Isaiah 65:1-5 ▼

1 The LORD says, “I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help. I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’ to a nation that did not call on my name.

2 All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people. But they follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes.

3 All day long they insult me to my face by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens. They burn incense on pagan altars.

4 At night they go out among the graves, worshiping the dead. They eat the flesh of pigs and make stews with other forbidden foods.

5 Yet they say to each other, ‘Don’t come too close or you will defile me! I am holier than you!’ These people are a stench in my nostrils, an acrid smell that never goes away.