Isaiah 65

Judgment and Salvation

1“I let myself be sought by those who did not ask;

I let myself be 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;

2I spread out my hands all day to a stubborn people,

those who walk after their thoughts in the way that is not good,

3the people who provoke#Literally “provoking” me to anger continually to my face,

slaughtering for sacrifices in the garden,

and making smoke offerings on bricks,

4who sit#Literally “sitting” in graves

and spend the night in secret places,#Literally “watches”

who eat#Literally “eating” the flesh of swine

with#Or “and” a fragment#The reading tradition (Qere) has “broth” of impurity in their vessels,

5who say,#Literally “saying” “Keep to yourself!#Literally “Come near to you”

You must not come near me, for I am too holy for you!”

These are a smoke in my nostrils,#Literally “nose”

a fire burning all day.

6Look! It is written before me: I will not be silent, but I will repay;

and I will repay in#Or “on” the fold of their garment

7your iniquities and the iniquities of your ancestors#Or “fathers” together, says Yahweh,

because they made smoke offerings on the mountains

and they taunted me on the hills,

I will measure their punishment from the beginning into the fold of their garment.”

8Thus says Yahweh: “Just as the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say ‘You must not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,’ so I will do for the sake of my servants by#Literally “to” not destroying everyone.#Literally “all”

9And I will bring descendant s#Hebrew “descendant” out from Jacob,

and a people#Literally “man” from Judah to take possession of my mountain,

and my chosen ones shall inherit it,

and my servants shall settle there.

10And Sharon shall become a pasture for#Literally “of” flocks,#Hebrew “flock”

and the valley of Achor a resting place for#Or “of” herds#Hebrew “herd”

for my people who have sought me.

11But#Or “and” you who forsake#Literally “forsaking” Yahweh,

forgetting my holy mountain,#Literally “the mountain of my holiness”

who set a table for Fortune,

and who pour out#Literally “fill” a jug of mixed wine for Destiny,

12and I will remit you to the sword,

and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,

because I called, but#Or “and” you did not answer;

I spoke, but#Or “and” you did not listen,

but#Or “and” you did the evil in my eyes,

and you chose that in which I do not delight.”

13Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“Look! My servants shall eat but#Or “and” you, you shall be hungry.

Look! My servants shall drink but#Or “and” you, you shall be thirsty.

Look! My servants shall rejoice but#Or “and” you, you shall be ashamed.

14Look! My servants shall shout for joy,#Literally “from goodness of heart” but#Or “and” you, you shall cry out for pain#Literally “from pain of heart” and howl for sadness.#Literally “from a breaking of the spirit”

15And you shall leave your name to my chosen ones as a curse,

and the Lord Yahweh will kill you, and he will give#Literally “call” his servants another name.

16Whoever blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of trustworthiness,

and the one who swears an oath in the land shall swear by the God of trustworthiness,

because the former troubles are forgotten,

and they are hidden from my eyes.

New Creation

17For look! I am about to create new heavens and a new earth,

and the former things shall not be remembered,

and they shall not come to mind.#Literally “go up to heart”

18But rejoice and shout in exultation forever and ever over what I am about to create!

For look! I am about to create Jerusalem as a source of rejoicing,

and her people as a source of joy.

19And I will shout in exultation over Jerusalem,

and I will rejoice over my people,

and the sound of weeping shall no longer be heard in it,

or#Or “and” the sound of a cry for help.

20There will no longer be a nursing infant who lives only a few#Literally “of” days,

or#Or “and” an old man who does not fill his days,

for the boy will die a hundred years old,#Literally “a son of a hundred year”

and the one who fails to reach#Literally “misses” a hundred years#Literally “a son of a hundred year” will be considered#Literally “treated” accursed.

21And they shall build houses and inhabit them,

and they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22They shall not build and another inhabit;

they shall not plant and another eat.

For the days of my people shall be like the days of a tree,

and my chosen ones shall enjoy the work of their hands.

23They shall not labor for nothing,

and they shall not give birth to horror,

for they shall be offspring blessed by#Literally “the offspring of the blessing of” Yahweh,

and their descendants with them.

24And this will happen: before they call, I myself will answer;

while still they are speaking, I myself will hear.