Isaiah 65:1-22 ▼

1 I was ready to respond to those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me. I said: Here I am! Here I am! To a nation that did not invoke my name.

2 I have stretched out my hands all day to a rebellious people, Who walk in a way that is not good, following their own designs;

3 A people who provoke me continually to my face, Offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks,

4 Sitting in tombs and spending the night in caves, Eating the flesh of pigs, with broth of unclean meat in their dishes;

5 Crying out, “Hold back, do not come near me, lest I render you holy!” These things are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.

6 See, it stands written before me; I will not remain quiet until I have repaid in full

7 Your crimes and the crimes of your ancestors as well, says the LORD. Since they burned incense on the mountains, and insulted me on the hills, I will at once pour out in full measure their recompense into their laps.

8 Thus says the LORD: As when the juice is pressed from a cluster, and someone says, “Do not destroy it, for there is still good in it,” So will I do for the sake of my servants: I will not destroy them all.

9 From Jacob I will bring forth offspring, from Judah, those who are to possess my mountains; My chosen ones shall possess the land, my servants shall dwell there.

10 Sharon shall become a pasture for the flocks, the Valley of Achor a resting place for the cattle, for my people who have sought me.

11 But you who forsake the LORD, who forget my holy mountain, Who spread a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,

12 You I will destine for the sword; you shall all bow down for slaughter; Because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen, But did what is evil in my sight and things I do not delight in, you chose,

13 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: My servants shall eat, but you shall go hungry; My servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; My servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame;

14 My servants shall shout for joy of heart, But you shall cry out for grief of heart, and howl for anguish of spirit.

15 You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen ones when the Lord GOD slays you, and calls his servants by another name.

16 Whoever invokes a blessing in the land shall bless by the God of truth; Whoever takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth; For the hardships of the past shall be forgotten and hidden from my eyes.

17 See, I am creating new heavens and a new earth; The former things shall not be remembered nor come to mind.

18 Instead, shout for joy and be glad forever in what I am creating. Indeed, I am creating Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight;

19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people. No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there, or the sound of crying;

20 No longer shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, nor anyone who does not live a full lifetime; One who dies at a hundred years shall be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred shall be thought accursed.

21 They shall build houses and live in them, they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit;

22 They shall not build and others live there; they shall not plant and others eat. As the years of a tree, so the years of my people; and my chosen ones shall long enjoy the work of their hands.