Jesaja 65 | New International Reader’s Version

The Lord judges and saves

1 The LORD says, ‘I made myself known to those who were not asking for me. I was found by those who were not trying to find me. I spoke to a nation that did not pray to me. “Here I am,” I said. “Here I am.”

2 All day long I have held out my hands to welcome a stubborn nation. They lead sinful lives. They go where their evil thoughts take them.

3 They are always making me very angry. They do it right in front of me. They offer sacrifices in the gardens of other gods. They burn incense on altars that are made out of bricks.

4 They sit among the graves. They spend their nights talking to the spirits of the dead. They eat the meat of pigs. Their cooking pots hold soup that has “unclean” meat in it.

5 They say, “Keep away! Don’t come near us! We are too sacred for you!” Those people are like smoke in my nose. They are like a fire that keeps burning all day.

6 ‘I will judge them. I have even written it down. I will not keep silent. Instead, I will pay them back for all their sins.

7 I will punish them for their sins. I will also punish them for the sins of their people before them.’ This is what the LORD says. ‘They burned sacrifices on the mountains. They disobeyed me by worshipping other gods on the hills. So I will make sure they are fully punished for all the sins they have committed.’

8 The LORD says, ‘Sometimes juice is still left in grapes that have been crushed. So people say, “Don’t destroy them.” They are still of some benefit.’ That is what I will do for the good of those who serve me. I will not destroy all my people.

9 I will give children to the families of Jacob and Judah. They will possess my entire land. My chosen people will be given all of it. Those who serve me will live there.

10 Their flocks will eat in the rich grasslands of Sharon. Their herds will rest in the Valley of Achor. That is what I will do for my people who follow me.

11 ‘But some of you have deserted me. You no longer worship on my holy mountain of Zion. You spread a table for the god called Good Fortune. You offer bowls of mixed wine to the god named Fate.

12 So I will make it your fate to be killed by swords. All of you will die in the battle. That’s because I called out to you, but you did not answer me. I spoke to you, but you did not listen. You did what is evil in my sight. You chose to do what does not please me.’

13 So the LORD and King says, ‘Those who serve me will have food to eat. But you will be hungry. My servants will have plenty to drink. But you will be thirsty. Those who serve me will be full of joy. But you will be put to shame.

14 My servants will sing with joy in their hearts. But you will cry out because of the great pain in your hearts. You will cry because your spirits are sad.

15 My chosen ones will use your names when they curse others. I am your LORD and King. I will put you to death. But I will give new names to those who serve me.

16 They will ask me to bless their land. They will do it in my name. I am the one true God. They will make promises in their land. They will do it in my name. I am the one true God. The troubles of the past will be forgotten. They will be hidden from my eyes.

The Lord will create new heavens and a new earth

17 ‘I will create new heavens and a new earth. The things that have happened before will not be remembered. They will not even enter your minds.

18 So be glad and full of joy for ever because of what I will create. I will cause others to take delight in Jerusalem. They will be filled with joy when they see its people.

19 And I will be full of joy because of Jerusalem. I will take delight in my people. Weeping and crying will not be heard there anymore.

20 ‘Babies in Jerusalem will no longer live only a few days. Old people will not fail to live for a very long time. Those who live to the age of 100 will be thought of as mere children when they die. Those who die before they are 100 will be considered as having been under God’s curse.

21 My people will build houses and live in them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22 They will no longer build houses only to have others live in them. They will no longer plant crops only to have others eat them. My people will live to be as old as trees. My chosen ones will enjoy for a long time the things they have worked for.

23 Their work will not be worthless anymore. They will not have children who are sure to face sudden terror. Instead, I will bless them. I will also bless their children after them.

24 Even before they call out to me, I will answer them. While they are still speaking, I will hear them.

25 Wolves and lambs will eat together. Lions will eat straw like oxen. Snakes will eat nothing but dust. None of those animals will harm or destroy anything or anyone on my holy mountain of Zion,’ says the LORD.

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English Standard Version

Judgment and Salvation

1 I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by* my name.

2 I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;

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

4 who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;

5 who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” These are a smoke in my 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 indeed repay into their lap

7 both your iniquities and your fathers’ iniquities together, says the Lord; because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment for their former deeds.”*

8 Thus says the Lord: “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,’ so I will do for my servants’ sake, and not destroy them all.

9 I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah possessors of my mountains; my chosen shall possess it, and my servants shall dwell there.

10 Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for my people who have sought me.

11 But you who forsake the Lord, who forget my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,

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

13 Therefore 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 put to shame;

14 behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart and shall wail for breaking of spirit.

15 You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse, and the Lord God will put you to death, but his servants he will call by another name,

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

New Heavens and a New Earth

17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.

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

19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.

20 No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22 They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy* the work of their hands.

23 They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity,* for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them.

24 Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.

25 The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.

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