Isaiah 65
Contemporary English Version
The Lord Will Punish the Guilty
65 (A) I, the Lord, was ready
to answer even those
who were not asking
and to be found by those
who were not searching.
To a nation that refused
to worship me,[a]
I said, “Here I am!”
2 (B) All day long I have reached out
to stubborn and sinful people
going their own way.
3 They keep making me angry
by sneering at me,
while offering sacrifices
to idols in gardens
and burning incense
to them on bricks.
4 They spend their nights
hiding in burial caves;
they eat the meat of pigs,[b]
cooked in sauces
made of stuff unfit to eat.
5 And then they say to others,
“Don't come near us!
We're dedicated to God.”
Such people are like smoke,
irritating my nose all day.
6 I have written this down;
I won't keep silent.
I'll pay them back
just as their sins deserve.
7 I, the Lord, will make them pay
for their sins and for those
of their ancestors—
they have disgraced me
by burning incense
on mountains.
8 Here is what the Lord says:
A cluster of grapes
that produces wine
is worth keeping!
So, because of my servants,
I won't destroy everyone.
9 I have chosen the people
of Israel and Judah,
and I will bless them
with many descendants.
They will settle here
in this land of mountains,
and it will be theirs.
10 (C) My people will worship me.
Then the coastlands of Sharon
and the land as far
as Achor Valley[c]
will turn into pastureland
where cattle and sheep
will feed and rest.
11 What will I, the Lord, do
if any of you reject me
and my holy mountain?
What will happen to you
for offering food and wine
to the gods you call
“Good Luck” and “Fate”?
12 Your luck will end!
I will see to it that you
are slaughtered with swords.
You refused to answer
when I called out;
you paid no attention
to my instructions.
Instead, you did what I hated,
knowing it was wrong.
13 I, the Lord God, will give
food and drink to my servants,
and they will celebrate.
But all of you sinners
will go hungry and thirsty,
overcome with disgrace.
14 My servants will laugh and sing,
but you will be sad
and cry out in pain.
15 I, the Lord God, promise
to see that you are killed
and that my chosen servants use
your names as curse words.
But I will give new names[d]
to my servants.[e]
16 I am God! I can be trusted.
Your past troubles are gone;
I no longer think of them.
When you pray for someone
to receive a blessing,
or when you make a promise,
you must do it in my name.
I alone am the God
who can be trusted.
The Lord's New Creation
17 (D) I am creating new heavens
and a new earth;
everything of the past
will be forgotten.
18 Celebrate and be glad forever!
I am creating a Jerusalem,
full of happy people.
19 (E) I will celebrate with Jerusalem
and all its people;
there will be no more crying
or sorrow in that city.
20 No child will die in infancy;
everyone will live
a very long life.
Anyone a hundred years old
will be considered young,
and to die younger than that
will be considered a curse.
21 My people will live
in the houses they build;
they will enjoy grapes
from their own vineyards.
22 No one will take away
their homes or vineyards.
My chosen people will live
to be as old as trees,
and they will enjoy
what they have earned.
23 Their work won't be wasted,
and their children won't die
of dreadful diseases.[f]
I will bless their children
and their grandchildren.
24 I will answer their prayers
before they finish praying.
25 (F) Wolves and lambs
will graze together;
lions and oxen
will feed on straw.
Snakes will eat only dirt!
They won't bite or harm anyone
on my holy mountain.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Footnotes
- 65.1 refused … me: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 65.4 burial … pigs: Coming in contact with the dead or eating the meat of pigs made a person unacceptable to God.
- 65.10 coastlands of Sharon … Achor Valley: Sharon is the coastal plain on the west, and Achor Valley is in the east near Jericho. These two places stand for the whole country.
- 65.15 new names: The giving of a new name suggests the beginning of a new life.
- 65.15 But I … servants: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 65.23 their children … diseases: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Isaiah 65
King James Version
65 I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.
2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;
4 Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
5 Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.
6 Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom,
7 Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom.
8 Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all.
9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
10 And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.
11 But ye are they that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.
12 Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.
13 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed:
14 Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.
15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:
16 That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes.
17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat 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 are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.
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