Isaiah 65
65
1#These verses serve as a response to the preceding questions about God’s inaction (64:6, 11). It is not God who has been absent, but the people who have walked away from God by idolatrous acts and rituals (vv. 3–4). That is the reason for their punishment (vv. 6–7). I was ready to respond to those who did not ask,
to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said: Here I am! Here I am!
To a nation that did not invoke my name.#Rom 10:20.
2I have stretched out my hands all day
to a rebellious people,
Who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own designs;#Rom 10:21.
3A people who provoke me
continually to my face,
Offering sacrifices in gardens
and burning incense on bricks,
4Sitting in tombs
and spending the night in caves,
Eating the flesh of pigs,
with broth of unclean meat in their dishes;
5Crying out, “Hold back,
do not come near me, lest I render you holy!”#Render you holy: unclean food is what these people claim has made them sacred! The prophet ridicules them. Sacredness was understood as something communicable (cf. Ex 19:9–15).
These things are smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all the day.
6See, it stands written before me;
I will not remain quiet until I have repaid in full
7Your crimes and the crimes of your ancestors as well,
says the Lord.
Since they burned incense on the mountains,
and insulted me on the hills,
I will at once pour out in full measure
their recompense into their laps.
Fate of the Just and Unjust in Israel
8#This verse reflects the remnant theology found elsewhere in the Book of Isaiah: 1:8–9; 4:3; 6:11–13; etc. Thus says the Lord:
As when the juice is pressed from a cluster,
and someone says, “Do not destroy it,
for there is still good in it,”
So will I do for the sake of my servants:
I will not destroy them all.
9From Jacob I will bring forth offspring,
from Judah, those who are to possess my mountains;
My chosen ones shall possess the land,
my servants shall dwell there.
10Sharon shall become a pasture for the flocks,
the Valley of Achor a resting place for the cattle,
for my people who have sought me.#Hos 2:17.
11But you who forsake the Lord,
who forget my holy mountain,
Who spread a table for Fortune
and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,#Destiny: the play on words is found in the Hebrew, in which “destiny” and “destine” are menî and manîthî.
12You I will destine for the sword;
you shall all bow down for slaughter;
Because I called and you did not answer,
I spoke and you did not listen,
But did what is evil in my sight
and things I do not delight in, you chose,#Is 66:4; Prv 1:24; Jer 7:13.
13therefore thus says the Lord God:
My servants shall eat,
but you shall go hungry;
My servants shall drink,
but you shall be thirsty;
My servants shall rejoice,
but you shall be put to shame;
14My servants shall shout
for joy of heart,
But you shall cry out for grief of heart,
and howl for anguish of spirit.
15You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen ones
when the Lord God slays you,
and calls his servants by another name.
16Whoever invokes a blessing in the land
shall bless by the God of truth;#God of truth: lit., “God of Amen,” i.e., the one who keeps his word.
Whoever takes an oath in the land
shall swear by the God of truth;
For the hardships of the past shall be forgotten
and hidden from my eyes.
A World Renewed
17#The new creation (cf. 66:22) is described with apocalyptic exuberance: long life, material prosperity, and so forth. As the former events in 43:18 are to be forgotten, so also the new creation wipes out memory of the first creation. See, I am creating new heavens
and a new earth;
The former things shall not be remembered
nor come to mind.#Is 66:22; Rev 21:1.
18Instead, shout for joy and be glad forever
in what I am creating.
Indeed, I am creating Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight;
19I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and exult in my people.
No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there,
or the sound of crying;
20No longer shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
nor anyone who does not live a full lifetime;
One who dies at a hundred years shall be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred shall be thought accursed.#Dt 4:40.
21They shall build houses and live in them,
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit;
22They shall not build and others live there;
they shall not plant and others eat.
As the years of a tree, so the years of my people;
and my chosen ones shall long enjoy
the work of their hands.
23They shall not toil in vain,
nor beget children for sudden destruction;
For they shall be a people blessed by the Lord
and their descendants with them.
24Before they call, I will answer;
while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25#The imagery reflects the ideal era described in 11:6–9; see note there. The wolf and the lamb shall pasture together,
and the lion shall eat hay like the ox—
but the serpent’s food shall be dust.#Is 11:6–9.
None shall harm or destroy
on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Yeshayah (Isaiah) 65
65
1“I have let Myself be inquired of, not by those who asked; I was found, not by those who sought Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation not calling on My Name.
2“I have held out My hands all day long to a stubborn people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts;
3the people who provoke Me continually to My face, who slaughter in gardens, and burn incense on slaughter-places of brick;
4who sit among the burial-sites, and spend the night in secret places, who eat flesh of pigs,#See Isa. 66:17 and the broth of unclean meat is in their pots,
5who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am set-apart to you!’ These are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day.
6“See, it is written before Me: I am not silent, but shall repay, and I shall repay into their bosom,
7your crookednesses and the crookednesses of your fathers together,” said יהוה, “who burned incense on the mountains and reproached Me on the hills. And I shall measure their former work into their bosom.”
8Thus said יהוה, “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one shall say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is blessing in it,’ so I do for My servants’ sake, not to destroy them all.
9“And I shall bring forth a seed from Ya‛aqoḇ, and from Yehuḏah an heir of My mountains. And My chosen ones shall inherit it, and My servants dwell there.
10“And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the Valley of Aḵor a place for herds to lie down, for My people who have sought Me.
11“But you are those who forsake יהוה, who forget My set-apart mountain, who prepare a table for Gad, and who fill a drink offering for Meni.
12“And I shall allot you to the sword, and let you all bow down to the slaughter, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear, and you did evil before My eyes and chose that in which I did not delight.”
13Therefore thus said the Master יהוה, “See, My servants eat, but you hunger; see, My servants drink, but you thirst; see, My servants rejoice, but you are put to shame;
14see, My servants sing for joy of heart, but you cry for sorrow of heart, and wail for breaking of spirit.
15“And you shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen, for the Master יהוה shall put you to death, and call His servants by another name,
16so that he who blesses himself in the earth does bless himself in the Elohim of truth. And he who swears in the earth does swear by the Elohim of truth. Because the former distresses shall be forgotten, and because they shall be hidden from My eyes.
17“For look, I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered, nor come to heart.
18“But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for look, I create Yerushalayim a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19“And I shall rejoice in Yerushalayim, and shall joy in My people, and let the voice of weeping no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
20“No more is an infant from there going to live but a few days, nor an old man who does not complete his days, for the youth dies one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be lightly esteemed.
21“And they shall build houses and inhabit them, and plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22“They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat. For the days of My people are going to be as the days of a tree, and My chosen ones outlive the work of their hands.
23“They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble. For they are the seed of the blessed of יהוה, and their offspring with them.
24“And it shall be that before they call, I answer. And while they are still speaking, I hear.
25“Wolf and lamb feed together, a lion eats straw as an ox, and dust is the snake’s food. They shall do no evil, nor destroy in all My set-apart mountain,” said יהוה.
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