Isaiah 65

¹I have been ready to give an answer to those who did not make prayer to me; I have been offering myself to those who were not searching for me; I said, Here am I, here am I, to a nation which gave no respect to my name.

²All day my hands have been stretched out to an uncontrolled people, who go in an evil way, after the purposes of their hearts;

³A people who make me angry every day, making offerings in gardens, and burning perfumes on bricks.

⁴Who are seated in the resting-places of the dead, and by night are in the secret places; who take pig's flesh for food, and have the liquid of disgusting things in their vessels.

⁵Who say, Keep away, do not come near me, for fear that I make you holy: these are a smoke in my nose, a fire burning all day.

⁶See, it is recorded before me, says the Lord: I will not keep back my hand, till I have sent punishment,

⁷For their sins and the sins of their fathers, who were burning perfumes on the mountains, and saying evil things against me on the hills: so I will take the measure of their sins, and will send the punishment for them into their breast.

⁸This is the word of the Lord: As the new wine is seen in the grapes, and they say, Do not send destruction on it, for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants, in order that I may not put an end to them all.

⁹And I will take a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah one who will have my mountains for a heritage: and the people I have taken to be mine will have it for themselves, and my servants will have their resting-place there.

¹⁰And Sharon will be a grass-land for the flocks, and the valley of Achor a resting-place for the herds: for my people whose hearts have been turned back to me.

¹¹But as for you who have given up the Lord, who have no care for my holy mountain, who get ready a table for Chance, and make offerings of mixed wine to Fate;

¹²Your fate will be the sword, and you will all go down to death: because when my voice came to you, you made no answer; you did not give ear to my word; but you did what was evil in my eyes, desiring what was not pleasing to me.

¹³For this cause says the Lord God, My servants will have food, but you will be in need of food: my servants will have drink, but you will be dry: my servants will have joy, but you will be shamed:

¹⁴My servants will make songs in the joy of their hearts, but you will be crying for sorrow, and making sounds of grief from a broken spirit.

¹⁵And your name will become a curse to my people, and the Lord God will put you to death, and give his servants another name:

¹⁶So that he who is requesting a blessing will make use of the name of the true God, and he who takes an oath will do so by the true God; because the past troubles are gone out of mind, and because they are covered from my eyes.

¹⁷For see, I am making a new heaven and a new earth: and the past things will be gone completely out of mind.

¹⁸But men will be glad and have joy for ever in what I am making; for I am making Jerusalem a delight, and her people a joy.

¹⁹And I will be glad over Jerusalem, and have joy in my people: and the voice of weeping will no longer be sounding in her, or the voice of grief.

²⁰No longer will there be there a child whose days are cut short, or an old man whose days have not come to their full measure: for the young man at his death will be a hundred years old, and he whose life is shorter than a hundred years will seem as one cursed.

²¹And they will be building houses and living in them; planting vine-gardens and getting the fruit of them.

²²They will no longer be building for the use of others, or planting for others to have the fruit: for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my loved ones will have joy in full measure in the work of their hands.

²³Their work will not be for nothing, and they will not give birth to children for destruction; for they are a seed to whom the Lord has given his blessing, and their offspring will be with them.

²⁴And before they make their request I will give an answer, and while they are still making prayer to me, I will give ear.

²⁵The wolf and the lamb will take their food together, and the lion will make a meal of grass like the ox: but dust will be the snake's food. There will be no cause of pain or destruction in all my holy mountain, says the Lord.

Isaiah 65

¹"I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. I was near to 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 have spread out my hands all the day to a disobedient and obstinate people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts;

³a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks;

⁴who sit among the graves, and lodge in the secret places; who eat pig's flesh, and the broth of abominable things is in their vessels;

⁵who say, Stand by yourself, do not come near to me, for I am holier than you. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all the day.

⁶"Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, yes, I will recompense into their bosom,

⁷your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together," says the Lord, "who have burned incense on the mountains, and blasphemed me on the hills; therefore will I first measure their work into their bosom."

⁸Thus says the Lord, "As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, 'Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it:' so will I do for my servants' sake, that I may not destroy them all.

⁹I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains; and my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.

¹⁰Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for my people who have sought me.

¹¹"But you who forsake the Lord, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny;

¹²I will destine you to the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen; but you did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I did not delight."

¹³Therefore thus says the Lord God, "Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be disappointed;

¹⁴behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for anguish of spirit.

¹⁵You shall leave your name for a curse to my chosen; and the Lord God will kill you; and he will call his servants by another name:

¹⁶so that he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes.

¹⁷"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

¹⁸But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

¹⁹I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and there shall be heard in her no more the voice of weeping and the voice of crying.

²⁰"There shall be no more there an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.

²¹They 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 as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

²³They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.

²⁴It shall happen that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

²⁵The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain," says the Lord.