Isaiah 65
65
All People Will Learn About God
1“I helped people who had not come to me for advice. Those who found me were not looking for me.#65:1 I helped … me Or “I was ready to answer those who did not come to me for advice. I was ready to be found by those who did not look for me.” I spoke to a nation that does not use my name. I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’
2“All day long I stood ready to accept those who turned against me. But they kept doing whatever they wanted to do, and all they did was wrong. 3They keep doing things, right in front of me, that make me angry. They offer sacrifices and burn incense in their special gardens.#65:3 special gardens Gardens where people worshiped false gods. 4They sit among the graves, waiting to get messages from the dead. They eat the meat of pigs, and their pots are full of soup made from unclean meat. 5But they tell others, ‘Don’t come near me! Don’t touch me because I am holy!’ They are like smoke in my eyes, and their fire burns all the time.”
Israel Must Be Punished
6“Look, here is a letter that lists all your sins. I will not be quiet until I pay you back for these sins. I will do it by punishing you. 7I, the Lord, am doing this because of your sins and the sins of your ancestors. They did these sins when they burned incense in the mountains. They shamed me on those hills, and I punished them first.”
8The Lord says, “When there is new wine in the grapes, people squeeze out the wine. But they don’t completely destroy the grapes because the grapes can still be used. I will do the same thing to my servants. I will not destroy them completely. 9I will keep some of the people of Jacob. Some of the people of Judah will get my mountains. I will choose the people who will get the land. My servants will live there. 10Then Sharon Valley will be a field for sheep. The Valley of Achor#65:10 Valley of Achor A valley about ten miles north of Jerusalem. will be a place for cattle to rest. All this will be for my people—for the people who come to me for help.
11“But you people left the Lord, so you will be punished. You forgot about my holy mountain.#65:11 my holy mountain Mount Zion, the mountain Jerusalem is built on. You began to worship Luck. You held feasts for the false god, Fate.#65:11 Luck … Fate Two false gods. The people thought these gods controlled their futures. 12But I decided what would happen to you: you will be killed with a sword. You will all be killed because I called to you, but you refused to answer me. I spoke to you, but you would not listen. You did what I said is evil and chose to do what I did not like.”
13So this is what the Lord GOD says:
“My servants will eat,
but you evil people will be hungry.
My servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty.
My servants will be happy,
but you will suffer shame.
14My servants will shout for joy,
but you will cry out in pain.#65:14 My servants … pain Literally, “My servants will rejoice with good hearts, and you will scream with painful hearts.”
Your spirits will be broken,
and you will be very sad.
15Your names will be like curses to my chosen servants.”
The Lord GOD will kill you,
and then he will call his servants by a new name.
16The Lord says, “People now ask blessings from the earth.
But in the future they will ask blessings from the faithful God.
People now trust in the power of the earth when they make a promise.
But in the future they will trust in the God who is faithful.
That’s because the troubles in the past will all be forgotten.
They will be hidden from my sight.”
A New Time Is Coming
17“I am creating a new heaven and a new earth.
The troubles of the past will be forgotten.
No one will remember them.
18My people will be happy and rejoice forever and ever
because of what I will make.
I will make a Jerusalem that is full of joy,
and I will make her people happy.
19“Then I will rejoice with Jerusalem.
I will be happy with my people.
There will never again be crying
and sadness in that city.
20In that city there will never be a baby who lives only a few days,
and every older person will live for a long, long time.
A person who lives 100 years will be called young.
And whoever doesn’t live that long will be considered cursed.
21“In that city whoever builds a house will live there;
whoever plants a vineyard will eat the grapes from that garden.
22Never again will one person build a house
and another person live there.
Never again will one person plant a garden
and another eat the fruit from it.
My people will live as long as the trees.
My chosen people will get full use of whatever they make.
23Never again will a woman suffer childbirth
and have her baby die.
Women will not fear childbirth.
I, the Lord, will bless all my people and their children.
24I will answer them before they call for help.
I will help them before they finish asking.
25Wolves and little lambs will eat together.
Lions will eat hay like cattle,
and snakes will eat only dust.
They will not hurt or destroy each other on my holy mountain.”
This is what the Lord said.
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Isaiah 65: ERV
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Isaiah 65
65
Judgment and Final Salvation
1The Lord says,
“I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help.
I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’
to a nation that did not call on my name.#65:1 Or to a nation that did not bear my name.
2All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people.#65:1-2 Greek version reads I was found by people who were not looking for me. / I showed myself to those who were not asking for me. / All day long I opened my arms to them, / but they were disobedient and rebellious. Compare Rom 10:20-21.
But they follow their own evil paths
and their own crooked schemes.
3All day long they insult me to my face
by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens.
They burn incense on pagan altars.
4At night they go out among the graves,
worshiping the dead.
They eat the flesh of pigs
and make stews with other forbidden foods.
5Yet they say to each other,
‘Don’t come too close or you will defile me!
I am holier than you!’
These people are a stench in my nostrils,
an acrid smell that never goes away.
6“Look, my decree is written out#65:6 Or their sins are written out; Hebrew reads it stands written. in front of me:
I will not stand silent;
I will repay them in full!
Yes, I will repay them—
7both for their own sins
and for those of their ancestors,”
says the Lord.
“For they also burned incense on the mountains
and insulted me on the hills.
I will pay them back in full!
8“But I will not destroy them all,”
says the Lord.
“For just as good grapes are found among a cluster of bad ones
(and someone will say, ‘Don’t throw them all away—
some of those grapes are good!’),
so I will not destroy all Israel.
For I still have true servants there.
9I will preserve a remnant of the people of Israel#65:9 Hebrew remnant of Jacob. See note on 14:1.
and of Judah to possess my land.
Those I choose will inherit it,
and my servants will live there.
10The plain of Sharon will again be filled with flocks
for my people who have searched for me,
and the valley of Achor will be a place to pasture herds.
11“But because the rest of you have forsaken the Lord
and have forgotten his Temple,
and because you have prepared feasts to honor the god of Fate
and have offered mixed wine to the god of Destiny,
12now I will ‘destine’ you for the sword.
All of you will bow down before the executioner.
For when I called, you did not answer.
When I spoke, you did not listen.
You deliberately sinned—before my very eyes—
and chose to do what you know I despise.”
13Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“My servants will eat,
but you will starve.
My servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty.
My servants will rejoice,
but you will be sad and ashamed.
14My servants will sing for joy,
but you will cry in sorrow and despair.
15Your name will be a curse word among my people,
for the Sovereign Lord will destroy you
and will call his true servants by another name.
16All who invoke a blessing or take an oath
will do so by the God of truth.
For I will put aside my anger
and forget the evil of earlier days.
17“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,
and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
18Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!
And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness.
Her people will be a source of joy.
19I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and delight in my people.
And the sound of weeping and crying
will be heard in it no more.
20“No longer will babies die when only a few days old.
No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life.
No longer will people be considered old at one hundred!
Only the cursed will die that young!
21In those days people will live in the houses they build
and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.
22Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses
and confiscate their vineyards.
For my people will live as long as trees,
and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains.
23They will not work in vain,
and their children will not be doomed to misfortune.
For they are people blessed by the Lord,
and their children, too, will be blessed.
24I will answer them before they even call to me.
While they are still talking about their needs,
I will go ahead and answer their prayers!
25The wolf and the lamb will feed together.
The lion will eat hay like a cow.
But the snakes will eat dust.
In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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