Isaiah 65

The Lord’s Response

¹“I was sought by those who did not ask; I was found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that did not call on my name.²

³I spread out my hands all day long to a rebellious people who walk in the path that is not good, following their own thoughts.⁴

⁵These people continually anger me to my face, sacrificing in gardens, burning incense on bricks,⁶

⁷sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs, and putting polluted broth in their bowls.⁸

⁹They say, ‘Keep to yourself, don’t come near me, for I am too holy for you!’ These practices are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.¹⁰

¹¹Look, it is written in front of me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will repay them fully¹²

¹³for your iniquities and the iniquities of your ancestors together,” says the Lord. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and reproached me on the hills, I will reward them fully for their former deeds.”¹⁴

¹⁵The Lord says this: “As the new wine is found in a bunch of grapes, and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for there’s some good in it,’ so I will act because of my servants and not destroy them all.¹⁶

¹⁷I will produce descendants from Jacob, and heirs to my mountains from Judah; my chosen ones will possess it, and my servants will dwell there.¹⁸

¹⁹Sharon will be a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for my people who have sought me.²⁰

²¹But you who abandon the Lord, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,²²

²³I will destine you for the sword, and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear; you did what was evil in my sight and chose what I did not delight in.”²⁴

²⁵Therefore, this is what the Lord God 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.²⁶

²⁷Look! My servants will shout for joy from a glad heart, but you will cry out from an anguished heart, and you will lament out of a broken spirit.²⁸

²⁹You will leave your name behind as a curse for my chosen ones, and the Lord God will kill you; but he will give his servants another name.³⁰

³¹Whoever asks for a blessing in the land will ask for a blessing by the God of truth, and whoever swears in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the former troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my sight.³²

A New Creation

³³“For I will create new heavens and a new earth; the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.³⁴

³⁵Then be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight.³⁶

³⁷I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people. The sound of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her.³⁸

³⁹In her, a nursing infant will no longer live only a few days, or an old man not live out his days. Indeed, the one who dies at a hundred years old will be mourned as a young man, and the one who misses a hundred years will be considered cursed.⁴⁰

⁴¹People will build houses and live in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.⁴²

⁴³They will not build and others live in them; they will not plant and others eat. For my people’s lives will be like the lifetime of a tree. My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands.⁴⁴

⁴⁵They will not labor without success or bear children destined for disaster, for they will be a people blessed by the Lord along with their descendants.⁴⁶

⁴⁷Even before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear.⁴⁸

⁴⁹The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like cattle, but the serpent’s food will be dust! They will not do what is evil or destroy on my entire holy mountain,” says the Lord.⁵⁰