Isaiah 66
66
The People of the LORD’s New Creation
1This is what the Lord says:
Heaven is my throne.
The earth is my footstool.
Where can you build a house or resting place for me?
2I have made all these things.
“That is why all these things have come into being,”
declares the Lord.
I will pay attention to those
who are humble and sorry ⌞for their sins⌟
and who tremble at my word.
3Whoever kills a bull is like someone who kills a person.
Whoever sacrifices a lamb is like someone who breaks a dog’s neck.
Whoever offers a grain sacrifice
is like someone who ⌞offers⌟ pig’s blood.
Whoever burns incense is like someone who worships an idol.
People have certainly chosen their own ways,
and their souls delight in detestable things.
4So I will choose harsh treatment for them
and bring on them what they fear.
I called, but no one answered.
I spoke, but they didn’t listen.
They did what I consider evil.
They chose what I don’t like.
5Listen to the Lord’s word, all who tremble at his word.
Your relatives, who hate you and exclude you for my name’s sake, say,
“Let the Lord show his glory; then we will see your joy.”
But they will be put to shame.
6Listen to the uproar from the city.
Listen to the sound from the temple.
It is the sound of the Lord
paying back his enemies as they deserve.
7Before a woman goes into labor, she gives birth.
Before she has labor pains, she delivers a child.
8Who has heard of such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Can a country be born in one day?
Can a nation be born in a moment?
When Zion went into labor,
she also gave birth to her children.
9“Do I bring a mother to the moment of birth
and not let her deliver?” asks the Lord.
“Do I cause a mother to deliver
and then make her unable to have children?” asks your God.
10All who love Jerusalem, be happy and rejoice with her.
All who mourn for her, be glad with her.
11You will nurse and be satisfied from her comforting breasts.
You will nurse to your heart’s delight at her full breasts.
12This is what the Lord says:
I will offer you peace like a river
and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream.
You will nurse and be carried in Jerusalem’s arms
and cuddled on her knees.
13As a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you.
You will be comforted in Jerusalem.
14When you see it, your heart will rejoice
and you will flourish like new grass.
The power of the Lord will be made known to his servants,
but he will condemn his enemies.
15The Lord will come with fire
and with his chariots like a thunderstorm.
He will pay them back with his burning anger
and punish them with flames of fire.
16The Lord will judge with fire,
and he will judge all people with his sword.
Many people will be struck dead by the Lord.
17People make themselves holy
and prepare themselves for their garden rituals.
They go into the garden
and devour pork, disgusting things, and mice.
“They will come to an end at the same time,”
declares the Lord.
18Because of their actions and their thoughts,
I am coming to gather the nations of every language.
They will come and see my glory.
19I will set up a sign among them
and send some of their survivors to the nations:
to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Meshech, Rosh, Tubal, Javan,
and to the distant coastlands
who have not heard of my fame or seen my glory.
They will tell about my glory among the nations.
20They will bring all your relatives
from every nation like a grain offering to the Lord.
“They will come on horses, in chariots, in wagons,
on mules and camels to my holy mountain, Jerusalem,”
declares the Lord.
They will come like the people of Israel who bring
their grain offerings in clean dishes to the Lord’s temple.
21“I will make some of them priests and Levites,” declares the Lord.
22“The new heaven and earth that I am about to make
will continue in my presence,” declares the Lord.
“So your descendants and your name
will also continue in my presence.
23From one month to the next and from one week to the next
all people will come to worship me,” declares the Lord.
24Then they will go out
and look at the corpses of those who have rebelled against me.
The worms that eat them will not die.
The fire that burns them will not go out.
All humanity will be disgusted by them.
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Isaiah 66: 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 66
66
1This is what the Lord says:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Could you build me a temple as good as that?
Could you build me such a resting place?
2My hands have made both heaven and earth;
they and everything in them are mine.#66:2 As in Greek, Latin, and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads these things are.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
“I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts,
who tremble at my word.
3But those who choose their own ways—
delighting in their detestable sins—
will not have their offerings accepted.
When such people sacrifice a bull,
it is no more acceptable than a human sacrifice.
When they sacrifice a lamb,
it’s as though they had sacrificed a dog!
When they bring an offering of grain,
they might as well offer the blood of a pig.
When they burn frankincense,
it’s as if they had blessed an idol.
4I will send them great trouble—
all the things they feared.
For when I called, they did not answer.
When I spoke, they did not listen.
They deliberately sinned before my very eyes
and chose to do what they know I despise.”
5Hear this message from the Lord,
all you who tremble at his words:
“Your own people hate you
and throw you out for being loyal to my name.
‘Let the Lord be honored!’ they scoff.
‘Be joyful in him!’
But they will be put to shame.
6What is all the commotion in the city?
What is that terrible noise from the Temple?
It is the voice of the Lord
taking vengeance against his enemies.
7“Before the birth pains even begin,
Jerusalem gives birth to a son.
8Who has ever seen anything as strange as this?
Who ever heard of such a thing?
Has a nation ever been born in a single day?
Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment?
But by the time Jerusalem’s#66:8 Hebrew Zion’s. birth pains begin,
her children will be born.
9Would I ever bring this nation to the point of birth
and then not deliver it?” asks the Lord.
“No! I would never keep this nation from being born,”
says your God.
10“Rejoice with Jerusalem!
Be glad with her, all you who love her
and all you who mourn for her.
11Drink deeply of her glory
even as an infant drinks at its mother’s comforting breasts.”
12This is what the Lord says:
“I will give Jerusalem a river of peace and prosperity.
The wealth of the nations will flow to her.
Her children will be nursed at her breasts,
carried in her arms, and held on her lap.
13I will comfort you there in Jerusalem
as a mother comforts her child.”
14When you see these things, your heart will rejoice.
You will flourish like the grass!
Everyone will see the Lord’s hand of blessing on his servants—
and his anger against his enemies.
15See, the Lord is coming with fire,
and his swift chariots roar like a whirlwind.
He will bring punishment with the fury of his anger
and the flaming fire of his hot rebuke.
16The Lord will punish the world by fire
and by his sword.
He will judge the earth,
and many will be killed by him.
17“Those who ‘consecrate’ and ‘purify’ themselves in a sacred garden with its idol in the center—feasting on pork and rats and other detestable meats—will come to a terrible end,” says the Lord.
18“I can see what they are doing, and I know what they are thinking. So I will gather all nations and peoples together, and they will see my glory. 19I will perform a sign among them. And I will send those who survive to be messengers to the nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans#66:19a As in some Greek manuscripts, which read Put [that is, Libya]; Hebrew reads Pul. and Lydians#66:19b Hebrew Lud. (who are famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece,#66:19c Hebrew Javan. and to all the lands beyond the sea that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. There they will declare my glory to the nations. 20They will bring the remnant of your people back from every nation. They will bring them to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord. They will ride on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the Lord. 21“And I will appoint some of them to be my priests and Levites. I, the Lord, have spoken!
22“As surely as my new heavens and earth will remain,
so will you always be my people,
with a name that will never disappear,”
says the Lord.
23“All humanity will come to worship me
from week to week
and from month to month.
24And as they go out, they will see
the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me.
For the worms that devour them will never die,
and the fire that burns them will never go out.
All who pass by
will view them with utter horror.”
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