Isaiah 65
1 “I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek. I said, 'Here I am! Here I am!' to a nation that did not call on my name.
I became manifest to them that asked not for me; I was found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold, I am [here], to a nation, who called not on my name.
2 I have spread out my hands all day to a stubborn people, who walk in a way that is not good, who have walked after their own thoughts and plans!
I have stretched forth my hands all day to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to them that walked in a way that was not good, but after their sins.
3 They are a people who continually offend me, offering sacrifices in gardens, and burning incense on brick tiles.
This is the people that provokes me continually in my presence; they offer sacrifices in gardens, and burn incense on bricks to devils, which exist not.
4 They sit among the graves and keep watch all night, and eat pork with the broth of foul meat in their dishes.
They lie down to sleep in the tombs and in the caves for the sake of dreams, [even] they that eat swine's flesh, and the broth of [their] sacrifices: all their vessels are defiled:
5 They say, 'Stand away, do not come near to me, for I am holier than you.' These things are smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all day long.
who say, Depart from me, draw not near to me, for I am pure. This is the smoke of my wrath, a fire burns with it continually.
6 Look, it is written before me: I will not keep quiet, for I will pay them back; I will repay them into their laps,
Behold, it is written before me: I will not be silent until I have recompensed into their bosom,
7 for their sins and the sins of their fathers together,” says Yahweh. “I will repay them for burning incense on the mountains and for mocking me on the hills. I will therefore measure out their past deeds into their laps.”
their sins and [the sins] of their fathers, says the Lord, who have burnt incense on the mountains, and reproached me on the hills: I will recompense their works into their bosom.
8 This is what Yahweh says, “As when juice is found in a cluster of grapes, when one says, 'Do not ruin it, for there is good in it,' this is what I will do for my servants' sake: I will not ruin them all.
Thus says the Lord, As a grape-stone shall be found in the cluster, and they shall say, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for the sake of him that serves me, for his sake I will not destroy [them] all.
9 I will bring descendants from Jacob, and from Judah ones who will possess my mountains. My chosen ones will possess the land, and my servants will live there.
And I will lead forth the seed [that came] of Jacob and of Juda, and they shall inherit my holy mountain: and mine elect and my servants shall inherit it, and shall dwell there.
10 Sharon will become a pasture for the flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for my people who seek me.
And there shall be in the forest folds of flocks, and the valley of Achor [shall] be for a resting-place of herds for my people, who have sought me.
11 But you who abandon Yahweh, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and fill wine glasses of mixed wine for Destiny.
But you are they that have left me, and forget my holy mountain, and prepare a table for the devil, and fill up the drink-offering to Fortune.
12 I will appoint you for the sword, and you will all bow down to the slaughter, because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen. But you did what was evil in my sight and and chose to do what displeases me.”
I will deliver you up to the sword, you shall all fall by slaughter: for I called you, and you listened not; I spoke, and you refused to hear; and you did evil in my sight, and chose the things wherein I delighted not.
13 This is what the Lord Yahweh says, “Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry; look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty; look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
Therefore thus says the Lord, Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall hunger: behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall thirst: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be ashamed:
14 Look, my servants will shout with joy because of gladness of heart, but you will cry because of the pain of the heart, and will wail because of the crushing of the spirit.
behold, my servants shall exult with joy, but you shall cry for the sorrow of your heart, and shall howl for the vexation of your spirit.
15 You will leave behind your name as a curse for my chosen ones to speak; I, the Lord Yahweh, will kill you; I will call my servants by another name.
For you shall leave your name for a loathing to my chosen, and the Lord shall destroy you: but my servants shall be called by a new name,
16 Whoever pronounces a blessing on the earth will be blessed by me, the God of truth. Whoever takes an oath on the earth will swear by me, the God of truth, because the former troubles will be forgotten, for they will be hidden from my eyes.
which shall be blessed on the earth; for they shall bless the true God: and they that swear upon the earth shall swear by the true God; for they shall forget the former affliction, it shall not come into their mind.
17 For see, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or be brought to mind.
For there shall be a new heaven and a new earth: and they shall not at all remember the former, neither shall they at all come into their mind.
18 But you will be glad and rejoice forever in what I am about to create. See, I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and her people as a delight.
But they shall find in her joy and exultation; for, behold, I make Jerusalem a rejoicing, and my people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and be glad over my people; weeping and cries of distress will no longer be heard in her.
And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and will be glad in my people: and there shall no more be heard in her the voice of weeping, or the voice of crying.
20 Never again will an infant live there only a few days; nor will an old man die before his time. One who dies at one hundred years old will be considered a young person. Anyone who fails to reach the age of one hundred years old will be considered cursed.
Neither shall there be there any more a [child that dies] untimely, or an old man who shall not complete his time: for the youth shall be a hundred years [old], and the sinner who dies at a hundred years shall also be accursed:
21 They will build houses and inhabit them, and they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
and they shall build houses, and themselves shall dwell in [them]; and they shall plant vineyards, and themselves shall eat the fruit thereof.
22 No longer will they build a house and another live in it; they will not plant, and another eat; for as the days of trees will be the days of my people. My chosen will fully outlive the work of their hands.
They shall by no means build, and others inhabit; and they shall by no means plant, and others eat: for as the days of the tree of life shall be the days of my people, they shall long enjoy the fruits of their labours.
23 They will not labor in vain, nor give birth to dismay. For they are the children of those blessed by Yahweh, and their descendants with them.
My chosen shall not toil in vain, neither shall they beget children to be cursed; for they are a seed blessed of God, and their offspring with them.
24 Before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
And it shall come to pass, [that] before they call, I will listen to them; while they are yet speaking, I will say, What is it?
25 The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; but dust will be the serpent's food. They will no longer hurt nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says Yahweh.
Then wolves and lambs shall feed together, and the lion shall eat chaff like the ox, and the serpent earth as bread. They shall not injure nor destroy in my holy mountain, says the Lord.
