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.”
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Isaiah 65: GNBUK
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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.
Isaiah 65
65
The Lord’s Response
1“I was sought by those who did not ask;
I was found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’
to a nation that did not call on#65:1 Or that was not called by my name.#Is 63:19; Hs 1:10; Rm 10:20; Jms 2:7
2I spread out my hands all day long
to a rebellious people#Rm 10:21
who walk in the path that is not good,
following their own thoughts.
3These people continually anger me
to my face,
sacrificing in gardens,#Is 1:29; 66:17
burning incense on bricks,
4sitting among the graves,
spending nights in secret places,
eating the meat of pigs,#Lv 11:7; Is 66:3,17
and putting polluted broth in their bowls.#65:3–4 These vv. describe pagan worship.
5They say, ‘Keep to yourself,
don’t come near me, for I am too holy for you!’
These practices are smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all day long.
6Look, it is written in front of me:
I will not keep silent,#Ps 50:3,21; Is 42:14; 64:12 but I will repay;#Jr 16:18
I will repay them fully#65:6 Lit repay into their lap
7for your iniquities and the iniquities#Is 13:11
of your#65:7 LXX, Syr read for their iniquities and the iniquities of their ancestors together,”
says the Lord.
“Because they burned incense on the mountains
and reproached me on the hills,#Ezk 20:27–28; Hs 9:10; Zch 8:14; Mal 3:7
I will reward them fully#65:7 Lit reward into their lap
for their former deeds.”
8The Lord says this:
“As the new wine is found in a bunch of grapes,
and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it,
for there’s some good#65:8 Or there’s a blessing in it,’
so I will act because of my servants
and not destroy them all.
9I will produce descendants from Jacob,#Jr 31:36–37
and heirs to my mountains from Judah;
my chosen#Is 41:8 ones will possess it,
and my servants will dwell there.#Is 49:8; 60:21; Am 9:11–15
10Sharon will be a pasture for flocks,#Is 33:9; 35:2
and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,#Jos 7:26; Hs 2:15
for my people who have sought me.#Is 51:1
11But you who abandon the Lord,
who forget my holy mountain,
who prepare a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,#65:11 Pagan gods
12I will destine you for the sword,
and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered,
because I called and you did not answer,
I spoke and you did not hear;
you did what was evil in my sight
and chose what I did not delight in.”#2Ch 36:15–16; Pr 1:24; Is 41:28; 50:2; 66:4; Jr 7:13
13Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:
“Look! My servants will eat,
but you will be hungry.
Look! My servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty.
Look! My servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame.
14Look! My servants will shout for joy from a glad heart,
but you will cry out from an anguished heart,
and you will lament out of a broken spirit.
15You will leave your name behind
as a curse for my chosen ones,#Jr 24:9; 25:18; Zch 8:13
and the Lord God will kill you;
but he will give his servants another name.#Is 62:2
16Whoever asks for a blessing in the land
will ask for a blessing by the God of truth,#Ps 31:5; 2Co 1:20; Rv 3:7,14
and whoever swears in the land
will swear by the God of truth.
For the former troubles will be forgotten
and hidden from my sight.
A New Creation
17“For I will create new heavens and a new earth;#Is 66:22; 2Pt 3:13; Rv 21:1
the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.
18Then be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight.
19I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people.
The sound of weeping and crying
will no longer be heard in her.#Is 25:8; 30:19; 35:10; 51:11; Rv 7:17; 21:4
20In her, a nursing infant will no longer live
only a few days,#65:20 Lit her, no longer infant of days
or an old man not live out his days.
Indeed, the one who dies at a hundred years old
will be mourned as a young man,#65:20 Lit the youth of a hundred years will die
and the one who misses a hundred years
will be considered cursed.#Ec 8:12–13; Is 3:11; 22:14
21People will build houses and live in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.#Jos 24:13; Is 37:30; Jr 29:5,28; Ezk 28:26; Zph 1:13
22They will not build and others live in them;
they will not plant and others eat.
For my people’s lives will be
like the lifetime of a tree.#Ps 92:12–14
My chosen ones will fully enjoy
the work of their hands.
23They will not labor without success#Dt 28:3–12; Is 55:2
or bear children destined for disaster,
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord
along with their descendants.#Is 61:9
24Even before they call, I will answer;#Ps 91:15; Is 55:6; 58:9; Dn 9:20–23; 10:12
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25The wolf and the lamb will feed together,#65:25 Lit as one
and the lion will eat straw like cattle,#Is 11:6–9
but the serpent’s food will be dust!#Gn 3:14; Mc 7:17
They will not do what is evil or destroy
on my entire holy mountain,”#Is 11:9; 27:13; 56:7
says the Lord.
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