Isaiah 65:1-16

English Standard Version

Judgment and Salvation

65 ^(A)I was ready to be sought by ^(B)those who did not ask for me;
    I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
    to a nation that was not called by^[a] my name.
²^(C)I spread out my hands all the day
    to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
    following their own devices;
³a people who provoke me
    to my face continually,
^(D)sacrificing in gardens
    and making offerings on bricks;
⁴who sit in tombs,
    and spend the night in secret places;
^(E)who eat pig's flesh,
    and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;
⁵who say, “Keep to yourself,
    do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”
^(F)These are a smoke in my nostrils,
    a fire that burns all the day.
⁶Behold, ^(G)it is written before me:
    ^(H)“I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
^(I)I will indeed repay into their lap
⁷    both your iniquities ^(J)and your fathers' iniquities together,
says the Lord;
^(K)because they made offerings on the mountains
    ^(L)and insulted me on the hills,
I will measure into their lap
    payment for their former deeds.”^[b]

⁸Thus says the Lord:
^(M)“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
    and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,
    for there is a blessing in it,’
so I will do for my servants' sake,
    ^(N)and not destroy them all.
⁹^(O)I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
    and from Judah possessors of my mountains;
my chosen shall possess it,
    and my servants shall dwell there.
¹⁰^(P)Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks,
    and ^(Q)the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
    for my people ^(R)who have sought me.
¹¹But ^(S)you who forsake the Lord,
    who forget ^(T)my holy mountain,
who ^(U)set a table for Fortune
    and ^(V)fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,
¹²I will destine you to the sword,
    and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
^(W)because, when I called, you did not answer;
    when I spoke, you did not listen,
^(X)but you did what was evil in my eyes
    and chose what I did not delight in.”

¹³Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, ^(Y)my servants shall eat,
    but you shall be hungry;
behold, my servants shall drink,
    but you shall be thirsty;
behold, my servants shall rejoice,
    but you shall be put to shame;
¹⁴behold, ^(Z)my servants shall sing for gladness of heart,
    but you shall cry out for pain of heart
    and shall wail for breaking of spirit.
¹⁵You shall leave your name to ^(AA)my chosen ^(AB)for a curse,
    and the Lord God will put you to death,
    but his servants ^(AC)he will call by another name,
¹⁶so that he who ^(AD)blesses himself in the land
    shall bless himself by ^(AE)the God of truth,
and he who takes an oath in the land
    shall swear by ^(AF)the God of truth;
^(AG)because the former troubles are forgotten
    and are hidden from my eyes.