Isaiah 65

Isaiah 65

The Righteousness of God’s Judgment

1I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,[#Hos 1.10; Rom 10.20]

to be found by those who did not seek me.

I said, “Here I am, here I am,”

to a nation that did not call on my name.

2I held out my hands all day long[#Isa 30.1, 9; 59.7; Rom 10.21]

to a rebellious people,

who walk in a way that is not good,

following their own devices;

3a people who provoke me[#Isa 3.8; 66.3, 17]

to my face continually,

sacrificing in gardens

and offering incense on bricks;

4who sit inside tombs[#Lev 11.7; Isa 66.3, 17]

and spend the night in secret places;

who eat the flesh of pigs,

with broth of abominable things in their vessels;

5who say, “Keep to yourself;[#Mt 9.11; Lk 18.9–12]

do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”

These are a smoke in my nostrils,

a fire that burns all day long.

6See, it is written before me:[#Ps 50.3; 79.12; Jer 16.18]

I will not keep silent, but I will repay;

I will indeed repay into their laps

7their iniquities and their ancestors’ iniquities together, says the Lord ;[#Isa 30.13, 14; 57.7; Jer 5.29; Ezek 20.27, 28; #65.7 Gk Syr: Heb your; #65.7 Gk Syr: Heb your]

because they offered incense on the mountains

and reviled me on the hills,

I will measure into their laps

full payment for their actions.

8Thus says the Lord :

As the wine is found in the cluster,

and they say, “Do not destroy it,

for there is a blessing in it,”

so I will do for my servants’ sake

and not destroy them all.

9I will bring forth descendants from Jacob[#Isa 32.18; 45.19, 25; 49.8; 57.13]

and from Judah inheritors of my mountains;

my chosen shall inherit it,

and my servants shall settle there.

10Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks[#Josh 7.24; Isa 33.9; Hos 2.15]

and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,

for my people who have sought me.

11But you who forsake the Lord ,[#Deut 29.24, 25; Isa 56.7]

who forget my holy mountain,

who set a table for Fortune

and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,

12I will destine you to the sword,[#2 Chr 36.15, 16; Prov 1.24; Isa 34.5, 6; 63.6; Jer 7.13]

and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter;

because, when I called, you did not answer,

when I spoke, you did not listen,

but you did what was evil in my sight

and chose what I did not delight in.

13Therefore thus says the Lord God :[#Isa 1.19; 5.13; 8.21; 41.17, 18; 66.5, 14]

My servants shall eat,

but you shall be hungry;

my servants shall drink,

but you shall be thirsty;

my servants shall rejoice,

but you shall be put to shame;

14my servants shall sing with gladness of heart,[#Mt 8.12; Lk 13.28]

but you shall cry out in pain of heart

and shall wail in anguish of spirit.

15You shall leave your name to my chosen to use as a curse,[#Isa 62.2; Zech 8.13]

and the Lord God will put you to death,

but to his servants he will give a different name.

16Then whoever invokes a blessing in the land[#Ps 31.5; 72.17; Isa 45.23; Jer 31.12]

shall bless by the God of faithfulness,

and whoever takes an oath in the land

shall swear by the God of faithfulness,

because the former troubles are forgotten

and are hidden from my sight.

The Glorious New Creation

17For I am about to create new heavens[#Isa 43.18; 2 Pet 3.13]

and a new earth;

the former things shall not be remembered

or come to mind.

18But be glad and rejoice forever[#Isa 61.10]

in what I am creating,

for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy

and its people as a delight.

19I will rejoice in Jerusalem[#Isa 35.10; 62.5; Rev 7.17]

and delight in my people;

no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it

or the cry of distress.

20No more shall there be in it[#Deut 4.40; Eccl 8.12, 13]

an infant who lives but a few days

or an old person who does not live out a lifetime,

for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,

and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.

21They shall build houses and inhabit them;[#Isa 37.30; Am 9.14]

they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22They shall not build and another inhabit;[#Deut 32.46, 47; Ps 92.12–14; Isa 62.8, 9]

they shall not plant and another eat,

for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,

and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

23They shall not labor in vain[#Isa 55.2; 61.9]

or bear children for calamity,

for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord —

and their descendants as well.

24Before they call I will answer,[#Dan 9.27]

while they are yet speaking I will hear.

25The wolf and the lamb shall feed together;[#Gen 3.14; Isa 11.6, 7, 9]

the lion shall eat straw like the ox,

but the serpent—its food shall be dust!

They shall not hurt or destroy

on all my holy mountain, says the Lord .

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Published by: National Council of the Churches of Christ