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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Isaiah 66: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Isaiah 66
66
1This is what the Lord says:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Could you build me a temple as good as that?
Could you build me such a resting place?
2My hands have made both heaven and earth;
they and everything in them are mine.#66:2 As in Greek, Latin, and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads these things are.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
“I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts,
who tremble at my word.
3But those who choose their own ways—
delighting in their detestable sins—
will not have their offerings accepted.
When such people sacrifice a bull,
it is no more acceptable than a human sacrifice.
When they sacrifice a lamb,
it’s as though they had sacrificed a dog!
When they bring an offering of grain,
they might as well offer the blood of a pig.
When they burn frankincense,
it’s as if they had blessed an idol.
4I will send them great trouble—
all the things they feared.
For when I called, they did not answer.
When I spoke, they did not listen.
They deliberately sinned before my very eyes
and chose to do what they know I despise.”
5Hear this message from the Lord,
all you who tremble at his words:
“Your own people hate you
and throw you out for being loyal to my name.
‘Let the Lord be honored!’ they scoff.
‘Be joyful in him!’
But they will be put to shame.
6What is all the commotion in the city?
What is that terrible noise from the Temple?
It is the voice of the Lord
taking vengeance against his enemies.
7“Before the birth pains even begin,
Jerusalem gives birth to a son.
8Who has ever seen anything as strange as this?
Who ever heard of such a thing?
Has a nation ever been born in a single day?
Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment?
But by the time Jerusalem’s#66:8 Hebrew Zion’s. birth pains begin,
her children will be born.
9Would I ever bring this nation to the point of birth
and then not deliver it?” asks the Lord.
“No! I would never keep this nation from being born,”
says your God.
10“Rejoice with Jerusalem!
Be glad with her, all you who love her
and all you who mourn for her.
11Drink deeply of her glory
even as an infant drinks at its mother’s comforting breasts.”
12This is what the Lord says:
“I will give Jerusalem a river of peace and prosperity.
The wealth of the nations will flow to her.
Her children will be nursed at her breasts,
carried in her arms, and held on her lap.
13I will comfort you there in Jerusalem
as a mother comforts her child.”
14When you see these things, your heart will rejoice.
You will flourish like the grass!
Everyone will see the Lord’s hand of blessing on his servants—
and his anger against his enemies.
15See, the Lord is coming with fire,
and his swift chariots roar like a whirlwind.
He will bring punishment with the fury of his anger
and the flaming fire of his hot rebuke.
16The Lord will punish the world by fire
and by his sword.
He will judge the earth,
and many will be killed by him.
17“Those who ‘consecrate’ and ‘purify’ themselves in a sacred garden with its idol in the center—feasting on pork and rats and other detestable meats—will come to a terrible end,” says the Lord.
18“I can see what they are doing, and I know what they are thinking. So I will gather all nations and peoples together, and they will see my glory. 19I will perform a sign among them. And I will send those who survive to be messengers to the nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans#66:19a As in some Greek manuscripts, which read Put [that is, Libya]; Hebrew reads Pul. and Lydians#66:19b Hebrew Lud. (who are famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece,#66:19c Hebrew Javan. and to all the lands beyond the sea that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. There they will declare my glory to the nations. 20They will bring the remnant of your people back from every nation. They will bring them to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord. They will ride on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the Lord. 21“And I will appoint some of them to be my priests and Levites. I, the Lord, have spoken!
22“As surely as my new heavens and earth will remain,
so will you always be my people,
with a name that will never disappear,”
says the Lord.
23“All humanity will come to worship me
from week to week
and from month to month.
24And as they go out, they will see
the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me.
For the worms that devour them will never die,
and the fire that burns them will never go out.
All who pass by
will view them with utter horror.”
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