Isaiah 65
65
The LORD Answers His People’s Prayer
1I was ready to answer those who didn’t ask.
I was found by those who weren’t looking for me.
I said, “Here I am! Here I am!”
to a nation that didn’t worship me.
2I stretched out my hands all day long to stubborn people.
They chose to go the wrong direction.
They followed their own plans.
3These people constantly and openly provoked me.
They offered sacrifices in gardens
and burnt incense on brick altars.
4They sat among the graves and spent their nights in caves.
They ate pork and in their pots made broth from unclean foods.
5They said, “Stay away! Don’t touch me!
I’m holier than you are.”
They have become like smoke in my nose,
like a smoldering fire all day long.
6“Look! It is written in front of me.
I will not be silent, but I will repay.
I will repay you in full.
7I will repay you for your sins
and for the sins of your ancestors,” says the Lord.
They burnt incense on the mountains and slandered me on the hills,
so I will be the first to pay them back in full.
8This is what the Lord says:
When someone finds juice for new wine in a cluster of grapes,
another person will say,
“Don’t destroy it, because there’s a blessing in it.”
In the same way, I will do this for my servants:
I will not destroy everything.
9I will bring ⌞with me⌟ Jacob’s descendant,
one who will inherit my mountains from Judah.
My chosen ones will inherit them.
My servants will live there.
10The Sharon Plain will be a pasture for flocks.
The Achor Valley will be a resting place for cattle
and for my people who search for me.
11You have abandoned the Lord
and forgotten my holy mountain.
You have prepared a table for the god of good fortune
and offered cups full of spiced wine to the goddess of destiny.
12Now I will destine you for death.
All of you will bow to be slaughtered.
I called, but you didn’t answer.
I spoke, but you didn’t listen.
You did what I consider evil.
You chose what I don’t like.
13This is what the Lord God says:
My servants will eat, but you will be hungry.
My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty.
My servants will be glad, but you will be ashamed.
14My servants will sing because of the gladness in their hearts.
But you will cry because of your sadness
and wail because of your depression.
15Your name will be used as a curse by my chosen ones.
The Almighty Lord will kill you
and call his servants by another name.
16Whoever asks for a blessing in the land
will be blessed by the God of Truth.
Whoever swears an oath in the land
will swear by the God of Truth.
Past troubles are forgotten.
They are hidden from my eyes.
17I will create a new heaven and a new earth.
Past things will not be remembered.
They will not come to mind.
18Be glad, and rejoice forever in what I’m going to create,
because I’m going to create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people to be a joy.
19I will rejoice about Jerusalem and be glad about my people.
Screaming and crying will no longer be heard in the city.
20There will no longer be an infant who lives for only a few days
or an old man who doesn’t live a long life.
Whoever lives to be a hundred years old will be thought of as young.
Whoever dies before he is a hundred years old will be cursed as a sinner.
21They will build houses and live there.
They will plant vineyards and eat fruit from them.
22They will not build homes and have others live there.
They will not plant and have others eat from it.
My people will live as long as trees,
and my chosen ones will enjoy what they’ve done.
23They will never again work for nothing.
They will never again give birth to children who die young,
because they will be offspring blessed by the Lord.
The Lord will bless their descendants as well.
24Before they call, I will answer.
While they’re still speaking, I will hear.
25Wolves and lambs will feed together,
lions will eat straw like oxen,
and dust will be food for snakes.
“They will not hurt or destroy anyone anywhere on my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
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Isaiah 65: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
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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