Isaiah 66

1 This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?

Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What is this house that you would build for me? And what is this place of my rest?

2 Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.

My hand has made all these things, and all these things have been made, says the Lord. But upon whom will I look with favor, except upon a poor little one, who is contrite in spirit, and who trembles at my words?

3 Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways and delighted in their abominations.

Whoever immolates an ox, it is as if he slaughters a man. Whoever sacrifices a sheep, it is as if he is smashing the head of a dog. Whoever offers an oblation, it is as if he is offering swine’s blood. Whoever makes remembrance with incense, it is as if he is blessing an idol. All these things, they have chosen according to their own ways, and their soul has taken delight in their own abominations.

4 So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”

Therefore, I also will choose their illusions, and I will lead over them the things that they feared. For I called, and there was no one who would respond. I have spoken, and they have not listened. And they have done evil in my eyes; and what I did not will, they have chosen.

5 You who tremble at His word, hear the word of the LORD: “Your brothers who hate you and exclude you because of My name have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified that we may see your joy!’ But they will be put to shame.”

Listen to the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word. Your brothers, who hate you and who cast you out because of my name, have said: “Let the Lord be glorified, and we will see by your rejoicing.” But they themselves will be confounded.

6 Hear the uproar from the city; listen to the voice from the temple! It is the voice of the LORD, repaying His enemies what they deserve!

A voice of the people from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the Lord repaying retribution to his enemies!

7 “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.

Before she was in labor, she gave birth. Before her time arrived for delivery, she gave birth to a male child.

8 Who has heard of such as this? Who has seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be delivered in an instant? Yet as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.

Who has ever heard of such a thing? And who has seen anything like this? Will the earth give birth in one day? Or will a nation be born all at once? For Zion has been in labor, and she has given birth to her sons.

9 Shall I bring a baby to the point of birth and not deliver it?” says the LORD. “Or will I who deliver close the womb?” says your God.

Will I, who causes others to give birth, not also give birth myself, says the Lord? Will I, who bestows generation upon others, be barren myself, says the Lord your God?

10 Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her, all who love her. Rejoice greatly with her, all who mourn over her,

Rejoice with Jerusalem, and exult in her, all you who love her! Rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her!

11 so that you may nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you may drink deeply and delight yourselves in her glorious abundance.

So may you nurse and be filled, from the breasts of her consolations. So may you receive milk and overflow with delights, from every portion of her glory.

12 For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm, and bounced upon her knees.

For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will turn a river of peace toward her, with an inundating torrent: the glory of the Gentiles, from which you will nurse. You will be carried at the breasts, and they will caress you upon the knees.

13 As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”

In the manner of one whom a mother caresses, so will I console you. And you will be consoled in Jerusalem.

14 When you see, you will rejoice, and you will flourish like grass; then the hand of the LORD will be revealed to His servants, but His wrath will be shown to His enemies.

You will see, and your heart will be glad, and your bones will flourish like a plant, and the hand of the Lord will be known to his servants, and he will be angry with his enemies.

15 For behold, the LORD will come with fire— His chariots are like a whirlwind— to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.

For behold, the Lord will arrive with fire, and his four-horse chariots will be like a whirlwind: to render his wrath with indignation, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

16 For by fire and by His sword, the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the LORD.

For the Lord will divide with fire, and with his sword among all flesh, and those slain by the Lord will be many.

17 “Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves—to follow one in the center of those who eat the flesh of swine and vermin and rats—will perish together,” declares the LORD.

Those who were sanctified, who thought themselves to be clean in the gardens behind the inner gate, who were eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse: they will be consumed all at once, says the Lord.

18 “And I, knowing their deeds and thoughts, am coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see My glory.

But I know their works and their thoughts. I am arriving, so that I may gather them together with all nations and languages. And they will approach, and they will see my glory.

19 I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. So they will proclaim My glory among the nations.

And I will set a sign among them. And I will send some of those who will have been saved to the Gentiles in the sea, to Africa, and to those who draw the bow in Lydia, to Italy and Greece, to islands far away, to those who have not heard of me, and to those who have not seen my glory. And they will announce my glory to the Gentiles.

20 And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots and wagons, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.”

And they will lead all of your brothers from all of the Gentiles as a gift to the Lord, on horses, and in four-horse chariots, and on stretchers, and on mules, and in coaches, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, in the same manner that the sons of Israel would carry an offering in a pure vessel into the house of the Lord.

21 “And I will select some of them as priests and Levites,” says the LORD.

And I will take from them to be priests and Levites, says the Lord.

22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will endure before Me,” declares the LORD, “so your descendants and your name will endure.

For in like manner as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will cause to stand before me, says the Lord, so will your offspring and your name stand.

23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.

And there will be month after month, and Sabbath after Sabbath. And all flesh will approach, so as to adore before my face, says the Lord.

24 “As they go forth, they will see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never be quenched, and they will be a horror to all mankind.”

And they will go out, and they will view the carcasses of the men who have transgressed against me. Their worm will not die, and their fire will not be extinguished. And they will be a sight to all flesh even unto revulsion.