Isaiah 65

1 "I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. I was found by those who did not seek me. I said, 'Here I am. Here I am.' to a nation that did not call on my name.

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 stretched out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own thoughts;

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 a people who provoke me to my face continually as they sacrifice in gardens and burn incense on bricks;

A people who make me angry every day, making offerings in gardens, and burning perfumes on bricks.

4 who sit among the graves, and lodge in the secret places; who eat pig's flesh, and the broth of abominable things is in their vessels;

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 who say, 'Keep your distance, do not come near to me, for I am holier than you.' These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all the day.

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 "Look, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, yes, I will recompense into their bosom,

See, it is recorded before me, says the Lord: I will not keep back my hand, till I have sent punishment,

7 your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together," says the LORD, "who have burned incense on the mountains, and blasphemed me on the hills; therefore I will first measure their work into their bosom."

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 Thus says the LORD, "As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, 'Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it:' so will I do for my servants' sake, that I may 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 offspring from Jacob, and from Judah they shall inherit my mountains; and my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall 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 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.

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 prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to 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 to the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen; but you did that which was evil in my eyes, 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 thus says the LORD, "Look, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; look, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; look, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be disappointed;

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 look, my servants shall sing in gladness of heart, but you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for anguish of 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 shall leave your name for a curse to my chosen; and the LORD will kill you; but he will call his servants by 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 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 hidden from my eyes.

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, look, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into 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 you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, look, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

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 joy in my people; and there shall be heard in her no more the voice of weeping and the voice of crying.

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 "There shall be no more there an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old shall be 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 shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall 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 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.

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 shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the descendants of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring 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 It shall happen that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet 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 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 the LORD.

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.