< Isaiah 65 >

1 Those who before were not asking for me have sought me. Those who have not sought me have found me. I said, “Behold, it is I! Behold, it is I!” to a nation which was not invoking my name.
“I have been inquired of by those who did not ask, I have been found by those who did not seek Me, I have said, Behold Me, behold Me, To a nation not calling on My Name.
2 I have extended my hands all day long to an unbelieving people, who advance along a way that is not good, following their own thoughts,
I have spread out My hands all the day To an apostate people, Who are going in the way [that is] not good, After their own thoughts.
3 to a people who provoke me to anger before my face continually, who immolate in the gardens, and who sacrifice upon the bricks.
The people who are continually provoking Me to anger, To My face, Sacrificing in gardens, and making incense on the bricks:
4 They live in sepulchers, and they sleep in the shrines of idols. They eat the flesh of swine, and a profane elixir is in their vessels.
Who are dwelling among tombs, And lodge in reserved places, Who are eating flesh of the sow, And a piece of abominations—their vessels.
5 They say: “Depart from me! Do not approach me, for you are unclean!” Such as these will be the smoke in my fury, a fire burning all day long.
Who are saying, Keep to yourself, do not come near to me, For I have declared you unholy. These [are] smoke in My anger, A fire burning all the day.
6 Behold, it has been written in my sight; I will not be silent. Instead, I will render retribution into their sinews.
Behold, it is written before Me: I am not silent, but have repaid; And I have repaid into their bosom,
7 Your iniquities are joined with the iniquities of your fathers, says the Lord. For they have sacrificed upon the mountains, and they have offended me upon the hills. And so, I will measure back to them, from their first work, into their sinews.
Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together,” said YHWH, “Who have made incense on the mountains, And have reproached Me on the heights, And I have measured their former work into their bosom.”
8 Thus says the Lord: In the same way as it is said about a grain found in a cluster, “Do not destroy it, because it is a blessing,” so will I act for the sake of my servants, so that I may not destroy the whole.
Thus said YHWH: “As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one has said, Do not destroy it for a blessing [is] in it, So I do for My servants’ sake, Not to destroy the whole.
9 And I will lead forth an offspring from Jacob, and a possessor of my mountains from Judah. And my elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall live there.
And I have brought out a Seed from Jacob, And from Judah a Possessor of My mountain, And My chosen ones possess it, And My servants dwell there.
10 And the open plains will become sheepfolds for the flocks, and the valley of Achor will become a domicile for the herds, for my people who have sought me.
And Sharon has been for the habitation of a flock, And the Valley of Achor for the lying down of a herd, For My people who have sought Me.
11 And you who have forsaken the Lord, who have forgotten my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune, and who offer libations concerning her:
And you [are] those forsaking YHWH, Who are forgetting My holy mountain, Who are setting a table in array for Gad, And who are filling a mixture for Meni.
12 I will number you with the sword, and you will all fall by slaughter. For I called and you did not respond; I spoke, and you did not listen. And you did what is evil in my eyes; and what I did not will, you have chosen.
And I have numbered you for the sword, And all of you bow down for slaughter, Because I called, and you have not answered, I have spoken, and you have not listened, And you do evil in My eyes, And on that which I did not desire—fixed.”
13 Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Behold, my servants will eat, and you will be hungry. Behold, my servants will drink, and you will be thirsty.
Therefore, thus said Lord YHWH: “Behold, My servants eat, and you hunger, Behold, My servants drink, and you thirst, Behold, My servants rejoice, and you are ashamed,
14 Behold, my servants will rejoice, and you will be confounded. Behold, my servants will give praise in exultation of heart, and you will cry out in sorrow of heart, and you will wail in contrition of spirit.
Behold, My servants sing from joy of heart, And you cry from pain of heart, And you howl from breaking of spirit.
15 And you will leave behind your name to my elect as a curse. And the Lord God will put you to death, and he will call his servants by another name.
And you have left your name For an oath for My chosen ones, And Lord YHWH has put you to death, And He gives another name to His servants;
16 By that name, whoever is blessed on earth, will be blessed in God. Amen! And whoever swears on earth, will swear by God. Amen! For the past anguishes have been delivered into oblivion, and they have been hidden from my eyes.
So that he who is blessing himself in the earth, Blesses himself in the God of faithfulness, And he who is swearing in the earth, Swears by the God of faithfulness, Because the former distresses have been forgotten, And because they have been hid from My eyes.
17 For behold, I create the new heavens and the new earth. And the former things will not be in memory and will not enter into the heart.
For behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth, And the former things are not remembered, Nor do they ascend on the heart.
18 But you will be glad and exult, even forever, in these things that I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem as an exultation, and its people as a joy.
But rejoice, and rejoice forever, that I [am] Creator, For behold, I am creating Jerusalem [to be] a rejoicing, And her people a joy.
19 And I will exult in Jerusalem, and I will rejoice in my people. And neither a voice of weeping, nor a voice of outcry, will be heard in her anymore.
And I have rejoiced in Jerusalem, And have rejoiced in My people, And the voice of weeping is not heard in her anymore, and the voice of crying.
20 There will no longer be an infant of only a few days there, nor an elder who does not complete his days. For a mere child dies at a hundred years of age, and a sinner of a hundred years will be accursed.
There is not a suckling of [mere] days there anymore, And an aged man who does not complete his days, For the youth dies one hundred years old, And the sinner, one hundred years old, is lightly esteemed.
21 And they will build houses, and will inhabit them. And they will plant vineyards, and will eat their fruits.
And they have built houses, and inhabited, And planted vineyards, and eaten their fruit.
22 They will not build, so that another may inhabit. They will not plant, so that another may eat. For according to the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people. And the works of their hands will be long-standing.
They do not build, and another inhabit, They do not plant, and another eat, For as the days of a tree [are] the days of My people, And My chosen wear out the work of their hands.
23 My elect will not labor in vain, and they will not bring forth in disorder. For they are the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their posterity are with them.
They do not labor for a vain thing, Nor do they bring forth for trouble, For they [are] the seed of the blessed of YHWH, And their offspring with them.
24 And this shall be: before they call out, I will perceive; while they are still speaking, I will hear.
And it has come to pass, They do not yet call, and I answer, They are yet speaking, and I hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will pasture together. The lion and the ox will eat hay. And dust will be the food of the serpent. They will not harm, and they will not kill, on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
Wolf and lamb feed as one, And a lion eats straw as an ox, As for the serpent—its food [is] dust, They do no evil, nor destroy, In all My holy mountain,” said YHWH!

< Isaiah 65 >