Isaiah 65
65
The Righteousness of God’s Judgment
1“I was #Rom. 9:24; 10:20sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’
To a nation that #Is. 63:19was not called by My name.
2#Rom. 10:21I have stretched out My hands all day long to a #Is. 1:2, 23rebellious people,
Who #Is. 42:24walk in a way that is not good,
According to their own thoughts;
3A people #Deut. 32:21who provoke Me to anger continually to My face;
#Is. 1:29Who sacrifice in gardens,
And burn incense on altars of brick;
4#Deut. 18:11Who sit among the graves,
And spend the night in the tombs;
#Lev. 11:7; Is. 66:17Who eat swine’s flesh,
And the broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
5#Matt. 9:11; Luke 7:39; 18:9–12Who say, ‘Keep to yourself,
Do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!’
These are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.
6“Behold, #Deut. 32:34it is written before Me:
#Ps. 50:3I will not keep silence, #Ps. 79:12but will repay—
Even repay into their bosom—
7Your iniquities and #Ex. 20:5the iniquities of your fathers together,”
Says the Lord,
#Ezek. 18:6“Who have burned incense on the mountains
#Is. 57:7; Ezek. 20:27, 28And blasphemed Me on the hills;
Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”
8Thus says the Lord:
“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it,
For #Joel 2:14a blessing is in it,’
So will I do for My servants’ sake,
That I may not destroy them #Is. 1:9; Amos 9:8, 9all.
9I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
And from Judah an heir of My mountains;
My #Matt. 24:22elect shall inherit it,
And My servants shall dwell there.
10#Is. 33:9Sharon shall be a fold of flocks,
And #Josh. 7:24; Hos. 2:15the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
For My people who have #Is. 55:6sought Me.
11“But you are those who forsake the Lord,
Who forget #Is. 56:7My holy mountain,
Who prepare #Ezek. 23:41; (1 Cor. 10:21)a table for Gad,
And who furnish a drink offering for Meni.
12Therefore I will number you for the sword,
And you shall all bow down to the slaughter;
#2 Chr. 36:15, 16; Prov. 1:24; Is. 41:28; 50:2; 66:4; Jer. 7:13Because, when I called, you did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not hear,
But did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight.”
13Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, My servants shall eat,
But you shall be hungry;
Behold, My servants shall drink,
But you shall be thirsty;
Behold, My servants shall rejoice,
But you shall be ashamed;
14Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart,
But you shall cry for sorrow of heart,
And #Matt. 8:12; Luke 13:28wail for grief of spirit.
15You shall leave your name #Jer. 29:22; Zech. 8:13as a curse to #Is. 65:9, 22My chosen;
For the Lord God will slay you,
And #(Acts 11:26)call His servants by another name;
16#Ps. 72:17; Jer. 4:2So that he who blesses himself in the earth
Shall bless himself in the God of truth;
And #Deut. 6:13; Zeph. 1:5he who swears in the earth
Shall swear by the God of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My eyes.
The Glorious New Creation
17“For behold, I create #Is. 51:16; 66:22; (2 Pet. 3:13); Rev. 21:1new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
19#Is. 62:4, 5I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in My people;
The #Is. 35:10; 51:11; Rev. 7:17; 21:4voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her,
Nor the voice of crying.
20“No more shall an infant from there live but a few days,
Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days;
For the child shall die one hundred years old,
#Eccl. 8:12, 13; Is. 3:11; 22:14But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.
21#Ezek. 28:26; 45:4; Hos. 11:11; Amos 9:14They shall build houses and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22They shall not build and another inhabit;
They shall not plant and #Is. 62:8, 9another eat;
For #Ps. 92:12as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people,
And #Is. 65:9, 15My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23They shall not labor in vain,
#Hos. 9:12Nor bring forth children for trouble;
For #Is. 61:9; (Jer. 32:38, 39; Acts 2:39)they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord,
And their offspring with them.
24“It shall come to pass
That #Ps. 91:15; Is. 58:9before they call, I will answer;
And while they are still speaking, I will #Is. 30:19; Dan. 9:20–23hear.
25The #Is. 11:6–9wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
The lion shall eat straw like the ox,
#Gen. 3:14; Mic. 7:17And dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,”
Says the Lord.
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Isaiah 65: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 65
65
Judgment and Final Salvation
1The Lord says,
“I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help.
I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’
to a nation that did not call on my name.#65:1 Or to a nation that did not bear my name.
2All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people.#65:1-2 Greek version reads I was found by people who were not looking for me. / I showed myself to those who were not asking for me. / All day long I opened my arms to them, / but they were disobedient and rebellious. Compare Rom 10:20-21.
But they follow their own evil paths
and their own crooked schemes.
3All day long they insult me to my face
by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens.
They burn incense on pagan altars.
4At night they go out among the graves,
worshiping the dead.
They eat the flesh of pigs
and make stews with other forbidden foods.
5Yet they say to each other,
‘Don’t come too close or you will defile me!
I am holier than you!’
These people are a stench in my nostrils,
an acrid smell that never goes away.
6“Look, my decree is written out#65:6 Or their sins are written out; Hebrew reads it stands written. in front of me:
I will not stand silent;
I will repay them in full!
Yes, I will repay them—
7both for their own sins
and for those of their ancestors,”
says the Lord.
“For they also burned incense on the mountains
and insulted me on the hills.
I will pay them back in full!
8“But I will not destroy them all,”
says the Lord.
“For just as good grapes are found among a cluster of bad ones
(and someone will say, ‘Don’t throw them all away—
some of those grapes are good!’),
so I will not destroy all Israel.
For I still have true servants there.
9I will preserve a remnant of the people of Israel#65:9 Hebrew remnant of Jacob. See note on 14:1.
and of Judah to possess my land.
Those I choose will inherit it,
and my servants will live there.
10The plain of Sharon will again be filled with flocks
for my people who have searched for me,
and the valley of Achor will be a place to pasture herds.
11“But because the rest of you have forsaken the Lord
and have forgotten his Temple,
and because you have prepared feasts to honor the god of Fate
and have offered mixed wine to the god of Destiny,
12now I will ‘destine’ you for the sword.
All of you will bow down before the executioner.
For when I called, you did not answer.
When I spoke, you did not listen.
You deliberately sinned—before my very eyes—
and chose to do what you know I despise.”
13Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“My servants will eat,
but you will starve.
My servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty.
My servants will rejoice,
but you will be sad and ashamed.
14My servants will sing for joy,
but you will cry in sorrow and despair.
15Your name will be a curse word among my people,
for the Sovereign Lord will destroy you
and will call his true servants by another name.
16All who invoke a blessing or take an oath
will do so by the God of truth.
For I will put aside my anger
and forget the evil of earlier days.
17“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,
and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
18Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!
And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness.
Her people will be a source of joy.
19I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and delight in my people.
And the sound of weeping and crying
will be heard in it no more.
20“No longer will babies die when only a few days old.
No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life.
No longer will people be considered old at one hundred!
Only the cursed will die that young!
21In those days people will live in the houses they build
and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.
22Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses
and confiscate their vineyards.
For my people will live as long as trees,
and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains.
23They will not work in vain,
and their children will not be doomed to misfortune.
For they are people blessed by the Lord,
and their children, too, will be blessed.
24I will answer them before they even call to me.
While they are still talking about their needs,
I will go ahead and answer their prayers!
25The wolf and the lamb will feed together.
The lion will eat hay like a cow.
But the snakes will eat dust.
In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
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