ)
16 Whoever invokes a blessing(CA) in the land
will do so by the one true God;(CB)
whoever takes an oath in the land
will swear(CC) by the one true God.
For the past troubles(CD) 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.(CE)
The former things will not be remembered,(CF)
nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice(CG) forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem(CH) to be a delight
and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice(CI) over Jerusalem
and take delight(CJ) in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying(CK)
will be heard in it no more.
20 “Never again will there be in it
an infant(CL) who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;(CM)
the one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[c] a hundred
will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses(CN) and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.(CO)
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,(CP)
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,(CQ)
so will be the days(CR) of my people;
my chosen(CS) ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,(CT)
nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;(CU)
for they will be a people blessed(CV) by the Lord,
they and their descendants(CW) with them.
24 Before they call(CX) I will answer;(CY)
while they are still speaking(CZ) I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb(DA) will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,(DB)
and dust will be the serpent’s(DC) food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,”(DD)
says the Lord.
Judgment and Hope
66 This is what the Lord says:
“Heaven is my throne,(DE)
and the earth is my footstool.(DF)
Where is the house(DG) you will build for me?
Where will my resting place be?
2 Has not my hand made all these things,(DH)
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,(DI)
and who tremble at my word.(DJ)
3 But whoever sacrifices a bull(DK)
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(DL) blood,
and whoever burns memorial incense(DM)
is like one who worships an idol.
They have chosen their own ways,(DN)
and they delight in their abominations;(DO)
4 so I also will choose harsh treatment for them
and will bring on them what they dread.(DP)
For when I called, no one answered,(DQ)
when I spoke, no one listened.
They did evil(DR) in my sight
and chose what displeases me.”(DS)
5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you who tremble at his word:(DT)
“Your own people who hate(DU) 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.(DV)
6 Hear that uproar from the city,
hear that noise from the temple!
It is the sound(DW) of the Lord
repaying(DX) his enemies all they deserve.
7 “Before she goes into labor,(DY)
she gives birth;
before the pains come upon her,
she delivers a son.(DZ)
8 Who has ever heard of such things?
Who has ever seen(EA) things like this?
Can a country be born in a day(EB)
or a nation be brought forth in a moment?
Yet no sooner is Zion in labor
than she gives birth to her children.(EC)
9 Do I bring to the moment of birth(ED)
and not give delivery?” says the Lord.
“Do I close up the womb
when I bring to delivery?” says your God.
10 “Rejoice(EE) with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
all you who love(EF) her;
rejoice greatly with her,
all you who mourn(EG) over her.
11 For you will nurse(EH) and be satisfied
at her comforting breasts;(EI)
you will drink deeply
and delight in her overflowing abundance.”(EJ)
12 For this is what the Lord says:
“I will extend peace(EK) to her like a river,(EL)
and the wealth(EM) of nations like a flooding stream;
you will nurse and be carried(EN) on her arm
and dandled on her knees.
13 As a mother comforts her child,(EO)
so will I comfort(EP) you;
and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”
14 When you see this, your heart will rejoice(EQ)
and you will flourish(ER) like grass;
the hand(ES) of the Lord will be made known to his servants,(ET)
but his fury(EU) will be shown to his foes.
15 See, the Lord is coming with fire,(EV)
and his chariots(EW) are like a whirlwind;(EX)
he will bring down his anger with fury,
and his rebuke(EY) with flames of fire.
16 For with fire(EZ) and with his sword(FA)
the Lord will execute judgment(FB) on all people,
and many will be those slain(FC) by the Lord.
17 “Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens,(FD) following one who is among those who eat the flesh of pigs,(FE) rats(FF) and other unclean things—they will meet their end(FG) together with the one they follow,” declares the Lord.
18 “And I, because of what they have planned and done,(FH) am about to come[d] and gather the people of all nations(FI) and languages, and they will come and see my glory.(FJ)
19 “I will set a sign(FK) among them, and I will send some of those who survive(FL) to the nations—to Tarshish,(FM) to the Libyans[e] and Lydians(FN) (famous as archers), to Tubal(FO) and Greece,(FP) and to the distant islands(FQ) that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory.(FR) They will proclaim my glory among the nations. 20 And they will bring(FS) all your people, from all the nations, to my holy mountain(FT) in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,”(FU) says the Lord. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels.(FV) 21 And I will select some of them also to be priests(FW) and Levites,” says the Lord.
22 “As the new heavens and the new earth(FX) that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure.(FY) 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath(FZ) to another, all mankind will come and bow down(GA) before me,” says the Lord. 24 “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies(GB) of those who rebelled(GC) against me; the worms(GD) that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched,(GE) and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:1 In Hebrew texts 64:1 is numbered 63:19b, and 64:2-12 is numbered 64:1-11.
- Isaiah 64:7 Septuagint, Syriac and Targum; Hebrew have made us melt because of
- Isaiah 65:20 Or the sinner who reaches
- Isaiah 66:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
- Isaiah 66:19 Some Septuagint manuscripts Put (Libyans); Hebrew Pul
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