< Isaiah 65 >
1 I was manifested by those who did not ask for me. I am found by those who did not seek me. I said, Behold me, behold me, to a nation that was not called by my name.
2 I have spread out my hands all the day to a disobedient and rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts,
3 a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense upon bricks,
4 who sit among the graves, and lodge in the secret places, who eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels,
5 who say, Stand by thyself, do not come near to me, for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all the day.
6 Behold, it is written before me. I will not keep silence, but will recompense. Yea, I will recompense into their bosom
7 your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, says Jehovah, those who have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills. Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.
8 Thus says Jehovah, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and a man says, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it, so I will do for my servants' sake, that I may not destroy them all.
9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains. And my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
10 And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for my people who have sought me.
11 But ye who forsake Jehovah, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mingled wine to Destiny,
12 I will destine you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter. Because when I called, ye did not answer, when I spoke, ye did not hear, but ye did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I did not delight.
13 Therefore thus says the lord Jehovah, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry. Behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty. Behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be put to shame.
14 Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for vexation of spirit.
15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse to my chosen, and the lord Jehovah will kill thee. And he will call his servants by another name,
16 so that he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth, and he who swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth. Because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from my eyes.
17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create. For, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people. And there shall no more be heard in her the voice of weeping and the voice of crying.
20 There shall be no more from there an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days. For the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 And 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. For as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity. For they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
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 nor destroy in all my holy mountain, says Jehovah.