Isaiah 66
66
God Will Judge All Nations
1This is what the Lord says:
“The skies are my throne.
The earth is my footstool.
So do you think you can build a house for me?
There is no place where I need to rest.
2My hand made all things.
All things are here because I made them,”
says the Lord.
“These are the people I am pleased with.
They are those who are not proud or stubborn.
They fear me and obey me.
3But those people who kill bulls as a sacrifice to me
are like those who kill men.
Those who kill sheep as a sacrifice to me
are like those who break the necks of dogs.
Those who give me grain offerings
are like those who offer me the blood of pigs.# God did not want his people to offer dogs and pigs as sacrifices because they were unclean animals.
Those who burn incense
are like those who worship idols.
These people choose their own ways—not mine.
They love the terrible things they do.
4So I will punish them.
I will punish them using what they fear most.
I called to them, but they did not listen.
I spoke to them, but they did not hear me.
They did things I said were evil.
They chose to do things I did not like.”
5You people who obey the words of the Lord,
listen to what he says:
“Your brothers hated you.
They turned against you because you followed me.
Your brothers said, ‘When the Lord is honored,
we will come back and rejoice with you.’
But they will be punished.
6Listen to the loud noise coming from the city.
Hear the noise from the Temple.
It is the Lord punishing his enemies.
He is giving them the punishment they should have.
7“A woman does not give birth before she feels the pain.
She does not give birth to a son before she feels the pain of birth.
8No one has ever heard of that happening.
No one has ever seen that happen.
In the same way no one ever saw a country begin in one day.
No one has ever heard of a new nation beginning in one day.
But Jerusalem will give birth to her children
just as soon as she feels the birth pains.
9In the same way I will not cause pain
without allowing something new to be born,” says the Lord.
“If I cause you the pain,
I will not stop you from giving birth to your new nation,” says your God.
10“Jerusalem, rejoice.
All you people who love Jerusalem, be happy.
Those of you who felt sad for Jerusalem
should now feel happy with her.
11You will enjoy her good things and be satisfied
as a child is nursed by its mother.
You will receive her good things
and enjoy her wealth.”
12This is what the Lord says:
“I will give her peace that will flow to her like a river.
The wealth of the nations will come flowing to her.
Like babies you will be nursed and held in my arms.
You will be bounced on my knees.
13I will comfort you
as a mother comforts her child.
You will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
14When you see these things, you will be happy.
You will grow like the grass.
The Lord’s servants will see his power.
But the Lord’s enemies will see his anger.
15Look, the Lord is coming with fire.
The Lord’s armies are coming with clouds of dust.
He will punish those people with his anger.
He will punish them with flames of fire.
16The Lord will judge the people with fire.
He will destroy many people with his sword.
He will kill many people.
17“These people make themselves holy and pure to go to worship their false gods in their gardens. They follow each other into their special gardens. They eat the meat of pigs and rats and other hated things. But they will all be destroyed together,” says the Lord.
18“I know they have evil thoughts and do evil things. So I am coming to punish them. I will gather all nations and all people. All people will come together and see my glory.
19“I will put a mark on some of the people. And I will send some of these saved people to the nations. I will send them to Tarshish, Libya, Lud (the land of archers), Tubal, Greece and all the faraway lands. These people have never heard about what I have done. They have never seen my glory. So the saved people will tell the nations about my glory. 20And they will bring all your fellow Israelites from all nations. They will bring them to my holy mountain in Jerusalem. Your fellow Israelites will come on horses, donkeys, camels and in chariots and wagons. They will be like the grain offerings that the people bring in clean containers to the Temple,” says the Lord. 21“And I will choose some of these people to be priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
22“I will make new heavens and the new earth. And they will last forever,” says the Lord. “In the same way, your names and your children will always be with me. 23All people will come to worship me. They will come to worship me every Sabbath and every New Moon,” says the Lord. 24“They will go out and see the dead bodies of the people who sinned against me. The worms that eat them will never die. The fires that burn them will never stop. And everyone will hate to see those bodies.”
Isaiah 7
Isaiah 8
Isaiah 11
Isaiah 15
Isaiah 21
Isaiah 22
Isaiah 30
Isaiah 38
Isaiah 41
Isaiah 44
Isaiah 48
Isaiah 66
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Isaiah 66: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Isaiah 66
66
Final Judgment and Joyous Restoration
1This is what the Lord says:
Heaven#Ac 7:49–50 is my throne,#Ps 11:4; Mt 5:34–35; 23:22
and earth is my footstool.#1Ch 28:2; Ps 99:5
Where could you possibly build a house for me?
And where would my resting place be?#2Sm 7:5; 1Kg 8:27; Jr 23:24
2My 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,#Ps 86:1; Pr 16:19; Mt 11:29 submissive#66:2 Lit broken in spirit,#Ps 34:18; Mt 5:3; 1Tm 2:11
and trembles at my word.
3One 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.#Am 5:21–25
4So 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.#2Kg 21:2,6; Is 59:7; 65:12; Jr 7:30
5You who tremble at his word,#Ezr 9:4; 10:3
hear the word of the Lord:#Is 28:14
“Your brothers who hate and exclude you
for my name’s sake have said,#Mt 5:10–12; 10:22; Jn 9:34; 15:18–20
‘Let the Lord be glorified
so that we can see your joy!’
But they will be put to shame.”#Is 26:11; 44:9; 65:13
6A sound of uproar from the city!
A voice from the temple —
the voice of the Lord,
paying back his enemies what they deserve!#Is 59:18; 65:6; Jl 3:7
7Before Zion was in labor, she gave birth;
before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.
8Who 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.
10Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her,
all who love her.#Ps 122:6; 137:6; Is 65:18
Rejoice greatly with her,
all who mourn over her —
11so that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her comforting breast
and drink deeply and delight yourselves
from her glorious breasts.
12For this is what the Lord says:
I will make peace flow to her like a river,#Ps 72:3,7; Is 48:18
and the wealth#66:12 Or glory of nations like a flood;#Is 61:6
you will nurse and be carried on her hip#Is 60:4–5
and bounced on her lap.
13As a mother comforts her son,
so I will comfort you,#Ps 86:17; Is 40:1; 49:13; 51:13; 52:9; 2Co 1:3–4
and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.
14You will see, you will rejoice,
and you#66:14 Lit your bones will flourish like grass;#Ps 72:16; Pr 11:28; Is 58:11
then the Lord’s power will be revealed to his servants,
but he will show his wrath against his enemies.
15Look, the Lord will come with fire#Is 33:14; Mal 3:1–2; 2Th 1:7–8; 2Pt 3:7 —
his chariots are like the whirlwind#Ps 68:17; Is 5:28; Hab 3:8 —
to execute his anger with fury
and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16For the Lord will execute judgment
on all humanity#Gn 6:12; Jr 12:12; 25:31; Ezk 20:48; 21:4–5 with his fiery sword,
and many will be slain by the Lord.
17“Those who dedicate and purify themselves to enter the groves#Is 65:3–5 following their leader,#66:17 Hb obscure eating meat from pigs, vermin,#66:17 Lit abhorrent things and rats, will perish together.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
18“Knowing#66:18 LXX, Syr; MT omits Knowing their works and their thoughts, I have come to gather all nations and languages;#Is 45:22–25; Jr 3:17 they will come and see my glory. 19I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations — to Tarshish, Put,#66:19 LXX; MT reads Pul Lud (who are archers), Tubal, Javan,#Gn 10:2,5; 1Kg 10:22; Jr 46:9; Ezk 27:10,13 and the coasts and islands far away — who have not heard about me or seen my glory. And they will proclaim my glory among the nations.#1Ch 16:24; Ps 96:3 20They will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the Lord on horses and chariots, in litters, and on mules and camels, to my holy mountain Jerusalem,”#Ps 2:6; Is 56:7; Ezk 20:40; Jl 3:17 says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21I will also take some of them as priests and Levites,”#Ex 19:6; Is 61:6; 1Pt 2:5,9; Rv 1:6 says the Lord.
22“For just as the new heavens and the new earth,#Is 65:17; Heb 12:26–27; 2Pt 3:13; Rv 21:1
which I will make,
will remain before me” —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
“so your offspring and your name will remain.
23All humanity will come to worship me
from one New Moon to another
and from one Sabbath to another,”
says the Lord.
24“As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me;#Is 1:2; 5:25; 34:3 for their worm#Jb 7:5; Is 14:11 will never die, their fire will never go out,#Mk 9:48 and they will be a horror to all humanity.”#Dn 12:2
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