Isaiah 66
66
True Worship and False
1Thus says the Lord:
#1 Kin. 8:27; 2 Chr. 6:18; Ps. 11:4; Matt. 5:34; Acts 17:24“Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
2For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the Lord.
#Ps. 34:18; (Is. 57:15; 61:1; Matt. 5:3, 4; Luke 18:13, 14)“But on this one will I look:
#Ps. 34:18; 51:17On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.
3“He#(Is. 1:10–17; 58:1–7; Mic. 6:7, 8) who kills a bull is as if he slays a man;
He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he #Deut. 23:18breaks a dog’s neck;
He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine’s blood;
He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol.
Just as they have chosen their own ways,
And their soul delights in their abominations,
4So will I choose their delusions,
And bring their fears on them;
#Prov. 1:24; Is. 65:12; Jer. 7:13Because, when I called, no one answered,
When I spoke they did not hear;
But they did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight.”
The Lord Vindicates Zion
5Hear the word of the Lord,
You who tremble at His word:
“Your brethren who #Ps. 38:20; Is. 60:15; (Luke 6:22, 23)hated you,
Who cast you out for My name’s sake, said,
#Is. 5:19‘Let the Lord be glorified,
That #(2 Thess. 1:10; Titus 2:13)we may see your joy.’
But they shall be ashamed.”
6The sound of noise from the city!
A voice from the temple!
The voice of the Lord,
Who fully repays His enemies!
7“Before she was in labor, she gave birth;
Before her pain came,
She delivered a male child.
8Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labor,
She gave birth to her children.
9Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord.
“Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God.
10“Rejoice with Jerusalem,
And be glad with her, all you who love her;
Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;
11That you may feed and be satisfied
With the consolation of her bosom,
That you may drink deeply and be delighted
With the abundance of her glory.”
12For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, #Is. 48:18; 60:5I will extend peace to her like a river,
And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream.
Then you shall #Is. 60:16feed;
On her sides shall you be #Is. 49:22; 60:4carried,
And be dandled on her knees.
13As one whom his mother comforts,
So I will #Is. 51:3; (2 Cor. 1:3, 4)comfort you;
And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
The Reign and Indignation of God
14When you see this, your heart shall rejoice,
And #Ezek. 37:1your bones shall flourish like grass;
The hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants,
And His indignation to His enemies.
15#Is. 9:5; (2 Thess. 1:8)For behold, the Lord will come with fire
And with His chariots, like a whirlwind,
To render His anger with fury,
And His rebuke with flames of fire.
16For by fire and by #Is. 27:1His sword
The Lord will judge all flesh;
And the slain of the Lord shall be #Is. 34:6many.
17“Those#Is. 65:3–8 who sanctify themselves and purify themselves,
To go to the gardens
After an idol in the midst,
Eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse,
Shall be consumed together,” says the Lord.
18“For I know their works and their #Is. 59:7thoughts. It shall be that I will #Is. 45:22–25; Jer. 3:17gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory. 19#Luke 2:34I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. #Mal. 1:11And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. 20Then they shall #Is. 49:22bring all your brethren #Is. 18:7; (Rom. 15:16)for an offering to the Lord out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. 21And I will also take some of them for #Ex. 19:6; Is. 61:6; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
22“For as #Is. 65:17; Heb. 12:26, 27; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1the new heavens and the new earth
Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord,
“So shall your descendants and your name remain.
23And #Zech. 14:16it shall come to pass
That from one New Moon to another,
And from one Sabbath to another,
#Zech. 14:17–21All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord.
24“And they shall go forth and look
Upon the corpses of the men
Who have transgressed against Me.
For their #Is. 14:11; Mark 9:44, 46, 48worm does not die,
And their fire is not quenched.
They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
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Isaiah 66: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 66
66
The Lord Will Judge All Nations
1This is what the Lord says:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
So do you think you can build a house for me?
Do I need a place to rest?
2My hand made all things.
All things are here because I made them,”
says the Lord.
“These are the people I am pleased with:
those who are not proud or stubborn
and who fear my word.
3But those people who kill bulls as a sacrifice to me
are like those who kill people.
Those who kill sheep as a sacrifice
are like those who break the necks of dogs.
Those who give me grain offerings
are like those who offer me the blood of pigs.
Those who burn incense
are like those who worship idols.
These people choose their own ways, not mine,
and they love the terrible things they do.
4So I will choose their punishments,
and I will punish them with what they fear most.
This is because I called to them, but they did not listen.
I spoke to them, but they did not hear me.
They did things I said were evil;
they chose to do things I did not like.”
5You people who obey the words of the Lord,
listen to what he says:
“Your brothers hated you
and turned against you because you followed me.
Your brothers said, ‘Let the Lord be honored
so we may see you rejoice,’
but they will be punished.
6Listen to the loud noise coming from the city;
hear the noise from the Temple.
It is the Lord punishing his enemies,
giving them the punishment they should have.
7“A woman does not give birth before she feels the pain;
she does not give birth to a son before the pain starts.
8No one has ever heard of that happening;
no one has ever seen that happen.
In the same way no one ever saw a country begin in one day;
no one has ever heard of a new nation beginning in one moment.
But Jerusalem will give birth to her children
just as soon as she feels the birth pains.
9In the same way I will not cause pain
without allowing something new to be born,” says the Lord.
“If I cause you the pain,
I will not stop you from giving birth to your new nation,” says your God.
10“Jerusalem, rejoice.
All you people who love Jerusalem, be happy.
Those of you who felt sad for Jerusalem
should now feel happy with her.
11You will take comfort from her and be satisfied,
as a child is nursed by its mother.
You will receive her good things
and enjoy her wealth.”
12This is what the Lord says:
“I will give her peace that will flow to her like a river.
The wealth of the nations will come to her like a river overflowing its banks.
Like babies you will be nursed and held in my arms
and bounced on my knees.
13I will comfort you
as a mother comforts her child.
You will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
14When you see these things, you will be happy,
and you will grow like the grass.
The Lord’s servants will see his power,
but his enemies will see his anger.
15Look, the Lord is coming with fire
and his armies with clouds of dust.
He will punish those people with his anger;
he will punish them with flames of fire.
16The Lord will judge the people with fire,
and he will destroy many people with his sword;
he will kill many people.
17“These people make themselves holy and pure to go to worship their gods in their gardens. Following each other into their special gardens, they eat the meat of pigs and rats and other hateful things. But they will all be destroyed together,” says the Lord.
18“I know they have evil thoughts and do evil things, so I am coming to punish them. I will gather all nations and all people, and they will come together and see my glory.
19“I will put a mark on some of the people, and I will send some of these saved people to the nations: to Tarshish, Libya, Lud (the land of archers), Tubal, Greece, and all the faraway lands. These people have never heard about what I have done nor seen my glory. So the saved people will tell the nations about my glory. 20And they will bring all your fellow Israelites from all nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem. Your fellow Israelites will come on horses, donkeys, and camels and in chariots and wagons. They will be like the grain offerings that the people bring in clean containers to the Temple,” says the Lord. 21“And I will choose even some of these people to be priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
22“I will make new heavens and the new earth, which will last forever,” says the Lord. “In the same way, your names and your children will always be with me. 23All people will come to worship me every Sabbath and every New Moon,” says the Lord. 24“They will go out and see the dead bodies of the people who sinned against me. The worms that eat them will never die, and the fires that burn them will never stop, and everyone will hate to see those bodies.”
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.