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
1 #
Rom 10.20-21. I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me;
I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here am I, here am I,”
to a nation that did not call on my name.
2I spread out my hands all the day
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices;
3a people who provoke me
to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
and burning incense upon bricks;
4who sit in tombs,
and spend the night in secret places;
who eat swine's flesh,
and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
5who say, “Keep to yourself,
do not come near me, for I am set apart from you.”
These are a smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all the day.
6Behold, it is written before me:
“I will not keep silent, but I will repay,
yea, I will repay into their bosom
7their#65.7 Gk Syr: Heb your iniquities and their#65.7 Gk Syr: Heb your fathers' iniquities together,
says the Lord;
because they burned incense upon the mountains
and reviled me upon the hills,
I will measure into their bosom
payment for their former doings.”
8Thus says the Lord:
“As the wine is found in the cluster,
and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,
for there is a blessing in it,’
so I will do for my servants' sake,
and not destroy them all.
9I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
and from Judah inheritors of my mountains;
my chosen shall inherit it,
and my servants shall dwell there.
10Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks,
and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
for my people who have sought me.
11But you who forsake the Lord,
who forget my holy mountain,
who set a table for Fortune
and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny;
12I will destine you to the sword,
and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter;
because, when I called, you did not answer,
when I spoke, you did not listen,
but you did what was evil in my eyes,
and chose what I did not delight in.”
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 put to shame;
14behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart,
but you shall cry out for pain of heart,
and shall wail for anguish of spirit.
15You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse,
and the Lord God will slay you;
but his servants he will call by a different name.
16So that he who blesses himself in the land
shall bless himself by the God of truth,
and he who takes an oath in the land
shall swear by the God of truth;
because the former troubles are forgotten
and are hid from my eyes.
17 #
Is 66.22; 2 Pet 3.13; Rev 21.1. “For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth;
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
18But be glad and rejoice for ever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing,
and her people a joy.
19I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
20No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the child shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21They 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 another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23They shall not labor in vain,
or bear children for calamity;#65.23 Or sudden terror
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their children with them.
24Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 #
Is 11.6-9. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
and dust shall be the serpent's food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.”
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America