Isaiah 65
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 65
Punishment of the Idolaters
1 I was eager to respond
to those who did not consult me.
I was anxious to be approached
by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am! Here I am!”
to a nation that did not summon me.
2 Throughout each day I held out my hands
and appealed to a rebellious people
who walk along evil paths
in pursuit of their own desires.
3 [a]These people provoke me to anger
continually, to my face,
offering sacrifices in gardens
and burning incense on bricks.
4 They live in the midst of tombs
and spend the night in secret places,
eating the flesh of pigs
and filling their plates with unclean food,
5 as they cry out, “Keep away!
Do not touch me,
for I am too sacred for you.”
Such people to me are like choking smoke,
a fire that smolders throughout the day.
6 Their deeds have been inscribed in my memory;
I will not remain silent until I have repaid in full
7 your iniquities and those of your ancestors,
says the Lord.
Since they burned incense on the mountains
and shamed me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
the full payment that their deeds deserve.
Fate of Israel’s Righteous and Unfaithful
8 Thus says the Lord:
As in the harvest of grapes
juice is often still found in the cluster,
and people say, “Do not discard them,
for some good still remains in them,”
so I will act for the sake of my servants
and not destroy them all.
9 From Jacob I will bring forth descendants,
and from Judah those who will inherit my mountains.
My chosen ones will take possession of the land,
and my servants will settle there.
10 Sharon will serve as a pasture for flocks
and the Valley of Achor will be
a resting place for cattle.
11 However, those of you who forsake the Lord
and forget my holy mountain,
who spread a table for Fortune[b]
and fill cups of mixed wine for Fate,
12 I will destine you for the sword,
and all of you will submit to the slaughter,
because, when I called, you did not respond,
and when I spoke, you refused to listen.
Rather, you did what was evil in my sight
and chose to do what displeases me.
13 Therefore, this is what I have decreed,
says the Lord God:
My servants will eat,
but you will go hungry;
my servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty;
my servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame;
14 with gladness in their hearts
my servants will sing for joy,
but you will cry out in heartfelt grief
and wail in your anguish of spirit.
15 The Lord God will strike you dead
and his chosen ones will use your name as a curse,
but he will call his servants by a different name.
16 Then anyone in the land who blesses himself
will bless himself by the God of truth,
and anyone who takes an oath in the land
will swear by the God of truth,
because the troubles of the past will be forgotten
and hidden from my sight.
A Renewed World[c]
17 For behold, I am about to create
new heavens and a new earth.
The past will not be remembered
or ever again called to mind.
18 Rather, rejoice and be filled with delight forever
at what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a delight
and her people as a cause of joy.
19 I will take delight in Jerusalem
and rejoice in my people.
No more will be heard there
the sound of weeping or the cries of distress.
20 Never again will an infant be there
who dies after a few days of life
or an old man who fails to live his allotted days.
For one who dies at the age of one hundred
will be regarded as a youth,
while one who fails to achieve a hundred years
will be considered accursed.[d]
21 They will live in the houses they have built;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will not build houses for others to dwell in
or plant for others to eat.
For the days of my people will be
like the days of a tree,
and my chosen ones will enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain
or bear children destined for calamity.
For they will be offspring blessed by the Lord,
as will their descendants after them.
24 Even before they call out to me,
I will answer;
while they are still speaking,
I will respond.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
but as for the serpent,
its food will be dust.
No harm or destruction will be done
on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:3 Allusions to idolatrous practices. The night spent in secret places refers perhaps to the rite of incubation, during which people awaited revelations through dreams.
- Isaiah 65:11 Fortune: literally, “Gad,” the Aramean god of fortune. Fate: literally, “Meni,” another divinity.
- Isaiah 65:17 The oracle looks beyond a restored Jerusalem to a future time when the prosperity and harmony that marked the beginnings of humankind are to be restored; this prosperity and harmony are expressed in images of paradisal life that were familiar to the ancients. Amid oracles that strike terror, here is a song of indestructible hope: a renewed world is coming in which sin will no longer exist (see also Isa 11:6-9). The Church awaits this new world for all of humanity; the dawn of this world breaks on Easter morning (2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21).
- Isaiah 65:20 Since the prospect of resurrection is still unknown, longevity is seen as a special sign of divine protection.
Isaiah 65
New International Version
Judgment and Salvation
65 “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
I was found by those who did not seek me.(A)
To a nation(B) that did not call on my name,(C)
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
2 All day long I have held out my hands
to an obstinate people,(D)
who walk in ways not good,
pursuing their own imaginations(E)—
3 a people who continually provoke me
to my very face,(F)
offering sacrifices in gardens(G)
and burning incense(H) on altars of brick;
4 who sit among the graves(I)
and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,(J)
and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
5 who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
for I am too sacred(K) for you!’
Such people are smoke(L) in my nostrils,
a fire that keeps burning all day.
6 “See, it stands written before me:
I will not keep silent(M) but will pay back(N) in full;
I will pay it back into their laps(O)—
7 both your sins(P) and the sins of your ancestors,”(Q)
says the Lord.
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
and defied me on the hills,(R)
I will measure into their laps
the full payment(S) for their former deeds.”
8 This is what the Lord says:
“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes(T)
and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
there is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;(U)
I will not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth descendants(V) from Jacob,
and from Judah those who will possess(W) my mountains;
my chosen(X) people will inherit them,
and there will my servants live.(Y)
10 Sharon(Z) will become a pasture for flocks,(AA)
and the Valley of Achor(AB) a resting place for herds,
for my people who seek(AC) me.
11 “But as for you who forsake(AD) the Lord
and forget my holy mountain,(AE)
who spread a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine(AF) for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,(AG)
and all of you will fall in the slaughter;(AH)
for I called but you did not answer,(AI)
I spoke but you did not listen.(AJ)
You did evil in my sight
and chose what displeases me.”(AK)
13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“My servants will eat,(AL)
but you will go hungry;(AM)
my servants will drink,(AN)
but you will go thirsty;(AO)
my servants will rejoice,(AP)
but you will be put to shame.(AQ)
14 My servants will sing(AR)
out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out(AS)
from anguish of heart
and wail in brokenness of spirit.
15 You will leave your name
for my chosen ones to use in their curses;(AT)
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,
but to his servants he will give another name.(AU)
16 Whoever invokes a blessing(AV) in the land
will do so by the one true God;(AW)
whoever takes an oath in the land
will swear(AX) by the one true God.
For the past troubles(AY) will be forgotten
and hidden from my eyes.
New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.(AZ)
The former things will not be remembered,(BA)
nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice(BB) forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem(BC) to be a delight
and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice(BD) over Jerusalem
and take delight(BE) in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying(BF)
will be heard in it no more.
20 “Never again will there be in it
an infant(BG) who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;(BH)
the one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred
will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses(BI) and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.(BJ)
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,(BK)
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,(BL)
so will be the days(BM) of my people;
my chosen(BN) ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,(BO)
nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;(BP)
for they will be a people blessed(BQ) by the Lord,
they and their descendants(BR) with them.
24 Before they call(BS) I will answer;(BT)
while they are still speaking(BU) I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb(BV) will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,(BW)
and dust will be the serpent’s(BX) food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,”(BY)
says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:20 Or the sinner who reaches
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