Isaiah 66
66
Living Worship to God
1-2 God’s Message:
“Heaven’s my throne,
earth is my footstool.
What sort of house could you build for me?
What holiday spot reserve for me?
I made all this! I own all this!”
God’s Decree.
“But there is something I’m looking for:
a person simple and plain,
reverently responsive to what I say.
3-4“Your acts of worship
are acts of sin:
Your sacrificial slaughter of the ox
is no different from murdering the neighbor;
Your offerings for worship,
no different from dumping pig’s blood on the altar;
Your presentation of memorial gifts,
no different from honoring a no-god idol.
You choose self-serving worship,
you delight in self-centered worship—disgusting!
Well, I choose to expose your nonsense
and let you realize your worst fears,
Because when I invited you, you ignored me;
when I spoke to you, you brushed me off.
You did the very things I exposed as evil,
you chose what I hate.”
5But listen to what God has to say
to you who reverently respond to his Word:
“Your own families hate you
and turn you out because of me.
They taunt you, ‘Let us see God’s glory!
If God’s so great, why aren’t you happy?’
But they’re the ones
who are going to end up shamed.”
* * *
6Rumbles of thunder from the city!
A voice out of the Temple!
God’s voice,
handing out judgment to his enemies:
7-9“Before she went into labor,
she had the baby.
Before the birth pangs hit,
she delivered a son.
Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?
Has anyone seen anything like this?
A country born in a day?
A nation born in a flash?
But Zion was barely in labor
when she had her babies!
Do I open the womb
and not deliver the baby?
Do I, the One who delivers babies,
shut the womb?
10-11“Rejoice, Jerusalem,
and all who love her, celebrate!
And all you who have shed tears over her,
join in the happy singing.
You newborns can satisfy yourselves
at her nurturing breasts.
Yes, delight yourselves and drink your fill
at her ample bosom.”
12-13 God’s Message:
“I’ll pour robust well-being into her like a river,
the glory of nations like a river in flood.
You’ll nurse at her breasts,
nestle in her bosom,
and be bounced on her knees.
As a mother comforts her child,
so I’ll comfort you.
You will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
14-16You’ll see all this and burst with joy
—you’ll feel ten feet tall—
As it becomes apparent that God is on your side
and against his enemies.
For God arrives like wildfire
and his chariots like a tornado,
A furious outburst of anger,
a rebuke fierce and fiery.
For it’s by fire that God brings judgment,
a death sentence on the human race.
Many, oh so many,
are under God’s sentence of death:
17“All who enter the sacred groves for initiation in those unholy rituals that climaxed in that foul and obscene meal of pigs and mice will eat together and then die together.” God’s Decree.
18-21“I know everything they’ve ever done or thought. I’m going to come and then gather everyone—all nations, all languages. They’ll come and see my glory. I’ll set up a station at the center. I’ll send the survivors of judgment all over the world: Spain and Africa, Turkey and Greece, and the far-off islands that have never heard of me, who know nothing of what I’ve done nor who I am. I’ll send them out as missionaries to preach my glory among the nations. They’ll return with all your long-lost brothers and sisters from all over the world. They’ll bring them back and offer them in living worship to God. They’ll bring them on horses and wagons and carts, on mules and camels, straight to my holy mountain Jerusalem,” says God. “They’ll present them just as Israelites present their offerings in a ceremonial vessel in the Temple of God. I’ll even take some of them and make them priests and Levites,” says God.
22-23“For just as the new heavens and new earth
that I am making will stand firm before me”
—God’s Decree—
“So will your children
and your reputation stand firm.
Month after month and week by week,
everyone will come to worship me,” God says.
24“And then they’ll go out and look at what happened
to those who rebelled against me. Corpses!
Maggots endlessly eating away on them,
an endless supply of fuel for fires.
Everyone who sees what’s happened
and smells the stench retches.”
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Isaiah 66: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Isaiah 66
66
LXVI
1Thus saith Jehovah:
The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my foot-stool;
Where is the house that ye could build unto me?
And where is the place of my rest?
2For all these things hath mine hand made;
And all these things have been, saith Jehovah:
But to this man will I look,
To him that is humble and of a contrite spirit,
And that trembleth at my word.
3He that slayeth an ox, killeth a man;
He that sacrificeth a lamb, beheadeth a dog;
He that offereth an oblation, offereth swine’s blood;
He that burneth incense, blesseth an idol.
Yea, they have chosen their own ways,
And their soul delighteth in their abominations.
4I will also choose their calamities,
And what they dread will I bring upon them;
Because, when I called, none did answer;
When I spake, they did not hearken;
But they did that which was evil in my sight,
And chose that in which I delighted not.
5Hear ye the word of Jehovah,
Ye that tremble at his word;
Your brethren who hate you,
Who cast you out for my name’s sake, have said,
Let Jehovah be glorified that we may see your joy!
But they shall be ashamed.
6A voice of tumult from the city!
A voice from the temple!
The voice of Jehovah! rendering recompense to his enemies.
7Before she was in travail, she brought forth;
Before her pangs came, she was delivered of a man child.
8Who hath heard such a thing?
Who hath seen the like of these things?
Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For no sooner was Zion in travail, than she brought forth her children.
9Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith Jehovah:
Shall I, who beget, restrain the birth? saith your God.
10Rejoice ye with Jerusalem,
And exult on her account, all ye that love her;
Joy with her exceedingly,
All ye that mourn over her;
11That ye may suck, and be satisfied, from the breast of her consolations;
That ye may press out, and be delighted with the abundant splendour of her glory.
12For thus saith Jehovah:
Behold! I will extend peace to her like a river,
And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
And ye shall suck:
Ye shall be carried at the side;
And on the knees shall ye be dandled.
13As one whom his mother comforteth,
So will I comfort you;
And in Jerusalem shall ye be comforted.
14And ye shall see it, and your heart shall rejoice;
And your bones shall flourish, like the green herb:
And the hand of Jehovah shall be known to be with his servants;
And He will be moved with indignation against his enemies.
15For, behold! Jehovah shall come with fire,
And his chariots shall be like the whirlwind,
To render his anger with a burning heat,
And his rebuke with flames of fire.
16For with fire shall Jehovah contend,
And with his sword, with all flesh;
And the slain of Jehovah shall be many.
17They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves
In the gardens, one after another openly,
Eating swine’s flesh, and what is abomination, and the mouse,
Shall perish together, saith Jehovah.
18For I know their works and their thoughts:
It shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues;
And they shall come, and see my glory.
19And I will set a sign among them,
And I will send those that escape of them, unto the nations;
To Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow,
To Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off,
That have not heard my fame,
Neither have seen my glory;
And they shall declare my glory among the nations.
20And they shall bring all your brethren,
From all the nations, for an oblation to Jehovah,
Upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters,
Upon mules, and upon dromedaries,
To my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith Jehovah,
As the children of Israel bring the oblation
In a clean vessel to the house of Jehovah.
21And I will also take of them
For priests, and for Levites, saith Jehovah.
22For as the new heavens,
And the new earth which I will make,
Shall remain before me, saith Jehovah;
So shall your seed, and your name remain.
23And it shall be, that from new moon to new moon,
And from sabbath to sabbath,
Shall all flesh come to worship before me,
Saith Jehovah.
24And they shall go forth, and shall see
The carcases of those men, who have rebelled against me:
For their worm shall not die,
Neither shall their fire be quenched;
And they shall be an abhorrence unto all flesh.
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.