Isaiah 65
65
1 I WAS [ready to be] inquired of by those who asked not; I was [ready to be] found by those who sought Me not. I said, Here I am, here I am [says I AM] to a nation [Israel] that has not called on My name. [Exod. 3:14; Isa. 58:9.]
2 I have spread out My hands all the day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts–
3 A people who provoke Me to My face continually, sacrificing [to idols] in gardens and burning incense upon bricks [instead of at God's prescribed altar];
4 Who sit among the graves [trying to talk with the dead] and lodge among the secret places [or caves where familiar spirits were thought to dwell]; who eat swine's flesh, and the broth of abominable and loathsome things is in their vessels;
5 Who say, Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am set apart from you [and lest I sanctify you]! These are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.
6 Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence but will repay; yes, I will repay into their bosom
7 Both your own iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers, says the Lord. Because they too burned incense upon the mountains and reviled and blasphemed Me upon the hills, therefore will I measure and stretch out their former doings into their own bosom.
8 Thus says the Lord: As the juice [of the grape] is found in the cluster, and one says, Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it, so will I do for My servants' sake, that I may not destroy them all.
9 And I will bring forth an offspring from Jacob, and from Judah an inheritor of My mountains; My chosen and elect will inherit it, and My servants will dwell there.
10 And [the plain of] Sharon shall be a pasture and fold for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for My people who seek Me, inquire of Me, and require Me [by right of their necessity and by right of My invitation].
11 But you who forsake the Lord, who forget and ignore My holy Mount [Zion], who prepare a table for Gad [the Babylonian god of fortune] and who furnish mixed drinks for Meni [the god of destiny]–
12 I will destine you [says the Lord] for the sword, and you shall all 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 eyes, and you chose that in which I did not delight.
13 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, My servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, My servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame.
14 Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry out for pain and sorrow of heart and shall wail and howl for anguish, vexation, and breaking of spirit.
15 And you will leave your name to My chosen [to those who will use it] for a curse; and the Lord God will slay you, but He will call His servants by another name [as much greater than the former name as the name Israel was greater than the name Jacob]. [Gen. 32:28; Jer. 29:22.]
16 So [it shall be] that he who invokes a blessing on himself in the land shall do so by saying, May the God of truth and fidelity [the Amen] bless me; and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth and faithfulness to His promises [the Amen], because the former troubles are forgotten and because they are hidden from My eyes. [II Cor. 1:20; Rev. 3:14.]
17 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. And the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. [Isa. 66:22; II Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1.]
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a rejoicing and her people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; and the sound of weeping will no more be heard in it, nor the cry of distress.
20 There shall no more be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who dies prematurely; for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner who dies when only a hundred years old shall be [thought only a child, cut off because he is] accursed.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat [the fruit]. For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, and My chosen and elect shall long make use of and enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain or bring forth [children] for sudden terror or calamity; for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall be that before they call I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear. [Isa. 30:19; 58:9; Matt. 6:8.]
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy Mount [Zion], says the Lord.
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Isaiah 65: AMPC
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
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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