Isaiah 66:7-24 ▼

7 |Before she goes into labor she gives birth; before her pains come upon her she has delivered a son.

8 Who has ever heard of such a thing? And who ever sees such things? Can a country be born in a single day, or can a nation be brought forth in a single moment? Yet no sooner was Zion in labor than she delivered her children.

9 Am I to open the womb and not deliver?| asks the LORD. |And when I bring to delivery, am I to close the womb?| asks your God.

10 |Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be happy for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in gladness, all you who mourn over her,

11 so that you may nurse and be satisfied at her consoling breasts, and so that you may drink deeply and take delight from her glorious bosom.|

12 This is what the LORD says: |See, I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; and you will nurse, and you will be carried on her hip, and bounced upon her knees.

13 Like a child whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.

14 And when you look, your hearts will rejoice and your bodies will flourish like grass; and it will be made known that the LORD's hand is with his servants, but his fury is with his enemies.

15 |Take notice! The LORD will come with fire, and his chariot will be like a whirlwind, to pay back his anger—yes, his anger!— in fury, and his menacing rebukes in flames of fire.

16 For with fire and with his sword the LORD will proceed to judgment on all humanity, and those slain by the LORD will be many.|

17 |Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves, following the one at the center of those who eat the meat of pigs, disgusting things, and rats, are all alike,| says the LORD.

18 |But as for me, I know their actions and their thoughts. Come and gather all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory.

19 |I will put up signs among them, and from them I will send survivors to the nations—to Tarshish, Libya, and Lydia, (who draw the bow), to Tubal and Greece, to the far off coastlands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. Then they will proclaim my glory among the nations.

20 They will bring all—yes, all!— of your kindred from all the nations to my holy mountain Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD—on horses, in chariots, in wagons, and on mules—yes, even on mules!— and on camels,| says the LORD, |just as the Israelis bring a grain offering in a clean vessel to the LORD's house.

21 Then I will also select some of them for myself as priests and as Levites,| says the LORD.

22 |For as the new heavens and the new earth that I am about to make will endure before me,| says the LORD, |so will your descendants and your name endure.

23 And from New Moon to New Moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all humanity will come to worship before me,| says the LORD.

24 |Then they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of the people who rebelled against me. For their worm will not die, nor will their fire be extinguished, and they will remain an object of revulsion to all humanity.|