Isaiah 65
65
Chapter 65
Punishment and salvation
1The Lord says,
‘I was ready to answer,
even when my people did not ask me anything.
I showed myself to people
who were not even looking for me.
I said, “Look! Here I am!” to a nation
who did not even use my name to pray.
2All the time, I have been ready to help my people,
even though they turned against me.
But they continue to live in a way that is not good.
They do whatever they want to do.
3They continue to make me angry,
as they insult me without shame.
They offer sacrifices to their idols in their gardens.
They burn incense to them
on altars that are made from bricks.
4They sit among the graves
and they hide in caves. #65:4 They probably did this to worship the spirits of dead people.
They eat meat from pigs.
They use unclean meat to make their soup.
5They say to each other,
“Keep away from me! Do not come near me!
I am too holy for you!”
These people are like smoke in my nose!
They are like a fire that burns all day.’
6The Lord says,
‘Look! I have decided what I will do,
and I have written it down:
I will not keep quiet.
I will punish them completely.
I will give them everything that they deserve,
7as punishment for their sins
and for the sins of their ancestors.
They burned incense to their idols on the mountains,
and they insulted me on the hills.
So I will punish them completely,
as much as they deserve.’
8This is what the Lord says:
‘If grapes still have some juice in them,
someone will say, “Do not destroy them.
There is some juice there that we can use.”
I will do the same thing for my servants.
I will not destroy them all.
9I will cause Jacob's family to have descendants.
There will be people of Judah's family
who will live on my mountains.
The land will belong to the people that I have chosen.
My servants will live there.
10Sharon will become a field where sheep safely eat grass.
Cows will rest in the Valley of Achor.
Those places will belong to my people,
those who want to serve me.
11But punishment will come
to those people who turn away from the Lord.
You forget to worship me on my holy mountain. #65:11 ‘holy mountain’ means Mount Zion, where Solomon built God's temple.
Instead, you prepare food and wine
to offer to your false gods called “Luck” and “Fate”.
12So this will be your fate:
a sword will kill you.
You will all bend down low for someone to kill you.
This will happen because you did not answer me
when I spoke to you.
You did not even listen to my words.
You did evil things against me.
You chose to do things that I would hate.’
13So the Almighty Lord says this:
‘Look! My servants will eat,
but you will be hungry.
Look! My servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty.
Look! My servants will be happy,
but you will be ashamed.
14Yes, my servants will sing with joy
because they are so happy.
But you will cry aloud
because you are so sad.
You will weep
because you are very upset.
15My own people will use your names when they curse others.
The Almighty Lord will kill you,
but he will give to his servants another name.
16People in the land will use the name of the true God,
when they want to say a blessing.
People in the land who want to make a strong promise
will also use the name of the true God.
I will forget the troubles that happened in past years.
I will no longer even think about them.
17Listen! I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
People will not remember what things were like before.
Those thoughts will not be in their minds at all.
18But be happy about what I will create!
Be happy for ever!
I will create Jerusalem as a happy place.
The people who live there will be full of joy.
19And Jerusalem will cause me to be happy.
My people will give me joy.
There will be no noise of people who are weeping.
People will not be sad in Jerusalem again.
20Never again will there be a baby
who only lives for a few days.
Old men will continue to live a long life.
People will live until they are 100 years old
and they will still seem young.
If anyone dies before he is 100 years old,
people will think that God has cursed him.
21My people will build houses
and they will live in them.
They will plant vineyards
and they will eat the fruit from them.
22They will no longer build houses
and then other people live in them.
They will not plant trees
and then other people to eat the fruit.
My people will have long lives,
as long as trees live.
My own people will live to enjoy the things
that they have worked hard to get.
23Their work will not be useless.
They will not give birth to children
who will live in fear.
Instead, the Lord will bless their children.
He will bless them
and their descendants with them.
24Before they call to me for help,
I will answer them.
While they are still praying,
I will hear them.
25At that time,
wolves and lambs will eat together.
Lions will eat straw like cows.
A snake's food will be dirt.
Nothing will hurt or destroy anything else
anywhere on my holy mountain.’
That is what the Lord says. #65:25 See Isaiah 11:1-9. The ‘holy mountain’ is where God rules as king.
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Isaiah 65
65
LXV
1I am sought of them who asked not of me;
I am found of them that sought me not:
I have said: Behold me! behold me!
Unto a nation that was not called by my name.
2I have spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people,
Who walk in a way that was not good, after their own devices.
3A people who provoke me to anger continually to my face,
Sacrificing in the gardens, and burning incense on the tiles:
4Who dwell in the sepulchres, and lodge in the caverns;
Who eat swine’s flesh,
And broth of abominable meats is in their vessels;
5Who say: Keep by thyself; come not near to me, for I am holier than thou.
These are a smoke in my nose,
A fire that burneth all the day long.
6Behold I it is written before me:
I will not keep silence, but I will surely recompense,
Even recompense into their bosom,
7Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith Jehovah;
For that they have burnt incense on the mountains, and dishonoured me upon the hills;
Yea, I will measure the reward of their former work into their bosom.
8Thus saith Jehovah:
As when new wine is found in a cluster of grapes,
And one saith: Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it:
So will I do for my servants’ sakes; I will not destroy the whole.
9For I will cause to go forth from Jacob a seed,
And from Judah an inheritor of my mountains;
And my chosen shall inherit it,
And my servants shall dwell there.
10And Sharon shall be a fold for the flocks,
And the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in,
For my people that have sought me.
11But ye, who have deserted Jehovah,
And have forgotten my holy mountain;
Who set in order a table for Gad,
And fill out a libation for Meni:
12You will I number out to the sword,
And all of you shall bow down to the slaughter:
Because, when I called, ye did not answer;
When I spake, ye did not hear:
But ye did that which was evil in my sight,
And did choose that wherein I delighted not.
13Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah:
Behold! my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry;
Behold! my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty;
Behold! my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed:
14Behold! my servants shall sing aloud for gladness of heart;
But ye shall cry aloud for sorrow of heart;
And ye Shall howl through the anguish of a broken spirit.
15And ye shall leave your name for an execration unto my chosen;
For the Lord Jehovah shall slay thee,
And call his servants by another name.
16Whoso blesseth himself upon the earth,
Shall bless himself by the God of truth;
And whoso sweareth upon the earth,
Shall swear by the God of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they ore hidden from mine eyes.
17For behold! I create new heavens, and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered,
Nor come into mind.
18But ye shall rejoice and exult for ever in that which I create;
For behold! I create Jerusalem an exultation,
And her people a joy.
19And I will exult in Jerusalem,
And rejoice in my people;
And there shall no more be heard in her The voice of weeping,
Nor the voice of a distressful cry.
20There shall be no more thence an infant of days,
Nor an old man that hath not fulfilled his days;
For he that dieth an hundred years old shall die a youth;
And he that falleth short of an hundred years shall be held accursed.
21And they shall build houses, and shall inhabit them;
And they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
22They shall not build, and another inhabit;
They shall not plant, and another eat:
For as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people,
And my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23They shall not labour in vain,
Nor bring forth children for instant death;
For they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah;
And their offspring shall be with them.
24And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer;
And while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox:
But as for the serpent, dust shall be his food.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,
Saith Jehovah.
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.