Isaiah 62:6-65:25

New International Version

⁶ I have posted watchmen^(A) on your walls, Jerusalem;
    they will never be silent day or night.
You who call on the Lord,
    give yourselves no rest,^(B)
7 and give him no rest^(C) till he establishes Jerusalem
    and makes her the praise^(D) of the earth.

⁸ The Lord has sworn^(E) by his right hand
    and by his mighty arm:
“Never again will I give your grain^(F)
    as food for your enemies,
and never again will foreigners drink the new wine
    for which you have toiled;
⁹ but those who harvest it will eat^(G) it
    and praise the Lord,^(H)
and those who gather the grapes will drink it
    in the courts of my sanctuary.”^(I)

¹⁰ Pass through, pass through the gates!^(J)
    Prepare the way for the people.
Build up, build up the highway!^(K)
    Remove the stones.
Raise a banner^(L) for the nations.

¹¹ The Lord has made proclamation
    to the ends of the earth:^(M)
“Say to Daughter Zion,^(N)
    ‘See, your Savior comes!^(O)
See, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense accompanies him.’”^(P)
12 They will be called^(Q) the Holy People,^(R)
    the Redeemed^(S) of the Lord;
and you will be called Sought After,
    the City No Longer Deserted.^(T)

“It is I, proclaiming victory,
    mighty to save.”^(Y)

² Why are your garments red,
    like those of one treading the winepress?^(Z)

³ “I have trodden the winepress^(AA) alone;
    from the nations no one was with me.
I trampled^(AB) them in my anger
    and trod them down in my wrath;^(AC)
their blood spattered my garments,^(AD)
    and I stained all my clothing.
⁴ It was for me the day of vengeance;^(AE)
    the year for me to redeem had come.
⁵ I looked, but there was no one^(AF) to help,
    I was appalled that no one gave support;
so my own arm^(AG) achieved salvation for me,
    and my own wrath sustained me.^(AH)
6 I trampled^(AI) the nations in my anger;
    in my wrath I made them drunk^(AJ)
    and poured their blood^(AK) on the ground.”

¹¹ Then his people recalled^[b] the days of old,
    the days of Moses and his people—
where is he who brought them through the sea,^(AZ)
    with the shepherd of his flock?^(BA)
Where is he who set
    his Holy Spirit^(BB) among them,
¹² who sent his glorious arm^(BC) of power
    to be at Moses’ right hand,
who divided the waters^(BD) before them,
    to gain for himself everlasting renown,^(BE)
13 who led^(BF) them through the depths?^(BG)
Like a horse in open country,
    they did not stumble;^(BH)
14 like cattle that go down to the plain,
    they were given rest^(BI) by the Spirit of the Lord.
This is how you guided your people
    to make for yourself a glorious name.

¹⁵ Look down from heaven^(BJ) and see,
    from your lofty throne,^(BK) holy and glorious.
Where are your zeal^(BL) and your might?
    Your tenderness and compassion^(BM) are withheld^(BN) from us.
¹⁶ But you are our Father,^(BO)
    though Abraham does not know us
    or Israel acknowledge^(BP) us;
you, Lord, are our Father,
    our Redeemer^(BQ) from of old is your name.
¹⁷ Why, Lord, do you make us wander^(BR) from your ways
    and harden our hearts^(BS) so we do not revere^(BT) you?
Return^(BU) for the sake of your servants,
    the tribes that are your inheritance.^(BV)
18 For a little while^(BW) your people possessed your holy place,
    but now our enemies have trampled^(BX) down your sanctuary.^(BY)
19 We are yours from of old;
    but you have not ruled over them,
    they have not been called^[c] by your name.^(BZ)

64 ^[d]Oh, that you would rend the heavens^(CA) and come down,^(CB)
    that the mountains^(CC) would tremble before you!
² As when fire sets twigs ablaze
    and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name^(CD) known to your enemies
    and cause the nations to quake^(CE) before you!
³ For when you did awesome^(CF) things that we did not expect,
    you came down, and the mountains trembled^(CG) before you.
⁴ Since ancient times no one has heard,
    no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,^(CH)
    who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.^(CI)
5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right,^(CJ)
    who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
    you were angry.^(CK)
    How then can we be saved?
⁶ All of us have become like one who is unclean,^(CL)
    and all our righteous^(CM) acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,^(CN)
    and like the wind our sins sweep us away.^(CO)
7 No one^(CP) calls on your name^(CQ)
    or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden^(CR) your face from us
    and have given us over^(CS) to^[e] our sins.

⁸ Yet you, Lord, are our Father.^(CT)
    We are the clay, you are the potter;^(CU)
    we are all the work of your hand.^(CV)
9 Do not be angry^(CW) beyond measure, Lord;
    do not remember our sins^(CX) forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
    for we are all your people.^(CY)
10 Your sacred cities^(CZ) have become a wasteland;
    even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.^(DA)
11 Our holy and glorious temple,^(DB) where our ancestors praised you,
    has been burned with fire,
    and all that we treasured^(DC) lies in ruins.
¹² After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?^(DD)
    Will you keep silent^(DE) and punish us beyond measure?

⁶ “See, it stands written before me:
    I will not keep silent^(DR) but will pay back^(DS) in full;
    I will pay it back into their laps^(DT)—
⁷ both your sins^(DU) and the sins of your ancestors,”^(DV)
    says the Lord.
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
    and defied me on the hills,^(DW)
I will measure into their laps
    the full payment^(DX) for their former deeds.”

“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes^(DY)
    and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
    there is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;^(DZ)
    I will not destroy them all.
⁹ I will bring forth descendants^(EA) from Jacob,
    and from Judah those who will possess^(EB) my mountains;
my chosen^(EC) people will inherit them,
    and there will my servants live.^(ED)
10 Sharon^(EE) will become a pasture for flocks,^(EF)
    and the Valley of Achor^(EG) a resting place for herds,
    for my people who seek^(EH) me.

¹¹ “But as for you who forsake^(EI) the Lord
    and forget my holy mountain,^(EJ)
who spread a table for Fortune
    and fill bowls of mixed wine^(EK) for Destiny,
¹² I will destine you for the sword,^(EL)
    and all of you will fall in the slaughter;^(EM)
for I called but you did not answer,^(EN)
    I spoke but you did not listen.^(EO)
You did evil in my sight
    and chose what displeases me.”^(EP)

“My servants will eat,^(EQ)
    but you will go hungry;^(ER)
my servants will drink,^(ES)
    but you will go thirsty;^(ET)
my servants will rejoice,^(EU)
    but you will be put to shame.^(EV)
14 My servants will sing^(EW)
    out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out^(EX)
    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;^(EY)
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,
    but to his servants he will give another name.^(EZ)
16 Whoever invokes a blessing^(FA) in the land
    will do so by the one true God;^(FB)
whoever takes an oath in the land
    will swear^(FC) by the one true God.
For the past troubles^(FD) will be forgotten
    and hidden from my eyes.

²⁰ “Never again will there be in it
    an infant^(FL) who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not live out his years;^(FM)
the one who dies at a hundred
    will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach^[f] a hundred
    will be considered accursed.
²¹ They will build houses^(FN) and dwell in them;
    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.^(FO)
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,^(FP)
    or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,^(FQ)
    so will be the days^(FR) of my people;
my chosen^(FS) ones will long enjoy
    the work of their hands.
²³ They will not labor in vain,^(FT)
    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;^(FU)
for they will be a people blessed^(FV) by the Lord,
    they and their descendants^(FW) with them.
²⁴ Before they call^(FX) I will answer;^(FY)
    while they are still speaking^(FZ) I will hear.
²⁵ The wolf and the lamb^(GA) will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,^(GB)
    and dust will be the serpent’s^(GC) food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,”^(GD)
says the Lord.