Isaiah 66
66
True Worship
1 #
3 Macc 2.15; Mt 5.34; 23.22;
Mt 5.35. #Ac 7.49,50. The Lord said:
Heaven is my throne;
the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house
could you build for me?
In what place will I rest?
2I have made everything;
that's how it all came to be.#66.2 that's … be: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
The people I treasure most
are the humble—
they depend only on me
and tremble when I speak.
3You sacrifice oxen to me,
and you commit murder;
you sacrifice lambs to me
and dogs to other gods;
you offer grain to me
and pigs' blood to idols;
you burn incense to me
and praise your idols.#66.3 You sacrifice oxen … idols: Or “Sacrificing oxen to me is the same as murder; sacrificing lambs to me is the same as sacrificing dogs to other gods; offering grain to me is the same as offering pigs' blood to idols; and burning incense to me is the same as praising idols.”
You have made your own choice
to do these disgusting things
that you enjoy so much.
4You refused to answer
when I called out;
you paid no attention
to my instructions.
Instead, you did what I hated,
knowing it was wrong.
Now I will punish#66.4 punish: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. you
in a way you dread the most.
The Lord Will Help Jerusalem
5If you tremble
when the Lord speaks,
listen to what he says:
“Some of your own people hate
and reject you because of me.
They make fun and say,
‘Let the Lord show his power!
Let us see him
make you truly happy.’#66.5 Some … happy: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
But those who say these things
will be terribly ashamed.”
6Do you hear that noise
in the city and those shouts
coming from the temple?
It is the Lord shouting
as he punishes his enemies.
7 #
Rev 12.5. Have you ever heard of a woman
who gave birth to a child
before having labor pains?
8Who ever heard of such a thing
or imagined it could happen?
Can a nation be born in a day
or come to life in a second?
Jerusalem is like a mother
who gave birth to her children
as soon as she was in labor.
9The Lord is the one
who makes birth possible.
And he will see that Zion
has many more children.
The Lord has spoken.
10If you love Jerusalem,
celebrate and shout!
If you were in sorrow
because of the city,
you can now be glad.
11She will nurse and comfort you,
just like your own mother,
until you are satisfied.
You will fully enjoy
her wonderful glory.
12The Lord has promised:
“I will flood Jerusalem
with the wealth of nations
and make the city prosper.
Zion will nurse you at her breast,
carry you in her arms,
and hold you in her lap.
13I will comfort you there
like a mother
comforting her child.”
14When you see this happen,
you will celebrate;
your strength will return
faster than grass can sprout.
Then everyone will know
that the Lord provides help
for his servants,
but he is angry
with his enemies.
15The Lord will come down
like a whirlwind
with his flaming chariots.
He will be furiously angry
and punish his enemies
with fire.
16The Lord's fiery sword
will bring justice
everywhere on this earth
and execute many people.
A Threat and a Promise
17Some of you get yourselves ready and go to a garden to worship a foreign goddess.#66.17 Some … goddess: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. You eat the meat of pigs, lizards, and mice. But I, the Lord, will destroy you for this.
18I know everything you do and think! The time has now come#66.18 I … come: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. to bring together the people of every language and nation and to show them my glory 19by proving what I can do.#66.19 by … do: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. I will send the survivors to Tarshish, Pul,#66.19 Pul: Hebrew; one ancient translation “Put,” a country in Africa, but neither the location of Pul or Put is known for certain. Lud, Meshech,#66.19 Meshech: One ancient translation; Hebrew “those who use bows and arrows.” Tubal, Javan,#66.19 Tarshish … Javan: Tarshish may have been a Phoenician city in Spain; Put (see note on Pul) and Lud were African people; Meshech and Tubal were regions south or southeast of the Black Sea; the Javan were people of Asia Minor and the Greek islands. and to the distant islands. I will send them to announce my wonderful glory to nations that have never heard about me.
20They will bring your relatives from the nations as an offering to me, the Lord. They will come to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, on horses, chariots, wagons, mules, and camels.#66.20 camels: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. It will be like the people of Israel bringing the right offering to my temple. 21I promise that some of them will be priests and others will be helpers in my temple. I, the Lord, have spoken.
22 #
Is 65.17; 2 P 3.13; Rev 21.1. I also promise that you will always have descendants and will never be forgotten, just as the new heavens and the new earth that I create will last forever. 23On the first day of each month and on each Sabbath, everyone will worship me. I, the Lord, have spoken.
24 #
Jdt 16.17; Mk 9.48. My people will go out and look at the dead bodies of those who turned against me. The worms there never die, the fire never stops burning, and the sight of those bodies will be disgusting to everyone.
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Isaiah 66: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Yeshayah (Isaiah) 66
66
1Thus said יהוה, “The heavens are My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where is this house that you build for Me? And where is this place of My rest?
2“And all these My hand has made, and all these that exist,” declares יהוה. “Yet to such a one I look: on him who is poor and bruised of spirit, and who trembles at My Word.
3"But whoever slays the bull strikes a man; whoever slaughters the lamb breaks a dog’s neck; whoever brings a grain offering – pig’s blood; whoever burns incense blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways, and their being delights in their abominations.
4“I shall also choose their punishments, and bring their fears on them. Because I called, but no one answered. I spoke and they did not hear, and they did evil before My eyes, and chose what was displeasing to Me.”
5Hear the Word of יהוה, you who tremble at His Word, “Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out for My Name’s sake, said, ‘Let יהוה be esteemed, so that we see your joy.’ But they are put to shame.”
6“A roaring sound from the city, a voice from the Hĕḵal, the voice of יהוה, repaying His enemies!
7“Before she laboured, she gave birth; before a pain came to her, she was delivered of a male child.
8“Who has heard the like of this? Who has seen the like of these? Is a land brought forth in one day? Is a nation born at once? For as soon as Tsiyon laboured, she gave birth to her children.
9“Shall I bring to birth, and not give delivery?” says יהוה. “Shall I who give delivery restrain birth?” said your Elohim.
10“Rejoice with Yerushalayim, and be glad with her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn for her;
11so that you feed, and shall be satisfied with the breast of her comforts, so that you drink deeply, and shall delight yourselves in her overflowing esteem.”
12For thus said יהוה, “See, I am extending peace to her like a river, and the esteem of the nations like a flowing stream. And you shall feed; you shall be carried on the side, and be fondled on her knees.
13“As one whom his mother comforts, so I comfort you. And in Yerushalayim you are comforted.”
14“And you shall see, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones flourish as tender grass. And the hand of יהוה shall be known to His servants, and His displeasure to His enemies.
15“For look, יהוה comes with fire and with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His displeasure with burning, and His rebuke with flames of fire.
16“For by fire and by His sword יהוה shall judge all flesh, and the slain of יהוה shall be many –
17those who set themselves apart and cleanse themselves at the gardens after ‘one’ in the midst, eating flesh of pigs#See Isa. 65:4 and the abomination and the mouse, are snatched away, together,” declares יהוה.
18“And I, because of their works and their imaginations, am coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My esteem.
19“And I shall set a sign among them, and shall send some of those who escape to the nations – Tarshish and Pul and Luḏ, who draw the bow, and Tuḇal and Yawan, the coastlands afar off who have not heard My report nor seen My esteem. And they shall declare My esteem among the nations.
20“And they shall bring all your brothers as an offering to יהוה out of all the nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My set-apart mountain Yerushalayim,” declares יהוה, “as the children of Yisra’ĕl bring an offering in a clean vessel into the House of יהוה.
21“And from them too I shall take for priests – for Lĕwites,” declares יהוה.
22“For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make stand before Me,” declares יהוה, “so your seed and your name shall stand.
23“And it shall be that from New Moon to New Moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath,#Possible meaning: Every week on the Sabbath. all flesh shall come to worship before Me,” declares יהוה.
24“And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me.#See Isa. 24:6; Isa. 34:2, 3; Psa. 110:6; Jer. 25:33 For their worm shall not die, and their fire not be quenched. And they shall be repulsive to all flesh!”
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