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Isaiah 65
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]

8 This is what the Lord says:

“When[q] juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes,
someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’[r]
So I will do for the sake of my servants—
I will not destroy everyone.[s]
9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains.
My chosen ones will take possession of the land;[t]
my servants will live there.
10 Sharon[u] will become a pasture for sheep,
and the Valley of Achor[v] a place where cattle graze;[w]
they will belong to my people, who seek me.[x]
11 But as for you who abandon the Lord
and forget about worshiping at[y] my holy mountain,
who prepare a feast for the god called ‘Fortune,’[z]
and fill up wine jugs for the god called ‘Destiny’[aa]—
12 I predestine you to die by the sword,[ab]
all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block,[ac]
because I called to you, and you did not respond;
I spoke and you did not listen.
You did evil before me;[ad]
you chose to do what displeases me.”

13 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry.
Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty.
Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated.
14 Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts.[ae]
But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts;[af]
you will wail because your spirits will be crushed.[ag]
15 Your names will live on in the curse formulas of my chosen ones.[ah]
The Sovereign Lord will kill you,
but he will give his servants another name.
16 Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth[ai]
will do so in the name of the faithful God;[aj]
whoever makes an oath in the earth
will do so in the name of the faithful God.[ak]
For past problems will be forgotten;
I will no longer think about them.[al]
17 For look, I am ready to create
new heavens and a new earth![am]
The former ones[an] will not be remembered;
no one will think about them anymore.[ao]
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,[ap]
and her people to be a source of happiness.[aq]
19 Jerusalem will bring me joy,
and my people will bring me happiness.[ar]
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[as]
or an old man die before his time.[at]
Indeed, no one will die before the age of one hundred;[au]
anyone who fails to reach[av] 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,[aw]
or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit,[ax]
for my people will live as long as trees,[ay]
and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced.[az]
23 They will not work in vain,
or give birth to children that will experience disaster.[ba]
For the Lord will bless their children
and their descendants.[bb]
24 Before they even call out,[bc] I will respond;
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 A wolf and a lamb will graze together;[bd]
a lion, like an ox, will eat straw,[be]
and a snake’s food will be dirt.[bf]
They will no longer injure or destroy
on my entire royal mountain,”[bg] says the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 65:1 tn Heb “I allowed myself to be sought by those who did not ask.”
  2. Isaiah 65:1 tn Heb “I allowed myself to be found by those who did not seek.”
  3. Isaiah 65:1 tn Heb “call out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “call on.”
  4. Isaiah 65:2 tn Heb “who walked [in] the way that is not good, after their thoughts.”
  5. Isaiah 65:3 tn Heb “the people who provoke me to anger to my face continually.”
  6. Isaiah 65:3 tn Or “gardens” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
  7. Isaiah 65:3 tn Or perhaps, “on tiles.”
  8. Isaiah 65:4 sn Perhaps the worship of underworld deities or dead spirits is in view.
  9. 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”).
  10. Isaiah 65:4 tn Heb “the flesh of the pig”; KJV, NAB, NASB “swine’s flesh.”
  11. 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”).
  12. Isaiah 65:6 tn Heb “Look, it is written before me.”
  13. Isaiah 65:6 tn Heb “I will pay back into their lap.”
  14. Isaiah 65:7 tn Heb “the iniquities of your fathers.”
  15. Isaiah 65:7 tn Or perhaps, “taunted”; KJV “blasphemed”; NAB “disgraced”; NASB “scorned”; NIV “defied”; NRSV “reviled.”
  16. 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.
  17. Isaiah 65:8 tn Heb “just as.” In the Hebrew text the statement is one long sentence, “Just as…, so I will do….”
  18. Isaiah 65:8 tn Heb “for a blessing is in it.”
  19. Isaiah 65:8 tn Heb “by not destroying everyone.”
  20. Isaiah 65:9 tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to the land that contains the aforementioned mountains.
  21. Isaiah 65:10 sn Sharon was a plain located to the west, along the Mediterranean coast north of Joppa and south of Carmel.
  22. Isaiah 65:10 sn The Valley of Achor (“Achor” means “trouble” in Hebrew) was the site of Achan’s execution. It was located to the east, near Jericho.
  23. Isaiah 65:10 tn Heb “a resting place for cattle”; NASB, NIV “for herds.”
  24. Isaiah 65:10 tn Heb “for my people who seek me.”
  25. Isaiah 65:11 tn The Hebrew text has simply, “forget.” The words “about worshiping at” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  26. Isaiah 65:11 tn The Hebrew has לַגַּד (laggad, “for Gad”), the name of a pagan deity. See HALOT 176 s.v. II גַּד 2.
  27. Isaiah 65:11 tn The Hebrew has לַמְנִי (lamni, “for Meni”), the name of a pagan deity. See HALOT 602 s.v. מְגִי.
  28. Isaiah 65:12 tn Heb “I assign you to the sword.” Some emend the Qal verb form מָנִיתִי (maniti, “I assign”) to the Piel מִנִּיתִי (minniti, “ I ordain”). The verb sounds like the name of the god Meni (מְנִי, meni, “Destiny, Fate”). The sound play draws attention to the irony of the statement. The sinners among God’s people worship the god Meni, apparently in an effort to ensure a bright destiny for themselves. But the Lord is the one who really determines their destiny and he has decreed their demise.
  29. Isaiah 65:12 tn Or “at the slaughter”; NIV “for the slaughter”; NLT “before the executioner.”
  30. Isaiah 65:12 tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”
  31. Isaiah 65:14 tn Heb “from the good of the heart.”
  32. Isaiah 65:14 tn Heb “from the pain of the heart.”
  33. Isaiah 65:14 tn Heb “from the breaking of the spirit.”
  34. Isaiah 65:15 tn Heb “you will leave your name for an oath to my chosen ones.”sn For an example of such a curse formula see Jer 29:22.
  35. Isaiah 65:16 tn Or “in the land” (NIV, NCV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs again later in this verse, with the same options.
  36. Isaiah 65:16 tn Heb “will pronounce a blessing by the God of truth.”
  37. Isaiah 65:16 tn Heb “will take an oath by the God of truth.”
  38. Isaiah 65:16 tn Heb “for the former distresses will be forgotten, and they will be hidden from my eyes.”
  39. Isaiah 65:17 sn This hyperbolic statement likens the coming transformation of Jerusalem (see vv. 18-19) to a new creation of the cosmos.
  40. Isaiah 65:17 tn Or perhaps, “the former things” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “The events of the past.”
  41. Isaiah 65:17 tn Heb “and they will not come up on the mind.”
  42. 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.
  43. Isaiah 65:18 tn Heb “her people, happiness.” See the preceding note.
  44. Isaiah 65:19 tn Heb “and I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be happy in my people.”
  45. 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.
  46. Isaiah 65:20 tn Heb “or an old [man] who does not fill out his days.”
  47. 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.
  48. 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.”
  49. Isaiah 65:22 tn Heb “they will not build, and another live [in it].”
  50. Isaiah 65:22 tn Heb “they will not plant, and another eat.”
  51. Isaiah 65:22 tn Heb “for like the days of the tree [will be] the days of my people.”
  52. Isaiah 65:22 tn Heb “the work of their hands” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “their hard-won gains.”
  53. Isaiah 65:23 tn Heb “and they will not give birth to horror.”
  54. Isaiah 65:23 tn Heb “for offspring blessed by the Lord they [will be], and their descendants along with them.”
  55. 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.
  56. Isaiah 65:25 sn A similar statement appears in 11:6.
  57. Isaiah 65:25 sn These words also appear in 11:7.
  58. 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.”)
  59. 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.
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