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
A Rebellious People
1“I let Myself be sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I let Myself be found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’
To the nation [Israel] which did not call on My Name.
2I have spread out My hands all the day long to a rebellious and stubborn people,
Who walk in the way that is not good, [following] after their own thoughts and intentions,
3The people who continually provoke Me to My face,
Sacrificing [to idols] in gardens and making offerings with incense on bricks [instead of at the designated altar];
4Who sit among the graves [trying to conjure up evil spirits] and spend the night in the secret places [where spirits are thought to dwell];
Who eat swine’s flesh,
And their pots hold the broth of #Meat that is ceremonially unclean or has been kept until the third day.unclean meat;
5Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me,
For I #Or would transfer holiness to you (and thereby make the recipient subject to inconvenient restrictions).am too holy for you [and you might defile me]!’
These [people] are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.
6Indeed, it is written before Me,
I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will even repay it [directly] into their #Or bosom, i.e. the fold in the outer robe where personal items are sometimes kept.arms,
7Both your own wickedness and the wickedness of your fathers,” says the Lord.
“Since they too have made offerings with incense on the mountains
And scorned and taunted Me on the hills,
I therefore will measure [punishment for] their former work [directly] into their #Or bosom.arms.”
8This is what the Lord says,
“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing and benefit in it,’
So I will do for the sake of My servants
In order not to destroy all of them.
9I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
And an heir of My mountains from Judah;
Even My chosen ones shall inherit it,
And My servants will live there.
10And [the plain of] Sharon will be a place for flocks to graze,
And the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
For My people who seek Me [who long for Me and require My presence in their lives].
11But you who abandon (turn away from) the Lord,
Who forget and ignore My holy mountain (Zion),
Who set a table for Gad [the Babylonian god of fortune],
And who fill a jug of mixed wine for Meni [the god of fate],
12I will destine you for the sword, [says the Lord],
And all of you will bow down to the slaughter,
Because when I called, you did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not listen or obey.
But you did [what was] evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”
13Therefore, the Lord God says this,
“Listen carefully, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry;
Indeed, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty;
Indeed, My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
14Indeed, My servants will shout for joy from a happy heart,
But you will cry out with a heavy heart,
And you shall wail and howl from a broken spirit.
15And you will leave your name behind to My chosen ones [who will use it] as a curse,
And the Lord God will put you to death,
But He will call His servants by another name [a much greater name, just as the name Israel was greater than the name Jacob].
16Because he who blesses himself on the earth
Will bless himself by the God of truth and faithfulness;
And he who swears [an oath] on the earth
Will swear by the God of truth and faithfulness;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My sight.
New Heavens and a New Earth
17“Behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things [of life] will not be remembered or come to mind.
18But be glad and rejoice forever over what I create;
Behold, I am creating Jerusalem to be a source of rejoicing
And her people a joy.
19I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
20No longer shall there be #Lit from there.in it an infant who lives only a few days,
Or an old man who does not finish his days;
For the youth who dies at the age of a hundred,
And the one who does not reach the age of a hundred
Will be thought of as accursed.
21They will build houses and live in them;
They will plant vineyards and eat the fruit.
22They will not build and another occupy;
They will not plant and another eat [the fruit].
For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,
And My chosen [people] will fully enjoy [and long make use of] the work of their hands.
23They will not labor in vain,
Or bear children for disaster;
For they are the descendants of those blessed by the Lord,
And their offspring with them.
24It shall also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. 25The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox [there will no longer be predator and prey]; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain (Zion),” says the Lord.
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