Isaiah 65

Modern

Literal

Judgments and Promises

¹“I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me;

I was found by those who did not seek Me.^a

To a nation that did not call My name,

I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

¹“I was sought by those who did not ask; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, Behold me! Behold me!’ To a nation not calling on My Name.

²All day long I have held out My hands

to an obstinate people^a

who walk in the wrong path,

who follow their own imaginations,

²I have spread out My hands all the day to a rebellious people, those walking a way not good, after their thoughts;

³to a people who continually provoke Me to My face,

sacrificing in the gardens

and burning incense on altars of brick,

³the people provoking Me to my face continually, offering sacrifices in the gardens and burning incense on the bricks,

⁴sitting among the graves,

spending nights in secret places,

eating the meat of pigs

and polluted broth from their bowls.

⁴sitting among the graves and spending nights in lookouts, those eating the flesh of swine and the broth of of abominations in their vessels;

⁵They say, ‘Keep to yourself;

do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’

Such people are smoke in My nostrils,

a fire that burns all day long.

⁵those saying, ‘Keep yourself away; do not come near to me, for I am set apart from you’—these are smoke in My nostrils, a fire burning all the day!

⁶Behold, it is written before Me:

I will not keep silent, but I will repay;

I will pay it back into their laps,

⁶Behold, it is written before My face, and I will not keep silent, but I will repay, and I will pay it back into their bosom,

⁷both for your iniquities

and for those of your fathers,”

says the LORD.

“Because they burned incense on the mountains

and scorned Me on the hills,

I will measure into their laps

full payment for their former deeds.”

⁷your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together.” YHWH has said. “Because they have burned incense on the mountains, and on the hills they have scorned Me, so I will measure out their wages first into their bosom.”

⁸This is what the LORD says:

“As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes,

and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’

so I will act on behalf of My servants;

I will not destroy them all.

⁸Thus says YHWH: “As when the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, ‘You should not destroy it, for blessing is’ in it, so will I do for the sake of My servants, so as not to destroy them all.

⁹And I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,

and heirs from Judah;

My elect will possess My mountains,^a

and My servants will dwell there.

⁹And I will bring forth from Jacob a seed, and from Judah one inheriting My mountains; and My chosen ones will inherit it, and My servants will dwell there.

¹⁰Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,

and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,

for My people who seek Me.

¹⁰And Sharon will become as a habitation for the flock, and the Valley of Achor as a resting place for herds, for my people who have sought Me.

¹¹But you who forsake the LORD,

who forget My holy mountain,

who set a table for Fortune^a

and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,^b

¹¹And you forsaking YHWH, those forgetful of My holy mountain, of those arranging a table for Gad, and those filling mixed wine for Meni—

¹²I will destine you for the sword,

and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered,

because I called and you did not answer,

I spoke and you did not listen;

you did evil in My sight

and chose that in which I did not delight.”

¹²and I will appoint you for the sword, and you will all bow down to the slaughter, because I called, and you did not answer; I spoke, and you did not hear; and you did evil in My eyes, and you chose that in which I do not take delight.”

¹³Therefore this is what the Lord GOD 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.

¹³Therefore thus says the Lord YHWH: “Behold, My servants will eat, and you will go hungry. Behold, My servants will drink, and you will go thirsty. Behold, My servants will be glad, and you will be put to shame.

¹⁴My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart,

but you will cry out with a heavy heart

and wail with a broken spirit.

¹⁴Behold, My servants will sing out from goodness of heart, and you will cry out from pain of heart, and from a breaking of spirit you will wail.

¹⁵You will leave behind your name

as a curse for My chosen ones,

and the Lord GOD will slay you;

but to His servants He will give another name.

¹⁵And you will leave behind your name as a curse for My chosen ones—and the Lord YHWH will slay you!—And to His servants He will call out another name,

¹⁶Whoever invokes a blessing in the land

will do so by the God of truth,

and whoever takes an oath in the land

will swear by the God of truth.

For the former troubles will be forgotten

and hidden from My sight.

¹⁶that one blessing himself in the land will bless himself by the God of truth, and the one swearing in the land will swear by the God of truth; for the former troubles will be forgotten, for they will be hidden from My eyes.

A New Heaven and a New Earth

¹⁷For behold, I will create

new heavens and a new earth.^a

The former things will not be remembered,

nor will they come to mind.

¹⁷For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered, and they will not come up upon the heart.

¹⁸But be glad and rejoice forever

in what I create;

for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy

and its people to be a delight.

¹⁸But rather be glad and rejoice forever and ever in that which I am creating! For behold, I am creating Jerusalem as rejoicing and her people as joy.

¹⁹I will rejoice in Jerusalem

and take delight in My people.

The sounds of weeping and crying

will no longer be heard in her.

¹⁹And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people; and will not be heard in her any longer the voice of weeping and the voice of crying out.

²⁰No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days,

or an old man fail to live out his years.

For the youth will die at a hundred years,

and he who fails to reach a hundred

will be considered accursed.

²⁰There will not be from there anymore an infant of days, or an elder who does not fulfill his days. For the youth will die a son of a hundred years, a son, and the one falling short of a hundred years old will be accursed.

²¹They will build houses and dwell in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

²¹And they build houses and dwell, and they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

²²No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit,

nor plant for others to eat.

For as is the lifetime of a tree,

so will be the days of My people,

and My chosen ones will fully enjoy

the work of their hands.

²²And they will not build, and another dwell there; they will not plant, and another eat; for like the days of a tree are the days of My people, and the work of their hands my chosen ones will wear out.

²³They will not labor in vain

or bear children doomed to disaster;

for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—

they and their descendants with them.

²³They will not toil in vain, and they will not bring forth for disaster; for they are a seed blessed of YHWH—they and their offspring with them.

²⁴Even before they call, I will answer,

and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

²⁴And it will come to pass that before they call, then I will answer; and while they are still speaking, then I will hear.

²⁵The wolf and the lamb will feed together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox,

but the food of the serpent^a will be dust.

They will neither harm nor destroy

on all My holy mountain,”

says the LORD.

²⁵The wolf and the lamb will pasture as one, and the lion like the ox will eat straw—and the serpent, dust is its food! They will not cause harm and they will not destroy in all My holy” mountain, says YHWH.