Isaiah 66
66
Judgment and hope
1This is what the Lord says:
‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me?
Where will my resting-place be?
2Has not my hand made all these things,
and so they came into being?’
declares the Lord.
‘These are the ones I look on with favour:
those who are humble and contrite in spirit,
and who tremble at my word.
3But whoever sacrifices a bull
is like one who kills a person,
and whoever offers a lamb
is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever makes a grain offering
is like one who presents pig’s blood,
and whoever burns memorial incense
is like one who worships an idol.
They have chosen their own ways,
and they delight in their abominations;
4so I also will choose harsh treatment for them
and will bring on them what they dread.
For when I called, no-one answered,
when I spoke, no-one listened.
They did evil in my sight
and chose what displeases me.’
5Hear the word of the Lord,
you who tremble at his word;
‘Your own people who hate you,
and exclude you because of my name, have said,
“Let the Lord be glorified,
that we may see your joy!”
Yet they will be put to shame.
6Hear that uproar from the city,
hear that noise from the temple!
It is the sound of the Lord
repaying his enemies all they deserve.
7‘Before she goes into labour,
she gives birth;
before the pains come upon her,
she delivers a son.
8Who has ever heard of such things?
Who has ever seen things like this?
Can a country be born in a day
or a nation be brought forth in a moment?
Yet no sooner is Zion in labour
than she gives birth to her children.
9Do I bring to the moment of birth
and not give delivery?’
says the Lord.
‘Do I close up the womb
when I bring to delivery?’
says your God.
10‘Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice greatly with her,
all you who mourn over her.
11For you will feed and be satisfied
at her comforting breasts;
you will drink deeply
and delight in her overflowing abundance.’
12For this is what the Lord says:
‘I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;
you will feed and be carried on her arm
and dandled on her knees.
13As a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you;
and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.’
14When you see this, your heart will rejoice
and you will flourish like grass;
the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants,
but his fury will be shown to his foes.
15See, the Lord is coming with fire,
and his chariots are like a whirlwind;
he will bring down his anger with fury,
and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16For with fire and with his sword
the Lord will execute judgment on all people,
and many will be those slain by the Lord.
17‘Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one who is among those who eat the flesh of pigs, rats and other unclean things – they will meet their end together with the one they follow,’ declares the Lord.
18‘And I, because of what they have planned and done, am about to come#66:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain. and gather the people of all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory.
19‘I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations – to Tarshish, to the Libyans#66:19 Some Septuagint manuscripts Put (Libyans); Hebrew Pul and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations. 20And they will bring all your people, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord – on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,’ says the Lord. ‘They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels. 21And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites,’ says the Lord.
22‘As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,’ declares the Lord, ‘so will your name and descendants endure. 23From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,’ says the Lord. 24‘And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.’
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®
Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.
Isaiah 66
66
1 Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What is this house that you would build for me? And what is this place of my rest?
2 My hand has made all these things, and all these things have been made, says the Lord. But upon whom will I look with favor, except upon a poor little one, who is contrite in spirit, and who trembles at my words?
3 Whoever immolates an ox, it is as if he slaughters a man. Whoever sacrifices a sheep, it is as if he is smashing the head of a dog. Whoever offers an oblation, it is as if he is offering swine's blood. Whoever makes remembrance with incense, it is as if he is blessing an idol. All these things, they have chosen according to their own ways, and their soul has taken delight in their own abominations.
4 Therefore, I also will choose their illusions, and I will lead over them the things that they feared. For I called, and there was no one who would respond. I have spoken, and they have not listened. And they have done evil in my eyes; and what I did not will, they have chosen.
5 Listen to the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word. Your brothers, who hate you and who cast you out because of my name, have said: "Let the Lord be glorified, and we will see by your rejoicing." But they themselves will be confounded.
6 A voice of the people from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the Lord repaying retribution to his enemies!
7 Before she was in labor, she gave birth. Before her time arrived for delivery, she gave birth to a male child.
8 Who has ever heard of such a thing? And who has seen anything like this? Will the earth give birth in one day? Or will a nation be born all at once? For Zion has been in labor, and she has given birth to her sons.
9 Will I, who causes others to give birth, not also give birth myself, says the Lord? Will I, who bestows generation upon others, be barren myself, says the Lord your God?
10 Rejoice with Jerusalem, and exult in her, all you who love her! Rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her!
11 So may you nurse and be filled, from the breasts of her consolations. So may you receive milk and overflow with delights, from every portion of her glory.
12 For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will turn a river of peace toward her, with an inundating torrent: the glory of the Gentiles, from which you will nurse. You will be carried at the breasts, and they will caress you upon the knees.
13 In the manner of one whom a mother caresses, so will I console you. And you will be consoled in Jerusalem.
14 You will see, and your heart will be glad, and your bones will flourish like a plant, and the hand of the Lord will be known to his servants, and he will be angry with his enemies.
15 For behold, the Lord will arrive with fire, and his four-horse chariots will be like a whirlwind: to render his wrath with indignation, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For the Lord will divide with fire, and with his sword among all flesh, and those slain by the Lord will be many.
17 Those who were sanctified, who thought themselves to be clean in the gardens behind the inner gate, who were eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse: they will be consumed all at once, says the Lord.
18 But I know their works and their thoughts. I am arriving, so that I may gather them together with all nations and languages. And they will approach, and they will see my glory.
19 And I will set a sign among them. And I will send some of those who will have been saved to the Gentiles in the sea, to Africa, and to those who draw the bow in Lydia, to Italy and Greece, to islands far away, to those who have not heard of me, and to those who have not seen my glory. And they will announce my glory to the Gentiles.
20 And they will lead all of your brothers from all of the Gentiles as a gift to the Lord, on horses, and in four-horse chariots, and on stretchers, and on mules, and in coaches, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, in the same manner that the sons of Israel would carry an offering in a pure vessel into the house of the Lord.
21 And I will take from them to be priests and Levites, says the Lord.
22 For in like manner as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will cause to stand before me, says the Lord, so will your offspring and your name stand.
23 And there will be month after month, and Sabbath after Sabbath. And all flesh will approach, so as to adore before my face, says the Lord.
24 And they will go out, and they will view the carcasses of the men who have transgressed against me. Their worm will not die, and their fire will not be extinguished. And they will be a sight to all flesh even unto revulsion.
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