¹⁷ For see, I am creating new heavens and a new earth—so wonderful that no one will even think about the old ones anymore. ¹⁸ Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation. Look! I will re-create Jerusalem as a place of happiness, and her people shall be a joy! ¹⁹ And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and in my people; and the voice of weeping and crying shall not be heard there anymore.

²⁰ No longer will babies die when only a few days old; no longer will men be considered old at 100! Only sinners will die that young! ^21-22 In those days, when a man builds a house, he will keep on living in it—it will not be destroyed by invading armies as in the past. My people will plant vineyards and eat the fruit themselves—their enemies will not confiscate it. For my people will live as long as trees and will long enjoy their hard-won gains. ²³ Their harvests will not be eaten by their enemies; their children will not be born to be cannon fodder. For they are the children of those the Lord has blessed; and their children, too, shall be blessed. ²⁴ I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking to me about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers! ²⁵ The wolf and lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw as the ox does, and poisonous snakes shall strike no more!^[a] In those days nothing and no one shall be hurt or destroyed in all my holy mountain, says the Lord.

5 For we know that when this tent we live in now is taken down—when we die and leave these bodies—we will have wonderful new bodies in heaven, homes that will be ours forevermore, made for us by God himself and not by human hands.