Isaiah 65
65
All People Will Learn About God
1The Lord says, “I made myself known to people who were not looking for me.
I was found by those who were not asking me for help.
I spoke to a nation that was not praying to me.
I said, ‘Here I am. Here I am.’
2All day long I stood ready to accept
people who turned against me.
But the way they continue to live is not good.
They do anything they want to do.
3Right in front of me they continue
to do things that make me angry.
They offer sacrifices to their false gods in their gardens.
They burn incense on altars of brick.
4They sit among the graves.
They spend their nights waiting to get messages from the dead.
They eat the meat of pigs.
Their pots are full of soup made from meat that is wrong to eat.
5But they tell others, ‘Stay away. Don’t come near me.
I am too holy for you.’
These people are like smoke in my nose.
Like a fire that burns all the time, they continue to make me angry.
6“Look, it is written here before me.
I will not be quiet. Instead, I will repay you in full.
I will punish you for what you have done.
7I will punish you for your sins and your ancestors’ sins,”
says the Lord.
“They burned incense to false gods on the mountains.
They shamed me on those hills.
So I will punish them as they should be punished
for what they did.”
8This is what the Lord says:
“When there is juice left in the grapes,
people do not destroy them.
They know there is good left in them.
I will do the same thing to my servants.
I will not completely destroy them.
9I will leave some of the children of Jacob.
Some of the people of Judah will receive my mountain.
I will choose the people who will live there.
My servants will live there.
10Then the Plain of Sharon will be a field for sheep.
The Valley of Achor will be a place for cattle to rest.
They will be for the people who want to follow me.
11“But you who left the Lord will be punished.
You forgot about my holy mountain.
You worship the false god Luck.
You hold religious feasts for the false god Fate.
12But I decide your fate, and I will punish you with my sword.
You will all be killed.
This is because I called you, but you refused to answer.
I spoke to you, but you wouldn’t listen.
You did the things I said were evil.
You chose to do things that displease me.”
13So the Lord God said these things:
“My servants will eat.
But you evil people will be hungry.
My servants will drink.
But you evil people will be thirsty.
My servants will be happy.
But you evil people will be shamed.
14My servants will shout for joy
because of the goodness of their hearts.
But you evil people will cry,
because you will be sad.
You will cry loudly because your spirits will be broken.
15Your names will be like curses to my servants.
And the Lord God will put you to death.
But he will call his servants by another name.
16People in the land who ask for blessings
will ask for them from the faithful God.
People in the land who make a promise
will promise in the name of the faithful God.
This is because the troubles of the past will be forgotten.
I will make those troubles go away.
A New Time Is Coming
17“Look, I will make new heavens and a new earth.
And people will not remember the past.
They will not think about those things.
18My people will be happy forever
because of the things I will make.
I will make a Jerusalem that is full of joy.
And I will make her people a delight.
19Then I will rejoice over Jerusalem.
I will be delighted with my people.
There will never again be
crying and sadness in that city.
20There will never be a baby from that city
who lives only a few days.
And there will never be an older person
who doesn’t have a long life.
A person who lives 100 years will be called young.
And the person who dies before he is 100 will be thought of as a sinner.
21In that city the person who builds a house will live there.
The person who plants vineyards will get to eat grapes.
22No more will one person build a house and someone else live there.
One person will not plant a garden and someone else eat its fruit.
My people will live a long time
as trees live long.
My chosen people will live there
and enjoy the things they make.
23People will never again work for nothing.
They will never again give birth to children who die young.
All my people will be blessed by the Lord.
My people and their children will be blessed.
24I will provide for their needs before they ask.
I will help them while they are still asking for help.
25Wolves and lambs will eat together in peace.
Lions will eat hay like oxen.
A snake on the ground will not hurt anyone.
They will not hurt or destroy each other
on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
Currently Selected:
Isaiah 65: ICB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Isaiah 65
65
God's Punishment of the Rebellious
1 #
Rom 10.20
The LORD said, “I was ready to answer my people's prayers, but they did not pray. I was ready for them to find me, but they did not even try. The nation did not pray to me, even though I was always ready to answer, ‘Here I am; I will help you.’ 2#Rom 10.21I have always been ready to welcome my people, who stubbornly do what is wrong and go their own way. 3They shamelessly keep on making me angry. They offer pagan sacrifices in sacred gardens#65.3 sacred gardens: See 1.29. and burn incense on pagan altars. 4At night they go to caves and tombs to consult the spirits of the dead. They eat pork and drink broth made from meat offered in pagan sacrifices. 5And then they say to others, ‘Keep away from us; we are too holy for you to touch!’ I cannot stand people like that — my anger against them is like a fire that never goes out.
6“I have already decided on their punishment, and their sentence is written down. I will not overlook what they have done, but will repay them 7for their sins and the sins of their ancestors. They have burnt incense at pagan hill shrines and spoken evil of me. So I will punish them as their past deeds deserve.”
8The LORD says, “No one destroys good grapes; instead, they make wine with them. Neither will I destroy all my people — I will save those who serve me. 9I will bless the Israelites who belong to the tribe of Judah, and their descendants will possess my land of mountains. My chosen people, who serve me, will live there. 10#Josh 7.24–26They will worship me and will lead their sheep and cattle to pasture in the Plain of Sharon in the west and in the Valley of Trouble in the east.
11“But it will be different for you that forsake me, who ignore Zion, my sacred hill,#65.11; 65.25 sacred hill: See 2.3. and worship Gad and Meni, the gods of luck and fate. 12It will be your fate to die a violent death, because you did not answer when I called you or listen when I spoke. You chose to disobey me and do evil. 13And so I tell you that those who worship and obey me will have plenty to eat and drink, but you will be hungry and thirsty. They will be happy, but you will be disgraced. 14They will sing for joy, but you will cry with a broken heart. 15My chosen people will use your name as a curse. I, the Sovereign LORD, will put you to death. But I will give a new name to those who obey me. 16Anyone in the land who asks for a blessing will ask to be blessed by the Faithful God. Whoever takes an oath will swear by the name of the Faithful God. The troubles of the past will be gone and forgotten.”
The New Creation
17 #
Is 66.22; 2 Pet 3.13; Rev 21.1 The LORD says, “I am making a new earth and new heavens. The events of the past will be completely forgotten. 18Be glad and rejoice for ever in what I create. The new Jerusalem I make will be full of joy, and her people will be happy. 19#Rev 21.4I myself will be filled with joy because of Jerusalem and her people. There will be no weeping there, no calling for help. 20Babies will no longer die in infancy, and all people will live out their life span. Those who live to be a hundred will be considered young. To die before that would be a sign that I had punished them. 21-22People will build houses and live in them themselves — they will not be used by someone else. They will plant vineyards and enjoy the wine — it will not be drunk by others. Like trees, my people will live long lives. They will fully enjoy the things that they have worked for. 23The work they do will be successful, and their children will not meet with disaster. I will bless them and their descendants for all time to come. 24Even before they finish praying to me, I will answer their prayers. 25#Is 11.6–9Wolves and lambs will eat together; lions will eat straw, as cattle do, and snakes will no longer be dangerous. On Zion, my sacred hill,#65.25; 65.11 sacred hill: See 2.3. there will be nothing harmful or evil.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.