1‘I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, “Here am I, here am I.”2All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations –3a people who continually provoke me to my very face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on altars of brick;4who sit among the graves and spend their nights keeping secret vigil; who eat the flesh of pigs, and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;5who say, “Keep away; don’t come near me, for I am too sacred for you!” Such people are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that keeps burning all day.6‘See, it stands written before me; I will not keep silent but will pay back in full; I will pay it back into their laps –7both your sins and the sins of your ancestors,’ says the Lord. ‘Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains and defied me on the hills, I will measure into their laps the full payment for their former deeds.’8This is what the Lord says: ‘As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes and people say, “Don’t destroy it, there is still a blessing in it,” so will I do on behalf of my servants; I will not destroy them all.9I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah those who will possess my mountains; my chosen people will inherit them, and there will my servants live.10Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting-place for herds, for my people who seek me.11‘But as for you who forsake the Lord and forget my holy mountain, who spread a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,12I will destine you for the sword, and all of you will fall in the slaughter; for I called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen. You did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me.’13Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; my servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; my servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.14My servants will sing out of the joy of their hearts, but you will cry out from anguish of heart and wail in brokenness of spirit.15You will leave your name for my chosen ones to use in their curses; the Sovereign Lord will put you to death, but to his servants he will give another name.16Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the one true God; whoever takes an oath in the land will swear by the one true God. For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes.
New heavens and a new earth
17‘See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.18But be glad and rejoice for ever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.19I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.20‘Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; the one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails to reach[1] a hundred will be considered accursed.21They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.22No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands.23They will not labour in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them.24Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.25The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,’ says the Lord.
Isaiah 65
English Standard Version
Judgment and Salvation
1I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by[1] my name. (Isa 2:2; Isa 18:7; Isa 19:19; Isa 19:25; Zec 14:16; Ro 10:20; Eph 2:12)2I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; (Ro 10:21)3a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks; (Isa 1:29; Isa 57:3; Isa 66:17)4who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels; (Isa 66:17)5who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. (Isa 1:31; Isa 9:18)6Behold, it is written before me: “I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their lap (Ps 50:3; Ps 79:12; Jer 2:22; Jer 16:18; Jer 17:1)7both your iniquities and your fathers’ iniquities together, says the Lord; because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment for their former deeds.”[2] (Ex 20:5; Eze 20:27; Mt 23:35)8Thus says the Lord: “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,’ so I will do for my servants’ sake, and not destroy them all. (Isa 2:21; Isa 17:6)9I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah possessors of my mountains; my chosen shall possess it, and my servants shall dwell there. (Isa 27:6; Isa 37:31)10Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for my people who have sought me. (Jos 7:26; Isa 33:9; Isa 35:2; Isa 51:1; Ho 2:15)11But you who forsake the Lord, who forget my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny, (Jos 24:20; Isa 65:25; Eze 23:41; Joe 3:17; 1Co 10:21)12I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, because, when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in.” (Pr 1:24; Isa 66:4; Jer 7:13)13Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame; (Ps 22:26; Isa 55:1)14behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart and shall wail for breaking of spirit. (Ps 5:11)15You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse, and the Lord God will put you to death, but his servants he will call by another name, (De 28:37; Isa 62:2; Isa 65:9; Jer 29:22; Zec 8:13)16so that he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth, and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my eyes. (De 32:4; Isa 43:18; Jer 4:2)
New Heavens and a New Earth
17“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. (Isa 66:22; 2Pe 3:13; Re 21:1)18But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. (Jer 31:7)19I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. (Isa 35:10; Isa 62:5; Isa 66:10; Re 21:4)20No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. (Pr 3:2; Ec 8:12)21They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. (De 28:30; Eze 28:26)22They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy[3] the work of their hands. (Ps 92:12; Isa 65:21)23They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity,[4] for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them. (De 28:41; Ps 115:12; Isa 49:4; Isa 61:9)24Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. (Ps 32:5; Da 9:21)25The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord. (Ge 3:14; Isa 11:6; Isa 11:9; Mic 7:17)