Isaiah 62:6-65:25

Contemporary English Version

⁶ Jerusalem, on your walls
I have stationed guards,
    whose duty it is
to speak out day and night,
    without resting.
They must remind the Lord
⁷     and not let him rest
till he makes Jerusalem strong
    and famous everywhere.

⁸ The Lord has given his word
    and made this promise:
“Never again will I give
    to your enemies
the grain and grapes
    for which you struggled.
⁹ As surely as you harvest
    your grain and grapes,
you will eat your bread
    with thankful hearts,
and you will drink your wine
    in my temple.”

¹⁰ People of Jerusalem,
    open your gates!
Repair the road to the city
    and clear it of stones;
raise a banner to help
    the nations find their way.
^11 (A) Here is what the Lord has said
    for all the earth to hear:
“Soon I will come to save
the city of Zion
    and to reward you.
¹² Then you will be called,
‘The Lord's Own People,
    The Ones He Rescued!’
Your city will be known
as a good place to live
    and a city full of people.”

“It's me, the Lord!
I have won the battle,
    and I can save you!”

² What are those red spots?
Your clothes look stained
    from trampling on grapes.^[b]

^3 (C) “I alone trampled the grapes!
    None of the nations helped.
I trampled nations in my anger
and stained my clothes
    with their blood.
⁴ I did this because I wanted
    to take revenge—
the time had come
    to rescue my people.
^5 (D) No one was there to help me
    or to give support;
my mighty arm won the battle,
    strengthened by my anger.
⁶ In my fury I trampled on nations
    and made them drunk;
their blood poured out
    everywhere on earth.”

⁸ The Lord rescued his people,
and said, “They are mine.
    They won't betray me.”
⁹ It troubled the Lord
to see them in trouble,
    and his angel saved them.^[c]
The Lord was truly merciful,
    so he rescued his people.
He took them in his arms
and carried them all those years.

¹⁰ Then the Lord's people
turned against him and made
    his Holy Spirit sad.
So he became their enemy
    and attacked them.
¹¹ But his people remembered
what had happened
    during the time of Moses.^[d]
Didn't the Lord^[e] bring them
and their leaders
    safely through the sea?
Didn't he^[f] give them
    his Holy Spirit?
^12 (E) The glorious power of the Lord
    marched beside Moses.
The Lord will be praised forever
    for dividing the sea.
¹³ He led his people across
like horses running wild
    without stumbling.
¹⁴ His Spirit gave them rest,
just as cattle find rest
    when led into a valley.^[g]
The name of the Lord was praised
    for doing these things.

¹⁷ Why did you make us turn away
    from you, our Lord?
Why did you make us want
    to disobey you?
Please change your mind!
We are your servants,
    your very own people.
¹⁸ For a little while,
    your temple belonged to us;^[i]
and now our enemies
    have torn it down.
¹⁹ We act as though you
had never ruled us
    or called us your people.

64 Rip the heavens apart!
Come down, Lord;
    make the mountains tremble.
² Be a spark that starts a fire
    causing water to boil.^[j]
Then your enemies will know
    who you are;
all nations will tremble
    because you are nearby.

³ Your fearsome deeds
    have completely amazed us;
even the mountains shake
    when you come down.
^4 (G) You are the only God
    ever seen or heard of
who works miracles
    for his followers.

⁵ You help all who gladly obey
and do what you want,
    but sin makes you angry.
Only by your help
    can we ever be saved.^[k]
6 We are unfit to worship you;
each of our good deeds
    is merely a filthy rag.
We dry up like leaves;
our sins are storm winds
    sweeping us away.
⁷ No one worships in your name
    or remains faithful.
You have turned your back on us
and let our sins melt us away.^[l]

⁸ You, Lord, are our Father.
    We are nothing but clay,
but you are the potter
    who molded us.
⁹ Don't be so furious
or keep our sins
    in your thoughts forever!
Remember that all of us
    are your people.
¹⁰ Every one of your towns
has turned into a desert,
    especially Jerusalem.
¹¹ Zion's glorious and holy temple
where our ancestors praised you
    has been destroyed by fire.
Our beautiful buildings
    are now a pile of ruins.
¹² When you see these things,
how can you just sit there
    and make us suffer more?

^2 (I) All day long I have reached out
to stubborn and sinful people
    going their own way.
³ They keep making me angry
    by sneering at me,
while offering sacrifices
    to idols in gardens
and burning incense
    to them on bricks.
⁴ They spend their nights
    hiding in burial caves;
they eat the meat of pigs,^[n]
cooked in sauces
    made of stuff unfit to eat.
⁵ And then they say to others,
“Don't come near us!
    We're dedicated to God.”
Such people are like smoke,
    irritating my nose all day.
⁶ I have written this down;
    I won't keep silent.
I'll pay them back
    just as their sins deserve.
⁷ I, the Lord, will make them pay
for their sins and for those
    of their ancestors—
they have disgraced me
by burning incense
    on mountains.

⁸ Here is what the Lord says:
    A cluster of grapes
    that produces wine
    is worth keeping!
So, because of my servants,
    I won't destroy everyone.
⁹ I have chosen the people
    of Israel and Judah,
and I will bless them
    with many descendants.
They will settle here
in this land of mountains,
    and it will be theirs.
^10 (J) My people will worship me.
Then the coastlands of Sharon
    and the land as far
    as Achor Valley^[o]
will turn into pastureland
where cattle and sheep
    will feed and rest.

¹¹ What will I, the Lord, do
if any of you reject me
    and my holy mountain?
What will happen to you
    for offering food and wine
to the gods you call
    “Good Luck” and “Fate”?
¹² Your luck will end!
I will see to it that you
    are slaughtered with swords.
You refused to answer
    when I called out;
you paid no attention
    to my instructions.
Instead, you did what I hated,
    knowing it was wrong.

¹³ I, the Lord God, will give
food and drink to my servants,
    and they will celebrate.
But all of you sinners
will go hungry and thirsty,
    overcome with disgrace.
¹⁴ My servants will laugh and sing,
but you will be sad
    and cry out in pain.
¹⁵ I, the Lord God, promise
    to see that you are killed
and that my chosen servants use
    your names as curse words.
But I will give new names^[p]
    to my servants.^[q]
16 I am God! I can be trusted.
Your past troubles are gone;
    I no longer think of them.
When you pray for someone
    to receive a blessing,
or when you make a promise,
    you must do it in my name.
I alone am the God
    who can be trusted.

²⁰ No child will die in infancy;
everyone will live
    a very long life.
Anyone a hundred years old
    will be considered young,
and to die younger than that
    will be considered a curse.

²¹ My people will live
    in the houses they build;
they will enjoy grapes
    from their own vineyards.
²² No one will take away
    their homes or vineyards.
My chosen people will live
    to be as old as trees,
and they will enjoy
    what they have earned.
²³ Their work won't be wasted,
and their children won't die
    of dreadful diseases.^[r]
I will bless their children
    and their grandchildren.
²⁴ I will answer their prayers
    before they finish praying.

^25 (M) Wolves and lambs
    will graze together;
lions and oxen
    will feed on straw.
Snakes will eat only dirt!
They won't bite or harm anyone
    on my holy mountain.
I, the Lord, have spoken!