Isaiah 65
1 “I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. To a nation that did not call My name, I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’
I have been ready to give an answer to those who did not make prayer to me; I have been offering myself to those who were not searching for me; I said, Here am I, here am I, to a nation which gave no respect to my name.
2 All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations,
All day my hands have been stretched out to an uncontrolled people, who go in an evil way, after the purposes of their hearts;
3 to a people who continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in the gardens and burning incense on altars of brick,
A people who make me angry every day, making offerings in gardens, and burning perfumes on bricks.
4 sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs and polluted broth from their bowls.
Who are seated in the resting-places of the dead, and by night are in the secret places; who take pig's flesh for food, and have the liquid of disgusting things in their vessels.
5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.
Who say, Keep away, do not come near me, for fear that I make you holy: these are a smoke in my nose, a fire burning all day.
6 Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will pay it back into their laps,
See, it is recorded before me, says the Lord: I will not keep back my hand, till I have sent punishment,
7 both for your iniquities and for those of your fathers,” says the LORD. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their former deeds.”
For their sins and the sins of their fathers, who were burning perfumes on the mountains, and saying evil things against me on the hills: so I will take the measure of their sins, and will send the punishment for them into their breast.
8 This is what the LORD says: “As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes, and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’ so I will act on behalf of My servants; I will not destroy them all.
This is the word of the Lord: As the new wine is seen in the grapes, and they say, Do not send destruction on it, for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants, in order that I may not put an end to them all.
9 And I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and heirs from Judah; My elect will possess My mountains, and My servants will dwell there.
And I will take a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah one who will have my mountains for a heritage: and the people I have taken to be mine will have it for themselves, and my servants will have their resting-place there.
10 Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for My people who seek Me.
And Sharon will be a grass-land for the flocks, and the valley of Achor a resting-place for the herds: for my people whose hearts have been turned back to me.
11 But you who forsake the LORD, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
But as for you who have given up the Lord, who have no care for my holy mountain, who get ready a table for Chance, and make offerings of mixed wine to Fate;
12 I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”
Your fate will be the sword, and you will all go down to death: because when my voice came to you, you made no answer; you did not give ear to my word; but you did what was evil in my eyes, desiring what was not pleasing to me.
13 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; My servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
For this cause says the Lord God, My servants will have food, but you will be in need of food: my servants will have drink, but you will be dry: my servants will have joy, but you will be shamed:
14 My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart, but you will cry out with a heavy heart and wail with a broken spirit.
My servants will make songs in the joy of their hearts, but you will be crying for sorrow, and making sounds of grief from a broken spirit.
15 You will leave behind your name as a curse for My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you; but to His servants He will give another name.
And your name will become a curse to my people, and the Lord God will put you to death, and give his servants another name:
16 Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of truth, and whoever takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the former troubles will be forgotten and hidden from My sight.
So that he who is requesting a blessing will make use of the name of the true God, and he who takes an oath will do so by the true God; because the past troubles are gone out of mind, and because they are covered from my eyes.
17 For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
For see, I am making a new heaven and a new earth: and the past things will be gone completely out of mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight.
But men will be glad and have joy for ever in what I am making; for I am making Jerusalem a delight, and her people a joy.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her.
And I will be glad over Jerusalem, and have joy in my people: and the voice of weeping will no longer be sounding in her, or the voice of grief.
20 No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.
No longer will there be there a child whose days are cut short, or an old man whose days have not come to their full measure: for the young man at his death will be a hundred years old, and he whose life is shorter than a hundred years will seem as one cursed.
21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
And they will be building houses and living in them; planting vine-gardens and getting the fruit of them.
22 No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit, nor plant for others to eat. For as is the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands.
They will no longer be building for the use of others, or planting for others to have the fruit: for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my loved ones will have joy in full measure in the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD— they and their descendants with them.
Their work will not be for nothing, and they will not give birth to children for destruction; for they are a seed to whom the Lord has given his blessing, and their offspring will be with them.
24 Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
And before they make their request I will give an answer, and while they are still making prayer to me, I will give ear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the food of the serpent will be dust. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain,”
The wolf and the lamb will take their food together, and the lion will make a meal of grass like the ox: but dust will be the snake's food. There will be no cause of pain or destruction in all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
