Bible in 90 Days

¹³ See, my Servant^[a] shall prosper; he shall be highly exalted. ^14-15 Yet many shall be amazed when they see him—yes, even far-off foreign nations and their kings; they shall stand dumbfounded, speechless in his presence. For they shall see and understand what they had not been told before. They shall see my Servant beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know it was a person standing there. So shall he cleanse^[b] many nations.

53 But, oh, how few believe it! Who will listen? To whom will God reveal his saving power? ² In God’s eyes^[c] he was like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground. But in our eyes there was no attractiveness at all, nothing to make us want him. ³ We despised him and rejected him—a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we didn’t care.

⁴ Yet it was our grief he bore, our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, for his own sins! ⁵ But he was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace; he was lashed—and we were healed! ⁶ We—every one of us—have strayed away like sheep! We, who left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet God laid on him the guilt and sins of every one of us!

⁷ He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he never said a word. He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he stood silent before the ones condemning him. ⁸ From prison and trial they led him away to his death. But who among the people of that day realized it was their sins that he was dying for—that he was suffering their punishment? ⁹ He was buried like a criminal, but in a rich man’s grave; but he had done no wrong and had never spoken an evil word.

¹⁰ But it was the Lord’s good plan to bruise him and fill him with grief. However, when his soul has been made an offering for sin, then he shall have a multitude of children, many heirs. He shall live again,^[d] and God’s program shall prosper in his hands. ¹¹ And when he sees all that is accomplished by the anguish of his soul, he shall be satisfied; and because of what he has experienced, my righteous Servant shall make many to be counted righteous before God, for he shall bear all their sins. ¹² Therefore, I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great because he has poured out his soul unto death. He was counted as a sinner, and he bore the sins of many, and he pled with God for sinners.

54 Sing, O childless woman! Break out into loud and joyful song, Jerusalem,^[e] for she who was abandoned has more blessings now than she whose husband stayed! ² Enlarge your house; build on additions; spread out your home! ³ For you will soon be bursting at the seams! And your descendants will possess the cities left behind during the exile and rule the nations that took their lands.

⁴ Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. The shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood will be remembered no more, ⁵ for your Creator will be your “husband.” The Lord Almighty is his name; he is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth. ⁶ For the Lord has called you back from your grief—a young wife abandoned by her husband. ⁷ For a brief moment I abandoned you. But with great compassion I will take you back. ⁸ In a moment of anger I turned my face a little while; but with everlasting love I will have pity on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer.

⁹ Just as in the time of Noah I swore that I would never again permit the waters of a flood to cover the earth and destroy its life, so now I swear that I will never again pour out my anger on you. ¹⁰ For the mountains may depart and the hills disappear, but my kindness shall not leave you. My promise of peace for you will never be broken, says the Lord who has mercy upon you.

¹¹ O my afflicted people, tempest-tossed and troubled, I will rebuild you on a foundation of sapphires and make the walls of your houses from precious jewels. ¹² I will make your towers of sparkling agate and your gates and walls of shining gems. ¹³ And all your citizens shall be taught by me, and their prosperity shall be great. ¹⁴ You will live under a government that is just and fair. Your enemies will stay far away; you will live in peace. Terror shall not come near. ¹⁵ If any nation comes to fight you, it will not be sent by me to punish you. Therefore, it will be routed, for I am on your side.^{[f] 16} I have created the smith who blows the coals beneath the forge and makes the weapons of destruction. And I have created the armies that destroy. ¹⁷ But in that coming day, no weapon turned against you shall succeed, and you will have justice against every courtroom lie. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. This is the blessing I have given you, says the Lord.

55 Say there! Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine and milk—it’s all free! ² Why spend your money on food that doesn’t give you strength? Why pay for groceries that do you no good? Listen and I’ll tell you where to get good food that fattens up the soul!

³ Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, for the life of your soul is at stake. I am ready to make an everlasting covenant with you, to give you all the unfailing mercies and love that I had for King David.^{[g] 4} He proved my power by conquering foreign nations.^{[h] 5} You also will command the nations, and they will come running to obey, not because of your own power or virtue, but because I, the Lord your God, have glorified you.

⁶ Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call upon him now while he is near. ⁷ Let men cast off their wicked deeds; let them banish from their minds the very thought of doing wrong! Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy upon them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon! ⁸ This plan of mine is not what you would work out, neither are my thoughts the same as yours! ⁹ For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than yours, and my thoughts than yours.

¹⁰ As the rain and snow come down from heaven and stay upon the ground to water the earth, and cause the grain to grow and to produce seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry, ¹¹ so also is my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It shall accomplish all I want it to and prosper everywhere I send it. ¹² You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills, the trees of the field—all the world around you—will rejoice. ¹³ Where once were thorns, fir trees will grow; where briars grew, the myrtle trees will sprout up. This miracle will make the Lord’s name very great and be an everlasting sign of God’s power and love.^[i]

56 Be just and fair to all, the Lord God says. Do what’s right and good, for I am coming soon to rescue you. ² Blessed is the man who refuses to work during my Sabbath days of rest, but honors them; and blessed is the man who checks himself from doing wrong.

³ And my blessings are for Gentiles, too, when they accept the Lord; don’t let them think that I will make them second-class citizens. And this is for the eunuchs too. They can be as much mine as anyone. ⁴ For I say this to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths holy, who choose the things that please me and obey my laws: ⁵ I will give them—in my house, within my walls—a name far greater than the honor they would receive from having sons and daughters. For the name that I will give them is an everlasting one; it will never disappear.

⁶ As for the Gentiles, the outsiders who join the people of the Lord and serve him and love his name, who are his servants and don’t desecrate the Sabbath, and have accepted his covenant and promises, ⁷ I will bring them also to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and make them full of joy within my House of Prayer.

I will accept their sacrifices and offerings, for my Temple shall be called “A House of Prayer for All People”! ⁸ For the Lord God who brings back the outcasts of Israel says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.

⁹ Come, wild animals of the field; come, tear apart the sheep; come, wild animals of the forest, devour my people.^{[j] 10} For the leaders of my people—the Lord’s watchmen, his shepherds—are all blind to every danger. They are featherbrained and give no warning when danger comes. They love to lie there, love to sleep, to dream. ¹¹ And they are as greedy as dogs, never satisfied; they are stupid shepherds who only look after their own interest, each trying to get as much as he can for himself from every possible source.

¹² “Come,” they say. “We’ll get some wine and have a party; let’s all get drunk. This is really living; let it go on and on, and tomorrow will be even better!”

57 The good men perish; the godly die before their time, and no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to realize that God is taking them away from evil days ahead. ² For the godly who die shall rest in peace.

³ But you—come here, you witches’ sons, you offspring of adulterers and harlots! ⁴ Who is it you mock, making faces and sticking out your tongues? You children of sinners and liars! ⁵ You worship your idols with great zeal beneath the shade of every tree and slay your children as human sacrifices down in the valleys, under overhanging rocks. ⁶ Your gods are the smooth stones in the valleys. You worship them, and they, not I, are your inheritance. Does all this make me happy? ^7-8 You have committed adultery on the tops of the mountains, for you worship idols there, deserting me. Behind closed doors you set your idols up and worship someone other than me. This is adultery, for you are giving these idols your love instead of loving me. ⁹ You have taken pleasant incense and perfume to Molech as your gift. You have traveled far, even to hell itself, to find new gods to love. ¹⁰ You grew weary in your search, but you never gave up. You strengthened yourself and went on. ¹¹ Why were you more afraid of them than of me? How is it that you gave not even a second thought to me? Is it because I’ve been too gentle that you have no fear of me?

¹² And then there is your “righteousness” and your “good works”—none of which will save you. ¹³ Let’s see if the whole collection of your idols can help you when you cry to them to save you! They are so weak that the wind can carry them off! A breath can puff them away. But he who trusts in me shall possess the land and inherit my holy mountain. ¹⁴ I will say, Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones. Prepare a glorious highway for my people’s return from captivity.

¹⁵ The high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, the Holy One, says this: I live in that high and holy place where those with contrite, humble spirits dwell; and I refresh the humble and give new courage to those with repentant hearts. ¹⁶ For I will not fight against you forever, nor always show my wrath; if I did, all mankind would perish—the very souls that I have made. ¹⁷ I was angry and smote these greedy men. But they went right on sinning, doing everything their evil hearts desired. ¹⁸ I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them and comfort them, helping them to mourn and to confess their sins. ¹⁹ Peace, peace to them, both near and far, for I will heal them all. ²⁰ But those who still reject me^[k] are like the restless sea, which is never still, but always churns up mire and dirt. ²¹ There is no peace, says my God, for them!

58 Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast; tell my people of their sins! ² Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and are so delighted to hear the reading of my laws—just as though they would obey them—just as though they don’t despise the commandments of their God! How anxious they are to worship correctly; oh, how they love the Temple services!

³ “We have fasted before you,” they say. “Why aren’t you impressed? Why don’t you see our sacrifices? Why don’t you hear our prayers? We have done much penance, and you don’t even notice it!” I’ll tell you why! Because you are living in evil pleasure even while you are fasting, and you keep right on oppressing your workers. ⁴ Look, what good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. ⁵ Is this what I want—this doing of penance and bowing like reeds in the wind, putting on sackcloth and covering yourselves with ashes? Is this what you call fasting?

⁶ No, the kind of fast I want is that you stop oppressing those who work for you and treat them fairly and give them what they earn. ⁷ I want you to share your food with the hungry and bring right into your own homes those who are helpless, poor, and destitute. Clothe those who are cold, and don’t hide from relatives who need your help.

⁸ If you do these things, God will shed his own glorious light upon you. He will heal you; your godliness will lead you forward, goodness will be a shield before you, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. ⁹ Then, when you call, the Lord will answer. “Yes, I am here,” he will quickly reply. All you need to do is to stop oppressing the weak and stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumors!

¹⁰ Feed the hungry! Help those in trouble! Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you shall be as bright as day. ¹¹ And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy you with all good things, and keep you healthy too; and you will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. ¹² Your sons will rebuild the long-deserted ruins of your cities, and you will be known as “The People Who Rebuild Their Walls and Cities.”

¹³ If you keep the Sabbath holy, not having your own fun and business on that day, but enjoying the Sabbath, speaking of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day, and honoring the Lord in what you do, not following your own desires and pleasure nor talking idly— ¹⁴ then the Lord will be your delight, and I will see to it that you ride high and get your full share of the blessings I promised to Jacob, your father. The Lord has spoken.

59 Listen now! The Lord isn’t too weak to save you. And he isn’t getting deaf! He can hear you when you call! ² But the trouble is that your sins have cut you off from God. Because of sin he has turned his face away from you and will not listen anymore. ³ For your hands are those of murderers and your fingers are filthy with sin. You lie and grumble and oppose the good. ⁴ No one cares about being fair and true. Your lawsuits are based on lies; you spend your time plotting evil deeds and doing them. ⁵ You spend your time and energy in spinning evil plans that end up in deadly actions. ⁶ You cheat and shortchange everyone. Everything you do is filled with sin; violence is your trademark. ⁷ Your feet run to do evil and rush to murder; your thoughts are only of sinning, and wherever you go you leave behind a trail of misery and death. ⁸ You don’t know what true peace is, nor what it means to be just and good; you continually do wrong and those who follow you won’t experience any peace either.

⁹ It is because of all this evil that you aren’t finding God’s blessings; that’s why he doesn’t punish those who injure you. No wonder you are in darkness when you expected light. No wonder you are walking in the gloom. ¹⁰ No wonder you grope like blind men and stumble along in broad daylight, yes, even at brightest noontime, as though it were the darkest night! No wonder you are like corpses when compared with vigorous young men! ¹¹ You roar like hungry bears; you moan with mournful cries like doves. You look for God to keep you, but he doesn’t. He has turned away. ¹² For your sins keep piling up before the righteous God and testify against you.

Yes, we know what sinners we are. ¹³ We know our disobedience; we have denied the Lord our God. We know what rebels we are and how unfair we are, for we carefully plan our lies. ¹⁴ Our courts oppose the righteous man; fairness is unknown. Truth falls dead in the streets, and justice is outlawed.

¹⁵ Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who tries a better life is soon attacked. The Lord saw all the evil and was displeased to find no steps taken against sin. ¹⁶ He saw no one was helping you and wondered that no one intervened. Therefore he himself stepped in to save you through his mighty power and justice. ¹⁷ He put on righteousness as armor and the helmet of salvation on his head. He clothed himself with robes of vengeance and of godly fury. ¹⁸ He will repay his enemies for their evil deeds—fury for his foes in distant lands. ¹⁹ Then at last they will reverence and glorify the name of God from west to east. For he will come like a flood tide driven by Jehovah’s breath. ²⁰ He will come as a Redeemer to those in Zion who have turned away from sin.

²¹ “As for me, this is my promise to them,” says the Lord: “My Holy Spirit shall not leave them, and they shall want the good and hate the wrong—they and their children and their children’s children forever.”

60 Arise, my people! Let your light shine for all the nations to see! For the glory of the Lord is streaming from you. ² Darkness as black as night shall cover all the peoples of the earth, but the glory of the Lord will shine from you. ³ All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see the glory of the Lord upon you.

⁴ Lift up your eyes and see! For your sons and daughters are coming home to you from distant lands. ⁵ Your eyes will shine with joy, your hearts will thrill, for merchants from around the world will flow to you, bringing you the wealth of many lands. ⁶ Vast droves of camels will converge upon you, dromedaries from Midian and Sheba and Ephah too, bringing gold and incense to add to the praise of God. ⁷ The flocks of Kedar shall be given you, and the rams of Nabaioth for my altars, and I will glorify my glorious Temple in that day.

⁸ And who are these who fly like a cloud to Israel, like doves to their nests? ⁹ I have reserved the ships of many lands, the very best,^[l] to bring the sons of Israel home again from far away, bringing their wealth with them. For the Holy One of Israel, known around the world, has glorified you in the eyes of all.

¹⁰ Foreigners will come and build your cities. Presidents and kings will send you aid. For though I destroyed you in my anger, I will have mercy on you through my grace. ¹¹ Your gates will stay wide open around the clock to receive the wealth of many lands. The kings of the world will cater to you. ¹² For the nations refusing to be your allies^[m] will perish; they shall be destroyed. ¹³ The glory of Lebanon will be yours—the forests of firs, pines, and box trees—to beautify my sanctuary. My Temple will be glorious.

¹⁴ The sons of anti-Semites will come and bow before you! They will kiss your feet! They will call Jerusalem “The City of the Lord” and “The Glorious Mountain of the Holy One of Israel.”

¹⁵ Though once despised and hated and rebuffed by all, you will be beautiful forever, a joy for all the generations of the world, for I will make you so. ¹⁶ Powerful kings and mighty nations shall provide you with the choicest of their goods to satisfy your every need, and you will know at last and really understand that I, the Lord, am your Savior and Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel. ¹⁷ I will exchange your brass for gold, your iron for silver, your wood for brass, your stones for iron. Peace and righteousness shall be your taskmasters! ¹⁸ Violence will disappear out of your land—all war will end. Your walls will be “Salvation” and your gates “Praise.”

¹⁹ No longer will you need the sun or moon to give you light, for the Lord your God will be your everlasting light, and he will be your glory. ²⁰ Your sun shall never set; the moon shall not go down—for the Lord will be your everlasting light; your days of mourning all will end. ²¹ All your people will be good. They will possess their land forever, for I will plant them there with my own hands; this will bring me glory. ²² The smallest family shall multiply into a clan; the tiny group shall be a mighty nation. I, the Lord, will bring it all to pass when it is time.

61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted, to announce liberty to captives, and to open the eyes of the blind. ² He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of God’s favor to them has come, and the day of his wrath to their enemies. ³ To all who mourn in Israel he will give: beauty for ashes; joy instead of mourning; praise instead of heaviness. For God has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory.

⁴ And they shall rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities long ago destroyed, reviving them though they have lain there many generations. ⁵ Foreigners shall be your servants; they shall feed your flocks and plow your fields and tend your vineyards. ⁶ You shall be called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God. You shall be fed with the treasures of the nations and shall glory in their riches. ⁷ Instead of shame and dishonor, you shall have a double portion of prosperity and everlasting joy.

⁸ For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrong. I will faithfully reward my people for their suffering and make an everlasting covenant with them. ⁹ Their descendants shall be known and honored among the nations; all shall realize that they are a people God has blessed.

¹⁰ Let me tell you how happy God has made me! For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and draped about me the robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels. ¹¹ The Lord will show the nations of the world his justice; all will praise him. His righteousness shall be like a budding tree, or like a garden in early spring, full of young plants springing up everywhere.

62 Because I love Zion, because my heart yearns for Jerusalem, I will not cease to pray for her or to cry out to God on her behalf until she shines forth in his righteousness and is glorious in his salvation. ² The nations shall see your righteousness. Kings shall be blinded by your glory; and God will confer on you a new name. ³ He will hold you aloft in his hands for all to see—a splendid crown for the King of kings. ⁴ Never again shall you be called “The God-forsaken Land” or the “Land That God Forgot.” Your new name will be “The Land of God’s Delight” and “The Bride,” for the Lord delights in you and will claim you as his own. ⁵ Your children will care for you, O Jerusalem, with joy like that of a young man who marries a virgin; and God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom with his bride.

^6-7 O Jerusalem, I have set intercessors^[n] on your walls who shall cry to God all day and all night for the fulfillment of his promises. Take no rest, all you who pray, and give God no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes her respected and admired throughout the earth. ⁸ The Lord has sworn to Jerusalem with all his integrity: “I will never again give you to your enemies; never again shall foreign soldiers come and take away your grain and wine. ⁹ You raised it; you shall keep it, praising God. Within the Temple courts you yourselves shall drink the wine you pressed.”

¹⁰ Go out! Go out! Prepare the roadway for my people to return! Build the roads, pull out the boulders, raise the flag of Israel.

¹¹ See, the Lord has sent his messengers to every land and said, “Tell my people, I, the Lord your God, am coming to save you and will bring you many gifts.” ¹² And they shall be called “The Holy People” and “The Lord’s Redeemed,” and Jerusalem shall be called “The Land of Desire” and “The City God Has Blessed.”

63 Who is this who comes from Edom, from the city of Bozrah, with his magnificent garments of crimson? Who is this in royal robes, marching in the greatness of his strength?

“It is I, the Lord, announcing your salvation; I, the Lord, the one who is mighty to save!”

² “Why are your clothes so red, as from treading out the grapes?”

³ “I have trodden the winepress alone. No one was there to help me. In my wrath I have trodden my enemies like grapes. In my fury I trampled my foes. It is their blood you see upon my clothes. ⁴ For the time has come for me to avenge my people, to redeem them from the hands of their oppressors. ⁵ I looked but no one came to help them; I was amazed and appalled. So I executed vengeance alone; unaided, I meted out judgment. ⁶ I crushed the heathen nations in my anger and made them stagger and fall to the ground.”

⁷ I will tell of the loving-kindnesses of God. I will praise him for all he has done; I will rejoice in his great goodness to Israel, which he has granted in accordance with his mercy and love. ⁸ He said, “They are my very own; surely they will not be false again.” And he became their Savior. ⁹ In all their affliction he was afflicted, and he personally saved them.^[o] In his love and pity he redeemed them and lifted them up and carried them through all the years.

¹⁰ But they rebelled against him and grieved his Holy Spirit. That is why he became their enemy and personally fought against them. ¹¹ Then they remembered those days of old when Moses, God’s servant, led his people out of Egypt, and they cried out, “Where is the One who brought Israel through the sea, with Moses as their shepherd? Where is the God who sent his Holy Spirit to be among his people? ¹² Where is he whose mighty power divided the sea before them when Moses lifted up his hand, and established his reputation forever? ¹³ Who led them through the bottom of the sea? Like fine stallions racing through the desert, they never stumbled. ¹⁴ Like cattle grazing in the valleys, so the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. Thus he gave himself a magnificent reputation.”

¹⁵ O Lord, look down from heaven and see us from your holy, glorious home; where is the love for us you used to show—your power, your mercy, and your compassion? Where are they now? ¹⁶ Surely you are still our Father! Even if Abraham and Jacob would disown us, still you would be our Father, our Redeemer from ages past. ¹⁷ O Lord, why have you hardened our hearts and made us sin and turn against you? Return and help us, for we who belong to you need you so.^{[p] 18} How briefly we possessed Jerusalem! And now our enemies have destroyed her. ¹⁹ O God, why do you treat us as though we weren’t your people, as though we were a heathen nation that never called you “Lord”?

64 Oh, that you would burst forth from the skies and come down! How the mountains would quake in your presence! ² The consuming fire of your glory would burn down the forests and boil the oceans dry. The nations would tremble before you; then your enemies would learn the reason for your fame! ³ So it was before when you came down, for you did awesome things beyond our highest expectations, and how the mountains quaked! ⁴ For since the world began no one has seen or heard of such a God as ours, who works for those who wait for him! ⁵ You welcome those who cheerfully do good, who follow godly ways.

But we are not godly; we are constant sinners and have been all our lives. Therefore your wrath is heavy on us. How can such as we be saved? ⁶ We are all infected and impure with sin. When we put on our prized robes of righteousness, we find they are but filthy rags.^[q] Like autumn leaves we fade, wither, and fall. And our sins, like the wind, sweep us away. ⁷ Yet no one calls upon your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins.

⁸ And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay and you are the Potter. We are all formed by your hand. ⁹ Oh, be not so angry with us, Lord, nor forever remember our sins. Oh, look and see that we are all your people.

¹⁰ Your holy cities are destroyed; Jerusalem is a desolate wilderness. ¹¹ Our holy, beautiful Temple where our fathers praised you is burned down, and all the things of beauty are destroyed. ¹² After all of this, must you still refuse to help us, Lord? Will you stand silent and still punish us?

65 The Lord says, People^[r] who never before inquired about me are now seeking me out. Nations who never before searched for me are finding me.

² But my own people—though I have been spreading out my arms to welcome them all day long—have rebelled; they follow their own evil paths and thoughts. ³ All day long they insult me to my face by worshiping idols in many gardens and burning incense on the rooftops of their homes. ⁴ At night they go out among the graves and caves to worship evil spirits, and they eat pork and other forbidden foods. ⁵ Yet they say to one another, “Don’t come too close, you’ll defile me! For I am holier than you!” They stifle me. Day in and day out they infuriate me.

⁶ See, here is my decree all written out before me: I will not stand silent; I will repay. Yes, I will repay them— ⁷ not only for their own sins but for those of their fathers too, says the Lord, for they also burned incense on the mountains and insulted me upon the hills. I will pay them back in full.

⁸ But I will not destroy them all, says the Lord; for just as good grapes are found among a cluster of bad ones (and someone will say, “Don’t throw them all away—there are some good grapes there!”) so I will not destroy all Israel, for I have true servants there. ⁹ I will preserve a remnant of my people to possess the land of Israel; those I select will inherit it and serve me there. ¹⁰ As for my people who have sought me, the plains of Sharon shall again be filled with flocks, and the valley of Achor shall be a place to pasture herds.

¹¹ But because the rest of you have forsaken the Lord and his Temple and worship gods of “Fate” and “Destiny,” ¹² therefore I will “destine” you to the sword, and your “fate” shall be a dark one; for when I called, you didn’t answer; when I spoke, you wouldn’t listen. You deliberately sinned before my very eyes, choosing to do what you know I despise.

¹³ Therefore, the Lord God says: You shall starve, but my servants shall eat; you shall be thirsty while they drink; you shall be sad and ashamed, but they shall rejoice. ¹⁴ You shall cry in sorrow and vexation and despair, while they sing for joy. ¹⁵ Your name shall be a curse word among my people, for the Lord God will slay you and call his true servants by another name.^[s]

¹⁶ And yet, the days will come^[t] when all who invoke a blessing or take an oath shall swear by the God of Truth; for I will put aside my anger and forget the evil that you did. ¹⁷ For see, I am creating new heavens and a new earth—so wonderful that no one will even think about the old ones anymore. ¹⁸ Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation. Look! I will re-create Jerusalem as a place of happiness, and her people shall be a joy! ¹⁹ And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and in my people; and the voice of weeping and crying shall not be heard there anymore.

²⁰ No longer will babies die when only a few days old; no longer will men be considered old at 100! Only sinners will die that young! ^21-22 In those days, when a man builds a house, he will keep on living in it—it will not be destroyed by invading armies as in the past. My people will plant vineyards and eat the fruit themselves—their enemies will not confiscate it. For my people will live as long as trees and will long enjoy their hard-won gains. ²³ Their harvests will not be eaten by their enemies; their children will not be born to be cannon fodder. For they are the children of those the Lord has blessed; and their children, too, shall be blessed. ²⁴ I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking to me about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers! ²⁵ The wolf and lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw as the ox does, and poisonous snakes shall strike no more!^[u] In those days nothing and no one shall be hurt or destroyed in all my holy mountain, says the Lord.

66 Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool: What Temple can you build for me as good as that? ² My hand has made both earth and skies, and they are mine. Yet I will look with pity on the man who has a humble and a contrite heart, who trembles at my word.

³ But those who choose their own ways, delighting in their sins, are cursed. God will not accept their offerings. When such men sacrifice an ox on the altar of God, it is no more acceptable to him than human sacrifice. If they sacrifice a lamb or bring an offering of grain, it is as loathsome to God as putting a dog or the blood of a swine on his altar! When they burn incense to him, he counts it the same as though they blessed an idol. ⁴ I will send great troubles upon them—all the things they feared, for when I called them, they refused to answer, and when I spoke to them, they would not hear. Instead, they did wrong before my eyes and chose what they knew I despised.

⁵ Hear the words of God, all you who fear him, and tremble at his words: Your brethren hate you and cast you out for being loyal to my name. “Glory to God,” they scoff. “Be happy in the Lord!” But they shall be put to shame.

⁶ What is all the commotion in the city? What is that terrible noise from the Temple? It is the voice of the Lord taking vengeance upon his enemies.

^7-8 Who has heard or seen anything as strange as this? For in one day, suddenly, a nation, Israel, shall be born, even before the birth pains come. In a moment, just as Israel’s anguish starts, the baby is born; the nation begins. ⁹ Shall I bring to the point of birth and then not deliver? asks the Lord your God. No! Never!

¹⁰ Rejoice with Jerusalem; be glad with her, all you who love her, you who mourned for her. ¹¹ Delight in Jerusalem; drink deep of her glory even as an infant at a mother’s generous breasts. ¹² Prosperity shall overflow Jerusalem like a river, says the Lord, for I will send it; the riches of the Gentiles will flow to her. Her children shall be nursed at her breasts, carried on her hips and dandled on her knees. ¹³ I will comfort you there as a little one is comforted by its mother.

¹⁴ When you see Jerusalem, your heart will rejoice; vigorous health will be yours. All the world will see the good hand of God upon his people and his wrath upon his enemies. ¹⁵ For see, the Lord will come with fire and with swift chariots of doom to pour out the fury of his anger and his hot rebuke with flames of fire. ¹⁶ For the Lord will punish the world by fire and by his sword, and the slain of the Lord shall be many!

¹⁷ Those who worship idols that are hidden behind a tree in the garden, feasting there on pork and mouse and all forbidden meat—they will come to an evil end, says Jehovah. ¹⁸ I see full well what they are doing; I know what they are thinking, so I will gather together all nations and people against Jerusalem, where they shall see my glory.