Isaiah 66
66
1This is what the Lord says:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Could you build me a temple as good as that?
Could you build me such a resting place?
2My hands have made both heaven and earth;
they and everything in them are mine.#66:2 As in Greek, Latin, and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads these things are.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
“I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts,
who tremble at my word.
3But those who choose their own ways—
delighting in their detestable sins—
will not have their offerings accepted.
When such people sacrifice a bull,
it is no more acceptable than a human sacrifice.
When they sacrifice a lamb,
it’s as though they had sacrificed a dog!
When they bring an offering of grain,
they might as well offer the blood of a pig.
When they burn frankincense,
it’s as if they had blessed an idol.
4I will send them great trouble—
all the things they feared.
For when I called, they did not answer.
When I spoke, they did not listen.
They deliberately sinned before my very eyes
and chose to do what they know I despise.”
5Hear this message from the Lord,
all you who tremble at his words:
“Your own people hate you
and throw you out for being loyal to my name.
‘Let the Lord be honored!’ they scoff.
‘Be joyful in him!’
But they will be put to shame.
6What is all the commotion in the city?
What is that terrible noise from the Temple?
It is the voice of the Lord
taking vengeance against his enemies.
7“Before the birth pains even begin,
Jerusalem gives birth to a son.
8Who has ever seen anything as strange as this?
Who ever heard of such a thing?
Has a nation ever been born in a single day?
Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment?
But by the time Jerusalem’s#66:8 Hebrew Zion’s. birth pains begin,
her children will be born.
9Would I ever bring this nation to the point of birth
and then not deliver it?” asks the Lord.
“No! I would never keep this nation from being born,”
says your God.
10“Rejoice with Jerusalem!
Be glad with her, all you who love her
and all you who mourn for her.
11Drink deeply of her glory
even as an infant drinks at its mother’s comforting breasts.”
12This is what the Lord says:
“I will give Jerusalem a river of peace and prosperity.
The wealth of the nations will flow to her.
Her children will be nursed at her breasts,
carried in her arms, and held on her lap.
13I will comfort you there in Jerusalem
as a mother comforts her child.”
14When you see these things, your heart will rejoice.
You will flourish like the grass!
Everyone will see the Lord’s hand of blessing on his servants—
and his anger against his enemies.
15See, the Lord is coming with fire,
and his swift chariots roar like a whirlwind.
He will bring punishment with the fury of his anger
and the flaming fire of his hot rebuke.
16The Lord will punish the world by fire
and by his sword.
He will judge the earth,
and many will be killed by him.
17“Those who ‘consecrate’ and ‘purify’ themselves in a sacred garden with its idol in the center—feasting on pork and rats and other detestable meats—will come to a terrible end,” says the Lord.
18“I can see what they are doing, and I know what they are thinking. So I will gather all nations and peoples together, and they will see my glory. 19I will perform a sign among them. And I will send those who survive to be messengers to the nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans#66:19a As in some Greek manuscripts, which read Put [that is, Libya]; Hebrew reads Pul. and Lydians#66:19b Hebrew Lud. (who are famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece,#66:19c Hebrew Javan. and to all the lands beyond the sea that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. There they will declare my glory to the nations. 20They will bring the remnant of your people back from every nation. They will bring them to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord. They will ride on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the Lord. 21“And I will appoint some of them to be my priests and Levites. I, the Lord, have spoken!
22“As surely as my new heavens and earth will remain,
so will you always be my people,
with a name that will never disappear,”
says the Lord.
23“All humanity will come to worship me
from week to week
and from month to month.
24And as they go out, they will see
the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me.
For the worms that devour them will never die,
and the fire that burns them will never go out.
All who pass by
will view them with utter horror.”
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Isaiah 66: NLT
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Isaiah 66
66
God’s Resting Place Is with the Humble
1This is what Yahweh says:
“The heavens are my throne # 66:1 The glorious God is too great to be limited to a literal chair-like throne. This “throne” is symbolic, a term meant to help us understand his great sovereignty and authority as ruler over all.
and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me? # 66:1 God rebukes the returning exiles for wanting to rebuild the temple and to restore the outward forms of worship with no intention of turning from their evil ways and having their hearts changed. God no longer dwells in man-made buildings but in God-shaped hearts of people who love, worship, and believe in him. See v. 2; 1 Kings 8:22–43; Acts 7:48; Eph. 2:19–22; Heb. 3:5–6.
Where is the place where I will rest?
2My hand made these things so they all belong to me,” declares Yahweh.
“But there is one my eyes are drawn to:
the humble one, the tender one, # 66:2 Or “the one bruised [crushed] in spirit.” the trembling one
who lives in awe of all I say.
3But the one who offers a bull with no humility
is like one who kills a man.
The one who offers a lamb without contrition
is like one who breaks a dog’s neck.
The one who brings grain offerings with no heart-purity
is like one who offers pig’s blood!
The one who offers incense with no sincerity
is like one who kisses # 66:3 Or “blesses.” an idol!
They have all chosen their own way, not mine,
and they take delight in these disgusting things!
4So I chose to punish # 66:4 Or “mock.” them
and to bring on them what they fear the most
because I called out to them and they ignored me.
I spoke and they did not listen
but did what is evil in my sight
and chose what I despise.”
5Hear the words of Yahweh, you who tremble at what he says:
“Shame on your own people,
who reject you and hate you,
claiming they do it for my sake.
For they mock you, saying,
‘May Yahweh be glorified; let us see you rejoice.’ ”
God Intervenes
6Listen! A sound of uproar is coming from the city
a sound from the temple!
It is the thunder # 66:6 Or “voice.” Ch. 40 begins with a thunderous voice in the wilderness; the book of Isaiah ends with a voice like thunder in his temple. of Yahweh
as he completely punishes his enemies!
7Zion gave birth suddenly, even before going into labor.
She delivered a son without any painful contractions.
8Who has ever seen or heard of such a wonder?
Could a country be born in a day?
Can a nation be birthed so suddenly? # 66:8 This actually happened with Israel being “reborn” as a nation in 1948. And it happened at Pentecost when the church, a holy nation, was birthed by the Holy Spirit. See Acts 2:1–4.
Yet no sooner does Zion go into labor
than she gives birth to sons!
9Yahweh, your God, says,
“Do I allow you to conceive and not to give birth?
Do I shut the womb when I’m the one who delivers?”
10So rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her!
All who love her, join in with her great joy,
especially those who remember her grief!
11You, her children, will drink the milk of her prosperity
and nurse with delight from her glorious abundance!
12For Yahweh says:
“I will extend to her prosperity like a river
and the wealth of gentiles like a flooding river.
You will nurse from her breast, be cradled in her arms,
and delightfully bounced on her knees.
13As a mother tenderly comforts her child,
so will I tenderly comfort you,
and you will find comfort in Jerusalem.”
Judgment by Fire and Sword
14When you feast your eyes on this,
your heart will leap for joy and be revived;
your body will flourish and sprout like grass. # 66:14 Or “Your bones [a metaphor for your inner being] will sprout like grass [flourish].” Some commentators view this as physical health and well-being.
The mighty power # 66:14 Or “hand,” a metaphor for his power and anointing. of Yahweh will be revealed,
resting on his servants,
but his fury will be shown to his enemies!
15Look! Yahweh is coming as a raging fire
and his chariots like a whirlwind # 66:15 See 2 Kings 2:1–18; Ezek. 1:4–28.
to unleash his anger with fiery fury
and with the fiery lightning of his rebuke! # 66:15 See Zech. 9:14; Heb. 12:29.
16For with fire # 66:16 See Jer. 23:29–32. and with his sword # 66:16 See Heb. 4:12.
Yahweh will judge # 66:16 Or “contend” or “plead.” See Amos 7:4–6. humanity—
many will be the slain of Yahweh!
17“The end is near for those who ‘consecrate’ and ‘purify’ themselves to enter their cultic groves! They go in procession one after another into their ceremonies. They eat disgusting foods—pork, mice, and rodents. 18I despise their evil works # 66:18 See Gal. 5:19–21. and their thoughts,” # 66:18 Or “imaginations.” The works and thoughts of fallen humanity can be compared to the “mark (character) of the beast” on the hands (works) and the foreheads (thoughts, mindsets) of people. See Acts 17:29; Rev. 13:13–18. says Yahweh.
God’s Reign
“The time is coming for me to gather people together from all over the world, # 66:18 Or “nations and tongues.” See Acts 2:5–12. and they will come and gaze on my radiance. 19I will set an amazing sign # 66:19 To “set a sign” is likely a figure of speech for “to display a mighty miracle.” This Hebrew phrase is also found in Ps. 78:43 and Jer. 32:20. In the book of Acts, the miracle-sign God set among his people was the Holy Spirit, who sent out laborers into the harvest fields of the nations. among them. I will send some of the remnant to other nations—to Tarshish, Put, # 66:19 Or “Pul.” Put is modern-day Libya. Lud # 66:19 Lud is Lydia in modern-day western Turkey. (known for its archers), # 66:19 Or possibly Meshech, a region frequently associated with Tubal, which could be a reference to Russia (Moscow). Tubal, # 66:19 Ancient Tubal is comprised of much of modern-day Turkey. Javan, # 66:19 Javan was the son of Japheth and the grandson of Noah. This is a likely metonymy referring to modern-day Greece. and distant islands that have never heard of my fame nor gazed on my glory. They will declare my glory among the gentiles! 20And they will bring back from the nations your own people as an offering to me,” says Yahweh.
“They will come on horseback, in chariots, in wagons, on mules and camels to my holy mountain, Jerusalem,” says Yahweh. “In the same way my people bring a grain offering in a sacred vessel to the temple, they will be brought as grain offerings to my holy mountain, Jerusalem, as a holy offering to me. 21And some of them I will appoint as Levitical priests,” says Yahweh.
22This is what Yahweh declares: “The new heavens and the new earth that I am making will remain and endure before me in the same way your offspring # 66:22 Or “seed.” and your name will endure. 23From one Sabbath to the next, one month to the next, one year to the next, all humanity will come to worship me!
24“They will go out of the city and see the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me. For their worm will not die # 66:24 This is likely a figure of speech for unending suffering. Some equate the “worm” with the guilty conscience. See Mark 9:48. and their fire will never go out. # 66:24 It is possible that this refers to a mass burial site where maggots continue to eat flesh and fire burns continually with corpses. Some see this as having been fulfilled by the slaughter of Israel’s enemies during the time of the Maccabees, others as a view toward a future slaughter, and still others as a description of hell. And they will be abhorrent to humanity.” # 66:24 Or “all flesh,” the last words of Isaiah. It is a long-held Jewish tradition that Isaiah was placed inside a hollow tree and sawn in two by the order of King Manasseh. The book of Isaiah is likewise “sawn in two” by theologians with theories of two or more authors.
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