Isaiah 65-66

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.

New Heavens and a New Earth

¹⁷“For behold, ^(AH)I create new heavens
    and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
    or come into mind.
¹⁸But be glad and rejoice forever
    in that which I create;
for behold, ^(AI)I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
    and her people to be a gladness.
¹⁹^(AJ)I will rejoice in Jerusalem
    and be glad in my people;
^(AK)no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
    and the cry of distress.
²⁰No more shall there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for ^(AL)the young man shall die a hundred years old,
    and ^(AM)the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
²¹^(AN)They shall build houses and inhabit them;
    they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²²^(AO)They shall not build and another inhabit;
    they shall not plant and another eat;
^(AP)for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
    and my chosen shall long enjoy^[c] the work of their hands.
²³^(AQ)They shall not labor in vain
    ^(AR)or bear children for calamity,^[d]
for ^(AS)they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
    and their descendants with them.
²⁴^(AT)Before they call I will answer;
    ^(AU)while they are yet speaking I will hear.
²⁵^(AV)The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
    the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
    and ^(AW)dust shall be the serpent's food.
^(AX)They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

The Humble and Contrite in Spirit

66 ^(AY)Thus says the Lord:
^(AZ)“Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
    and what is the place of my rest?
²^(BA)All these things my hand has made,
    and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
^(BB)But this is the one to whom I will look:
    he who is humble and contrite in spirit
    and trembles at my word.

³^(BC)“He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;
    he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck;
he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers ^(BD)pig's blood;
    he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.
^(BE)These have chosen their own ways,
    and their soul delights in their abominations;
⁴^(BF)I also will choose harsh treatment for them
    and bring ^(BG)their fears upon them,
^(BH)because when I called, no one answered,
    when I spoke, they did not listen;
^(BI)but they did what was evil in my eyes
    and chose that in which I did not delight.”

⁵Hear the word of the Lord,
    you who tremble at his word:
“Your brothers who hate you
    and cast you out for my name's sake
have said, ^(BJ)‘Let the Lord be glorified,
    that we may see your joy’;
    but it is they who shall be put to shame.

⁶“The sound of an uproar from the city!
A sound from the temple!
The sound of the Lord,
^(BK)rendering recompense to his enemies!

Rejoice with Jerusalem

⁷^(BL)“Before she was in labor
    she gave birth;
before her pain came upon her
    she delivered a son.
⁸Who has heard such a thing?
    Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
    Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?
For ^(BM)as soon as Zion was in labor
    she brought forth her children.
⁹Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”
    says the Lord;
“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”
    says your God.

¹⁰^(BN)“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
    all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
    all you who mourn over her;
¹¹that you may nurse and be satisfied
    from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
    from her glorious abundance.”^[e]

¹²For thus says the Lord:
^(BO)“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
    and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and ^(BP)you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,
    and bounced upon her knees.
¹³As one whom his mother comforts,
    so ^(BQ)I will comfort you;
    you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
¹⁴You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
    ^(BR)your bones shall flourish like the grass;
and ^(BS)the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants,
    and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.

Final Judgment and Glory of the Lord

¹⁵“For behold, ^(BT)the Lord will come in fire,
    and ^(BU)his chariots like the whirlwind,
to render his anger in fury,
    and his rebuke with flames of fire.
¹⁶For ^(BV)by fire ^(BW)will the Lord enter into judgment,
    and by his sword, with all flesh;
    and those slain by the Lord shall be many.

¹⁷^(BX)“Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, ^(BY)eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.

¹⁸“For I know^[f] their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming^[g] ^(BZ)to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, ¹⁹and I will set a sign among them. And from them ^(CA)I will send survivors to the nations, to ^(CB)Tarshish, ^(CC)Pul, and ^(CD)Lud, who draw the bow, to ^(CE)Tubal and ^(CF)Javan, ^(CG)to the coastlands far away, ^(CH)that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. ²⁰^(CI)And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations ^(CJ)as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. ²¹^(CK)And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.

²²“For as ^(CL)the new heavens and the new earth
    that I make
shall remain before me, says the Lord,
    so ^(CM)shall your offspring and your name remain.
²³^(CN)From new moon to new moon,
    and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
declares the Lord.

²⁴“And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For ^(CO)their worm shall not die, ^(CP)their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”