Isaiah 66

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Heaven^(A) is My throne,^(B)
and earth is My footstool.^(C)
What house could you possibly build for Me?
And what place could be My home?^(D)
2 My hand made all these things,
and so they all came into being.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will look favorably on this kind of person:
one who is humble,^(E) submissive^[a] in spirit,^(F)
and trembles at My word.
³ One slaughters an ox, one kills a man;
one sacrifices a lamb, one breaks a dog’s neck;
one offers a grain offering, one offers pig’s blood;
one offers incense, one praises an idol—
all these have chosen their ways
and delight in their detestable practices.^(G)
4 So I will choose their punishment,
and I will bring on them what they dread
because I called and no one answered;
I spoke and they didn’t hear;
they did what was evil in My sight
and chose what I didn’t delight in.^(H)

⁵ You who tremble at His word,^(I)
hear the word of the Lord:^(J)
“Your brothers who hate and exclude you
because of Me have said,^(K)
‘Let the Lord be glorified
so that we can see your joy!’
But they will be put to shame.”^(L)

⁶ A sound of uproar from the city!
A voice from the temple—
the voice of the Lord,
paying back His enemies what they deserve!^(M)

⁷ Before Zion was in labor, she gave birth;
before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.
⁸ Who has heard of such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Can a land be born in one day
or a nation be delivered in an instant?
Yet as soon as Zion was in labor,
she gave birth to her sons.
⁹ “Will I bring a baby to the point of birth
and not deliver it?”
says the Lord;
“or will I who deliver, close the womb?”
says your God.
¹⁰ Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her,
all who love her.^(N)
Rejoice greatly with her,
all who mourn over her—
¹¹ so that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her comforting breast
and drink deeply and delight yourselves
from her glorious breasts.

I will make peace flow to her like a river,^(O)
and the wealth^[b] of nations like a flood;^(P)
you will nurse and be carried on her hip^(Q)
and bounced on her lap.
¹³ As a mother comforts her son,
so I will comfort you,^(R)
and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.

¹⁴ You will see, you will rejoice,
and you^[c] will flourish like grass;^(S)
then the Lord’s power will be revealed to His servants,
but He will show His wrath against His enemies.
¹⁵ Look, the Lord will come with fire^(T)—
His chariots are like the whirlwind^(U)—
to execute His anger with fury
and His rebuke with flames of fire.
¹⁶ For the Lord will execute judgment
on all flesh^(V) with His fiery sword,
and many will be slain by the Lord.

²² “For just as the new heavens and the new earth,^(AC)
which I will make,
will endure before Me”—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“so your offspring and your name will endure.
²³ All mankind will come to worship Me
from one New Moon to another
and from one Sabbath to another,”
says the Lord.