Isaiah 65-66

International Standard Version

“Such people are smoke in my nostrils,
    a fire that keeps burning all day long.
⁶ Watch out! It stands written before me:
    ‘I won’t keep silent, but I will pay back in full;
        I’ll indeed repay into^[j] their laps
⁷ both your iniquities and your ancestors’^[k] iniquities together,’’
    says the Lord.
“Because they offered incense on the mountains
    and insulted me on hills,^[l]
I’ll measure into^[m] their laps
    full payment for their earlier actions.”

²⁰ “And^[ad] there will no longer be in it
    a young boy^[ae] who lives only a few days,
        or an old person who does not live out his days;
for one who dies at a hundred years will be thought a mere youth,
    and one who falls short of a hundred years will be considered accursed.
²¹ People^[af] will build houses and live in them;
    They’ll plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²² They won’t build for others to inhabit;
    they won’t plant for others to eat—
for like the lifetime^[ag] of a tree,^[ah] so will the lifetime^[ai] of my people be,
    and my chosen ones will long enjoy^[aj] the work of their hands.
²³ They won’t toil in vain
    nor bear children doomed to misfortune,
for they will be offspring blessed^[ak] by the Lord,
    they and their descendants with them.
²⁴ Before they call, I will answer,
    while they are still speaking, I’ll hear.

²⁵ “The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox;
but as for the serpent—
    its food will be dust!
They won’t harm or destroy
    on my entire holy mountain,”

“Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house^[al] that you would build for me,
    and where will my resting place be?
² All these things my hand has made,
    and so all these things came into being,”
        declares the Lord.
“But this is the one to whom I will look favorably:
    to the one who is humble and contrite in spirit,
        and who^[am] trembles at^[an] my message.

³ “Whoever slaughters an ox
    is just like^[ao] one who kills a human being;
whoever sacrifices a lamb
    is just like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever makes a grain offering
    is just like one who offers pig’s blood;
and whoever makes a memorial offering of frankincense
    is just like one who blesses an idol.
Yes, these have chosen their own ways,
    and they take delight in their contaminated actions.
⁴ Therefore^[ap] I, too, will choose harsh treatment for them,
    and will bring upon them what they dread.
For when I called, no^[aq] one answered;
    when I spoke, they didn’t listen;
but they did what I consider to be evil,
    and chose what doesn’t please me.”

“Your own brothers who hate you
    and exclude you because of my name
have said: ‘Let the Lord be glorified;
    he will see^[as] your joy,’
        yet it is they who will be put to shame.

⁶ “Listen to that uproar in^[at] the city!
    Listen to that noise from the Temple!
It is the sound of the Lord
    paying back retribution to his enemies!

⁷ “Before she goes into labor she gives birth;
    before her pains come upon her
        she has delivered^[au] a son.
⁸ Who has ever heard of such a thing?
    And^[av] who ever sees^[aw] such things?
Can a country be born in a single day,
    or can a nation be brought forth in a single moment?
Yet no sooner was Zion in labor
    than she delivered her children.
⁹ Am I to open the womb and not deliver?”
    asks^[ax] the Lord.
“And when I bring to delivery, am I to close^[ay] the womb?”
    asks your God.

¹⁰ “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be happy for her,
    all you who love her;
rejoice with her in gladness,
    all you who mourn over her,
¹¹ so that you may nurse and be satisfied
    at her consoling breasts,
and so that you may drink deeply and take delight
    from her glorious bosom.”

“See, I will extend prosperity to her like a river,
    and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;
and you will nurse,
    and you^[ba] will be carried on her hip,^[bb]
        and bounced upon her knees.
¹³ Like a child whom his mother comforts,
    so I will comfort you;
        and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.
¹⁴ And when you look, your hearts will rejoice
    and your bodies will flourish like grass;
and it will be made known
    that the Lord’s hand is with his servants,
        but his fury is with his enemies.

¹⁵ “Take notice! The Lord will come with fire,
    and his chariot^[bc] will be^[bd] like a whirlwind,
to pay back his anger—yes, his anger!—^[be] in fury,
    and his menacing rebukes^[bf] in flames of fire.
¹⁶ For with fire and with his sword the Lord will proceed to judgment^[bg] on all humanity,^[bh]
    and those slain by the Lord will be many.”

²² “For as the new heavens and the new earth
    that I am about to make
will endure before me,” says the Lord,
    “so will your descendants and your name endure.
²³ And from New Moon to New Moon,
    and from Sabbath to Sabbath,^[bx]
all^[by] humanity will come to worship before me,”
    says the Lord.