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The Lord Answers His People’s Prayer

65 I was ready to answer those who didn’t ask.
    I was found by those who weren’t looking for me.
    I said, “Here I am! Here I am!”
        to a nation that didn’t worship me.
I stretched out my hands all day long to stubborn people.
    They chose to go the wrong direction.
    They followed their own plans.
These people constantly and openly provoked me.
    They offered sacrifices in gardens
        and burnt incense on brick altars.
They sat among the graves and spent their nights in caves.
    They ate pork and in their pots made broth from unclean foods.
They said, “Stay away! Don’t touch me!
    I’m holier than you are.”
    They have become like smoke in my nose,
        like a smoldering fire all day long.

“Look! It is written in front of me.

    I will not be silent, but I will repay.
    I will repay you in full.
I will repay you for your sins
    and for the sins of your ancestors,” says Yahweh.
    They burnt incense on the mountains and slandered me on the hills,
    so I will be the first to pay them back in full.

This is what Yahweh says:

When someone finds juice for new wine in a cluster of grapes,
    another person will say,
        “Don’t destroy it, because there’s a blessing in it.”
    In the same way, I will do this for my servants:
    I will not destroy everything.
I will bring with me Jacob’s descendant,
    one who will inherit my mountains from Judah.
        My chosen ones will inherit them.
        My servants will live there.
10 The Sharon Plain will be a pasture for flocks.
    The Achor Valley will be a resting place for cattle
    and for my people who search for me.
11 You have abandoned Yahweh
    and forgotten my holy mountain.
    You have prepared a table for the god of good fortune
    and offered cups full of spiced wine to the goddess of destiny.
12 Now I will destine you for death.
    All of you will bow to be slaughtered.
        I called, but you didn’t answer.
        I spoke, but you didn’t listen.
            You did what I consider evil.
            You chose what I don’t like.

13 This is what Adonay Yahweh says:

My servants will eat, but you will be hungry.
    My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty.
    My servants will be glad, but you will be ashamed.
14 My servants will sing because of the gladness in their hearts.
    But you will cry because of your sadness
        and wail because of your depression.
15 Your name will be used as a curse by my chosen ones.
    Adonay Yahweh will kill you
        and call his servants by another name.
16 Whoever asks for a blessing in the land
    will be blessed by the God of Truth.
    Whoever swears an oath in the land
    will swear by the God of Truth.
        Past troubles are forgotten.
        They are hidden from my eyes.

17 I will create a new heaven and a new earth.
    Past things will not be remembered.
    They will not come to mind.
18 Be glad, and rejoice forever in what I’m going to create,
    because I’m going to create Jerusalem to be a delight
        and its people to be a joy.
19 I will rejoice about Jerusalem and be glad about my people.
    Screaming and crying will no longer be heard in the city.
20 There will no longer be an infant who lives for only a few days
    or an old man who doesn’t live a long life.
    Whoever lives to be a hundred years old will be thought of as young.
    Whoever dies before he is a hundred years old will be cursed as a sinner.
21 They will build houses and live there.
    They will plant vineyards and eat fruit from them.
22 They will not build homes and have others live there.
    They will not plant and have others eat from it.
        My people will live as long as trees,
            and my chosen ones will enjoy what they’ve done.
23 They will never again work for nothing.
    They will never again give birth to children who die young,
        because they will be offspring blessed by Yahweh.
            The Lord will bless their descendants as well.
24 Before they call, I will answer.
    While they’re still speaking, I will hear.
25 Wolves and lambs will feed together,
    lions will eat straw like oxen,
        and dust will be food for snakes.
    “They will not hurt or destroy anyone anywhere on my holy mountain,”
    says Yahweh.

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.’
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)
a people who continually provoke me
    to my very face,(F)
offering sacrifices in gardens(G)
    and burning incense(H) on altars of brick;
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;
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.

“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)
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.”

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.
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

  1. Isaiah 65:20 Or the sinner who reaches