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Isaiah 64-66
GOD’S WORD Translation
Isaiah 64-66
GOD’S WORD Translation
64 [a]If only you would split open the heavens and come down!
The mountains would quake at your presence.
2 Be like the fire that kindles brushwood and makes water boil.
Come down to make your name known to your enemies.
The nations will tremble in your presence.
3 When you did awe-inspiring things that we didn’t expect,
you came down and the mountains quaked in your presence.
4 No one has ever heard,
no one has paid attention,
and no one has seen any god except you.
You help those who wait for you.
5 You greeted the one who gladly does right and remembers your ways.
You showed your anger, because we’ve sinned.
We’ve continued to sin for a long time.
Can we still be saved?
6 We’ve all become unclean,[b]
and all our righteous acts are like permanently stained rags.
All of us shrivel like leaves,
and our sins carry us away like the wind.
7 No one calls on your name
or tries to hold on to you.
You have hidden your face from us.
You have let us be ruined by our sins.
8 But now, Lord, you are our Father.
We are the clay, and you are our potter.
We are the work of your hands.
9 Don’t be too angry, Lord.
Don’t remember our sin forever.
Now look, we are all your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a desert.
Zion has become a desert.
Jerusalem is a wasteland.
11 Our holy and beautiful temple, where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned to the ground.
All that we valued has been ruined.
12 Despite these things, Lord, will you hold back?
Will you be silent and make us suffer more than we can bear?
The Lord Answers His People’s Prayer
65 I was ready to answer those who didn’t ask.
I was found by those who weren’t looking for me.
I said, “Here I am! Here I am!”
to a nation that didn’t worship me.
2 I stretched out my hands all day long to stubborn people.
They chose to go the wrong direction.
They followed their own plans.
3 These people constantly and openly provoked me.
They offered sacrifices in gardens
and burnt incense on brick altars.
4 They sat among the graves and spent their nights in caves.
They ate pork and in their pots made broth from unclean foods.
5 They said, “Stay away! Don’t touch me!
I’m holier than you are.”
They have become like smoke in my nose,
like a smoldering fire all day long.
6 “Look! It is written in front of me.
I will not be silent, but I will repay.
I will repay you in full.
7 I will repay you for your sins
and for the sins of your ancestors,” says the Lord.
They burnt incense on the mountains and slandered me on the hills,
so I will be the first to pay them back in full.
8 This is what the Lord says:
When someone finds juice for new wine in a cluster of grapes,
another person will say,
“Don’t destroy it, because there’s a blessing in it.”
In the same way, I will do this for my servants:
I will not destroy everything.
9 I will bring ⌞with me⌟ Jacob’s descendant,
one who will inherit my mountains from Judah.
My chosen ones will inherit them.
My servants will live there.
10 The Sharon Plain will be a pasture for flocks.
The Achor Valley will be a resting place for cattle
and for my people who search for me.
11 You have abandoned the Lord
and forgotten my holy mountain.
You have prepared a table for the god of good fortune
and offered cups full of spiced wine to the goddess of destiny.
12 Now I will destine you for death.
All of you will bow to be slaughtered.
I called, but you didn’t answer.
I spoke, but you didn’t listen.
You did what I consider evil.
You chose what I don’t like.
13 This is what the Lord God says:
My servants will eat, but you will be hungry.
My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty.
My servants will be glad, but you will be ashamed.
14 My servants will sing because of the gladness in their hearts.
But you will cry because of your sadness
and wail because of your depression.
15 Your name will be used as a curse by my chosen ones.
The Almighty Lord will kill you
and call his servants by another name.
16 Whoever asks for a blessing in the land
will be blessed by the God of Truth.
Whoever swears an oath in the land
will swear by the God of Truth.
Past troubles are forgotten.
They are hidden from my eyes.
17 I will create a new heaven and a new earth.
Past things will not be remembered.
They will not come to mind.
18 Be glad, and rejoice forever in what I’m going to create,
because I’m going to create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people to be a joy.
19 I will rejoice about Jerusalem and be glad about my people.
Screaming and crying will no longer be heard in the city.
20 There will no longer be an infant who lives for only a few days
or an old man who doesn’t live a long life.
Whoever lives to be a hundred years old will be thought of as young.
Whoever dies before he is a hundred years old will be cursed as a sinner.
21 They will build houses and live there.
They will plant vineyards and eat fruit from them.
22 They will not build homes and have others live there.
They will not plant and have others eat from it.
My people will live as long as trees,
and my chosen ones will enjoy what they’ve done.
23 They will never again work for nothing.
They will never again give birth to children who die young,
because they will be offspring blessed by the Lord.
The Lord will bless their descendants as well.
24 Before they call, I will answer.
While they’re still speaking, I will hear.
25 Wolves and lambs will feed together,
lions will eat straw like oxen,
and dust will be food for snakes.
“They will not hurt or destroy anyone anywhere on my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
The People of the Lord’s New Creation
66 This is what the Lord says:
Heaven is my throne.
The earth is my footstool.
Where can you build a house or resting place for me?
2 I have made all these things.
“That is why all these things have come into being,”
declares the Lord.
I will pay attention to those
who are humble and sorry ⌞for their sins⌟
and who tremble at my word.
3 Whoever kills a bull is like someone who kills a person.
Whoever sacrifices a lamb is like someone who breaks a dog’s neck.
Whoever offers a grain sacrifice
is like someone who ⌞offers⌟ pig’s blood.
Whoever burns incense is like someone who worships an idol.
People have certainly chosen their own ways,
and their souls delight in detestable things.
4 So I will choose harsh treatment for them
and bring on them what they fear.
I called, but no one answered.
I spoke, but they didn’t listen.
They did what I consider evil.
They chose what I don’t like.
5 Listen to the Lord’s word, all who tremble at his word.
Your relatives, who hate you and exclude you for my name’s sake, say,
“Let the Lord show his glory; then we will see your joy.”
But they will be put to shame.
6 Listen to the uproar from the city.
Listen to the sound from the temple.
It is the sound of the Lord
paying back his enemies as they deserve.
7 Before a woman goes into labor, she gives birth.
Before she has labor pains, she delivers a child.
8 Who has heard of such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Can a country be born in one day?
Can a nation be born in a moment?
When Zion went into labor,
she also gave birth to her children.
9 “Do I bring a mother to the moment of birth
and not let her deliver?” asks the Lord.
“Do I cause a mother to deliver
and then make her unable to have children?” asks your God.
10 All who love Jerusalem, be happy and rejoice with her.
All who mourn for her, be glad with her.
11 You will nurse and be satisfied from her comforting breasts.
You will nurse to your heart’s delight at her full breasts.
12 This is what the Lord says:
I will offer you peace like a river
and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream.
You will nurse and be carried in Jerusalem’s arms
and cuddled on her knees.
13 As a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you.
You will be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 When you see it, your heart will rejoice
and you will flourish like new grass.
The power of the Lord will be made known to his servants,
but he will condemn his enemies.
15 The Lord will come with fire
and with his chariots like a thunderstorm.
He will pay them back with his burning anger
and punish them with flames of fire.
16 The Lord will judge with fire,
and he will judge all people with his sword.
Many people will be struck dead by the Lord.
17 People make themselves holy
and prepare themselves for their garden rituals.
They go into the garden
and devour pork, disgusting things, and mice.
“They will come to an end at the same time,”
declares the Lord.
18 Because of their actions and their thoughts,
I am coming to gather the nations of every language.
They will come and see my glory.
19 I will set up a sign among them
and send some of their survivors to the nations:
to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Meshech, Rosh, Tubal, Javan,
and to the distant coastlands
who have not heard of my fame or seen my glory.
They will tell about my glory among the nations.
20 They will bring all your relatives
from every nation like a grain offering to the Lord.
“They will come on horses, in chariots, in wagons,
on mules and camels to my holy mountain, Jerusalem,”
declares the Lord.
They will come like the people of Israel who bring
their grain offerings in clean dishes to the Lord’s temple.
21 “I will make some of them priests and Levites,” declares the Lord.
22 “The new heaven and earth that I am about to make
will continue in my presence,” declares the Lord.
“So your descendants and your name
will also continue in my presence.
23 From one month to the next and from one week to the next
all people will come to worship me,” declares the Lord.
24 Then they will go out
and look at the corpses of those who have rebelled against me.
The worms that eat them will not die.
The fire that burns them will not go out.
All humanity will be disgusted by them.
Footnotes
- 64:1 Isaiah 64:1–12 in English Bibles is Isaiah 63:19b–64:11 in the Hebrew Bible.
- 64:6 “Unclean ” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is not presentable to God.
Isaiah 64-66
New International Version
Isaiah 64-66
New International Version
64 [a]Oh, that you would rend the heavens(A) and come down,(B)
that the mountains(C) would tremble before you!
2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze
and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name(D) known to your enemies
and cause the nations to quake(E) before you!
3 For when you did awesome(F) things that we did not expect,
you came down, and the mountains trembled(G) before you.
4 Since ancient times no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,(H)
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.(I)
5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right,(J)
who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
you were angry.(K)
How then can we be saved?
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,(L)
and all our righteous(M) acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,(N)
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.(O)
7 No one(P) calls on your name(Q)
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden(R) your face from us
and have given us over(S) to[b] our sins.
8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father.(T)
We are the clay, you are the potter;(U)
we are all the work of your hand.(V)
9 Do not be angry(W) beyond measure, Lord;
do not remember our sins(X) forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
for we are all your people.(Y)
10 Your sacred cities(Z) have become a wasteland;
even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.(AA)
11 Our holy and glorious temple,(AB) where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned with fire,
and all that we treasured(AC) lies in ruins.
12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?(AD)
Will you keep silent(AE) and punish us beyond measure?
Judgment and Salvation
65 “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
I was found by those who did not seek me.(AF)
To a nation(AG) that did not call on my name,(AH)
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
2 All day long I have held out my hands
to an obstinate people,(AI)
who walk in ways not good,
pursuing their own imaginations(AJ)—
3 a people who continually provoke me
to my very face,(AK)
offering sacrifices in gardens(AL)
and burning incense(AM) on altars of brick;
4 who sit among the graves(AN)
and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,(AO)
and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
5 who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
for I am too sacred(AP) for you!’
Such people are smoke(AQ) in my nostrils,
a fire that keeps burning all day.
6 “See, it stands written before me:
I will not keep silent(AR) but will pay back(AS) in full;
I will pay it back into their laps(AT)—
7 both your sins(AU) and the sins of your ancestors,”(AV)
says the Lord.
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
and defied me on the hills,(AW)
I will measure into their laps
the full payment(AX) for their former deeds.”
8 This is what the Lord says:
“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes(AY)
and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
there is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;(AZ)
I will not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth descendants(BA) from Jacob,
and from Judah those who will possess(BB) my mountains;
my chosen(BC) people will inherit them,
and there will my servants live.(BD)
10 Sharon(BE) will become a pasture for flocks,(BF)
and the Valley of Achor(BG) a resting place for herds,
for my people who seek(BH) me.
11 “But as for you who forsake(BI) the Lord
and forget my holy mountain,(BJ)
who spread a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine(BK) for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,(BL)
and all of you will fall in the slaughter;(BM)
for I called but you did not answer,(BN)
I spoke but you did not listen.(BO)
You did evil in my sight
and chose what displeases me.”(BP)
13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“My servants will eat,(BQ)
but you will go hungry;(BR)
my servants will drink,(BS)
but you will go thirsty;(BT)
my servants will rejoice,(BU)
but you will be put to shame.(BV)
14 My servants will sing(BW)
out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out(BX)
from anguish of heart
and wail in brokenness of spirit.
15 You will leave your name
for my chosen ones to use in their curses;(BY)
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,
but to his servants he will give another name.(BZ)
16 Whoever invokes a blessing(CA) in the land
will do so by the one true God;(CB)
whoever takes an oath in the land
will swear(CC) by the one true God.
For the past troubles(CD) will be forgotten
and hidden from my eyes.
New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.(CE)
The former things will not be remembered,(CF)
nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice(CG) forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem(CH) to be a delight
and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice(CI) over Jerusalem
and take delight(CJ) in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying(CK)
will be heard in it no more.
20 “Never again will there be in it
an infant(CL) who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;(CM)
the one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[c] a hundred
will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses(CN) and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.(CO)
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,(CP)
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,(CQ)
so will be the days(CR) of my people;
my chosen(CS) ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,(CT)
nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;(CU)
for they will be a people blessed(CV) by the Lord,
they and their descendants(CW) with them.
24 Before they call(CX) I will answer;(CY)
while they are still speaking(CZ) I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb(DA) will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,(DB)
and dust will be the serpent’s(DC) food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,”(DD)
says the Lord.
Judgment and Hope
66 This is what the Lord says:
“Heaven is my throne,(DE)
and the earth is my footstool.(DF)
Where is the house(DG) you will build for me?
Where will my resting place be?
2 Has not my hand made all these things,(DH)
and so they came into being?”
declares the Lord.
“These are the ones I look on with favor:
those who are humble and contrite in spirit,(DI)
and who tremble at my word.(DJ)
3 But whoever sacrifices a bull(DK)
is like one who kills a person,
and whoever offers a lamb
is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever makes a grain offering
is like one who presents pig’s(DL) blood,
and whoever burns memorial incense(DM)
is like one who worships an idol.
They have chosen their own ways,(DN)
and they delight in their abominations;(DO)
4 so I also will choose harsh treatment for them
and will bring on them what they dread.(DP)
For when I called, no one answered,(DQ)
when I spoke, no one listened.
They did evil(DR) in my sight
and chose what displeases me.”(DS)
5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you who tremble at his word:(DT)
“Your own people who hate(DU) you,
and exclude you because of my name, have said,
‘Let the Lord be glorified,
that we may see your joy!’
Yet they will be put to shame.(DV)
6 Hear that uproar from the city,
hear that noise from the temple!
It is the sound(DW) of the Lord
repaying(DX) his enemies all they deserve.
7 “Before she goes into labor,(DY)
she gives birth;
before the pains come upon her,
she delivers a son.(DZ)
8 Who has ever heard of such things?
Who has ever seen(EA) things like this?
Can a country be born in a day(EB)
or a nation be brought forth in a moment?
Yet no sooner is Zion in labor
than she gives birth to her children.(EC)
9 Do I bring to the moment of birth(ED)
and not give delivery?” says the Lord.
“Do I close up the womb
when I bring to delivery?” says your God.
10 “Rejoice(EE) with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
all you who love(EF) her;
rejoice greatly with her,
all you who mourn(EG) over her.
11 For you will nurse(EH) and be satisfied
at her comforting breasts;(EI)
you will drink deeply
and delight in her overflowing abundance.”(EJ)
12 For this is what the Lord says:
“I will extend peace(EK) to her like a river,(EL)
and the wealth(EM) of nations like a flooding stream;
you will nurse and be carried(EN) on her arm
and dandled on her knees.
13 As a mother comforts her child,(EO)
so will I comfort(EP) you;
and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”
14 When you see this, your heart will rejoice(EQ)
and you will flourish(ER) like grass;
the hand(ES) of the Lord will be made known to his servants,(ET)
but his fury(EU) will be shown to his foes.
15 See, the Lord is coming with fire,(EV)
and his chariots(EW) are like a whirlwind;(EX)
he will bring down his anger with fury,
and his rebuke(EY) with flames of fire.
16 For with fire(EZ) and with his sword(FA)
the Lord will execute judgment(FB) on all people,
and many will be those slain(FC) by the Lord.
17 “Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens,(FD) following one who is among those who eat the flesh of pigs,(FE) rats(FF) and other unclean things—they will meet their end(FG) together with the one they follow,” declares the Lord.
18 “And I, because of what they have planned and done,(FH) am about to come[d] and gather the people of all nations(FI) and languages, and they will come and see my glory.(FJ)
19 “I will set a sign(FK) among them, and I will send some of those who survive(FL) to the nations—to Tarshish,(FM) to the Libyans[e] and Lydians(FN) (famous as archers), to Tubal(FO) and Greece,(FP) and to the distant islands(FQ) that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory.(FR) They will proclaim my glory among the nations. 20 And they will bring(FS) all your people, from all the nations, to my holy mountain(FT) in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,”(FU) says the Lord. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels.(FV) 21 And I will select some of them also to be priests(FW) and Levites,” says the Lord.
22 “As the new heavens and the new earth(FX) that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure.(FY) 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath(FZ) to another, all mankind will come and bow down(GA) before me,” says the Lord. 24 “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies(GB) of those who rebelled(GC) against me; the worms(GD) that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched,(GE) and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 64:1 In Hebrew texts 64:1 is numbered 63:19b, and 64:2-12 is numbered 64:1-11.
- Isaiah 64:7 Septuagint, Syriac and Targum; Hebrew have made us melt because of
- Isaiah 65:20 Or the sinner who reaches
- Isaiah 66:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
- Isaiah 66:19 Some Septuagint manuscripts Put (Libyans); Hebrew Pul
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