Isaiah 65

¹“I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’
To a nation which did not call on My name.
² “I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people,
Who walk in the way which is not good, ^[a]following their own thoughts,
³ A people who continually provoke Me to My face,
Offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks;
⁴ Who sit among graves and spend the night in secret places;
Who eat swine’s flesh,
And the broth of unclean meat is in their pots.
⁵ “Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!’
These are smoke in My ^[b]nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.
⁶ “Behold, it is written before Me,
I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will even repay into their bosom,
⁷ Both ^[c]their own iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together,” says the Lord.
“Because they have burned incense on the mountains
And scorned Me on the hills,
Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”

“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is ^[d]benefit in it,’
So I will act on behalf of My servants
In order not to destroy ^[e]all of them.
⁹ “I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
And an heir of My mountains from Judah;
Even My chosen ones shall inherit it,
And My servants will dwell there.
¹⁰ “Sharon will be a pasture land for flocks,
And the valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
For My people who seek Me.
¹¹ “But you who forsake the Lord,
Who forget My holy mountain,
Who set a table for ^[f]Fortune,
And who fill cups with mixed wine for ^[g]Destiny,
¹² I will destine you for the sword,
And all of you will bow down to the slaughter.
Because I called, but you did not answer;
I spoke, but you did not hear.
And you did evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”

“Behold, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry.
Behold, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty.
Behold, My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
¹⁴ “Behold, My servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart,
But you will cry out with a ^[i]heavy heart,
And you will wail with a broken spirit.
¹⁵ “You will leave your name for a curse to My chosen ones,
And the Lord ^[j]God will slay you.
But ^[k]My servants will be called by another name.
¹⁶ “Because he who ^[l]is blessed in the earth
Will ^[m]be blessed by the God of truth;
And he who swears in the earth
Will swear by the God of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My sight!

¹⁷ “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things will not be remembered or come to ^[n]mind.
¹⁸ “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
And her people for gladness.
¹⁹ “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
²⁰ “No longer will there be ^[o]in it an infant who lives but a few days,
Or an old man who does not ^[p]live out his days;
For the youth will die at the age of one hundred
And the ^[q]one who does not reach the age of one hundred
Will be thought accursed.
²¹ “They will build houses and inhabit them;
They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²² “They will not build and another inhabit,
They will not plant and another eat;
For as the ^[r]lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,
And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.
²³ “They will not labor in vain,
Or bear children for calamity;
For they are the ^[s]offspring of those blessed by the Lord,
And their descendants with them.