Isaiah 65-66

Christian Standard Bible

65 “I was sought by those who did not ask;
I was found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’
to a nation that did not call on^[a] my name.^(A)
2 I spread out my hands all day long
to a rebellious people^(B)
who walk in the path that is not good,
following their own thoughts.
³ These people continually anger me
to my face,
sacrificing in gardens,^(C)
burning incense on bricks,
⁴ sitting among the graves,
spending nights in secret places,
eating the meat of pigs,^(D)
and putting polluted broth in their bowls.^[b]
5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself,
don’t come near me, for I am too holy for you!’
These practices are smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all day long.
⁶ Look, it is written in front of me:
I will not keep silent,^(E) but I will repay;^(F)
I will repay them fully^[c]
7 for your iniquities and the iniquities^(G)
of your^[d] ancestors together,”
says the Lord.
“Because they burned incense on the mountains
and reproached me on the hills,^(H)
I will reward them fully^[e]
for their former deeds.”

“As the new wine is found in a bunch of grapes,
and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it,
for there’s some good^[f] in it,’
so I will act because of my servants
and not destroy them all.
⁹ I will produce descendants from Jacob,^(I)
and heirs to my mountains from Judah;
my chosen^(J) ones will possess it,
and my servants will dwell there.^(K)
10 Sharon will be a pasture for flocks,^(L)
and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,^(M)
for my people who have sought me.^(N)
11 But you who abandon the Lord,
who forget my holy mountain,
who prepare a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,^[g]
12 I will destine you for the sword,
and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered,
because I called and you did not answer,
I spoke and you did not hear;
you did what was evil in my sight
and chose what I did not delight in.”^(O)

“Look! My servants will eat,
but you will be hungry.
Look! My servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty.
Look! My servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame.
¹⁴ Look! My servants will shout for joy from a glad heart,
but you will cry out from an anguished heart,
and you will lament out of a broken spirit.
¹⁵ You will leave your name behind
as a curse for my chosen ones,^(P)
and the Lord God will kill you;
but he will give his servants another name.^(Q)
16 Whoever asks for a blessing in the land
will ask for a blessing by the God of truth,^(R)
and whoever swears in the land
will swear by the God of truth.
For the former troubles will be forgotten
and hidden from my sight.

¹⁷ “For I will create new heavens and a new earth;^(S)
the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.
¹⁸ Then be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight.
¹⁹ I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people.
The sound of weeping and crying
will no longer be heard in her.^(T)
20 In her, a nursing infant will no longer live
only a few days,^[h]
or an old man not live out his days.
Indeed, the one who dies at a hundred years old
will be mourned as a young man,^[i]
and the one who misses a hundred years
will be considered cursed.^(U)
21 People will build houses and live in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.^(V)
22 They will not build and others live in them;
they will not plant and others eat.
For my people’s lives will be
like the lifetime of a tree.^(W)
My chosen ones will fully enjoy
the work of their hands.
²³ They will not labor without success^(X)
or bear children destined for disaster,
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord
along with their descendants.^(Y)
24 Even before they call, I will answer;^(Z)
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
²⁵ The wolf and the lamb will feed together,^[j]
and the lion will eat straw like cattle,^(AA)
but the serpent’s food will be dust!^(AB)
They will not do what is evil or destroy
on my entire holy mountain,”^(AC)
says the Lord.

Heaven^(AD) is my throne,^(AE)
and earth is my footstool.^(AF)
Where could you possibly build a house for me?
And where would my resting place be?^(AG)
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,^(AH) submissive^[k] in spirit,^(AI)
and trembles at my word.
³ One person slaughters an ox, another kills a person;
one person sacrifices a lamb, another breaks a dog’s neck;
one person offers a grain offering, another offers pig’s blood;
one person offers incense, another praises an idol—
all these have chosen their ways
and delight in their abhorrent practices.^(AJ)
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 did not listen;
they did what was evil in my sight
and chose what I did not delight in.^(AK)
5 You who tremble at his word,^(AL)
hear the word of the Lord:^(AM)
“Your brothers who hate and exclude you
for my name’s sake have said,^(AN)
‘Let the Lord be glorified
so that we can see your joy!’
But they will be put to shame.”^(AO)
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!^(AP)
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.^(AQ)
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,^(AR)
and the wealth^[l] of nations like a flood;^(AS)
you will nurse and be carried on her hip^(AT)
and bounced on her lap.
¹³ As a mother comforts her son,
so I will comfort you,^(AU)
and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.
¹⁴ You will see, you will rejoice,
and you^[m] will flourish like grass;^(AV)
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^(AW)—
his chariots are like the whirlwind^(AX)—
to execute his anger with fury
and his rebuke with flames of fire.
¹⁶ For the Lord will execute judgment
on all humanity^(AY) with his fiery sword,
and many will be slain by the Lord.

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