Add parallel Print Page Options

Chapter 65

Punishment of the Idolaters

I was eager to respond
    to those who did not consult me.
I was anxious to be approached
    by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am! Here I am!”
    to a nation that did not summon me.
Throughout each day I held out my hands
    and appealed to a rebellious people
who walk along evil paths
    in pursuit of their own desires.
    [a]These people provoke me to anger
    continually, to my face,
offering sacrifices in gardens
    and burning incense on bricks.
They live in the midst of tombs
    and spend the night in secret places,
eating the flesh of pigs
    and filling their plates with unclean food,
as they cry out, “Keep away!
    Do not touch me,
    for I am too sacred for you.”
Such people to me are like choking smoke,
    a fire that smolders throughout the day.
Their deeds have been inscribed in my memory;
    I will not remain silent until I have repaid in full
your iniquities and those of your ancestors,
    says the Lord.
Since they burned incense on the mountains
    and shamed me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
    the full payment that their deeds deserve.

Fate of Israel’s Righteous and Unfaithful

Thus says the Lord:
    As in the harvest of grapes
    juice is often still found in the cluster,
and people say, “Do not discard them,
    for some good still remains in them,”
so I will act for the sake of my servants
    and not destroy them all.
From Jacob I will bring forth descendants,
    and from Judah those who will inherit my mountains.
My chosen ones will take possession of the land,
    and my servants will settle there.
10 Sharon will serve as a pasture for flocks
    and the Valley of Achor will be
    a resting place for cattle.
11 However, those of you who forsake the Lord
    and forget my holy mountain,
who spread a table for Fortune[b]
    and fill cups of mixed wine for Fate,
12 I will destine you for the sword,
    and all of you will submit to the slaughter,
because, when I called, you did not respond,
    and when I spoke, you refused to listen.
Rather, you did what was evil in my sight
    and chose to do what displeases me.
13 Therefore, this is what I have decreed,
    says the Lord God:
My servants will eat,
    but you will go hungry;
my servants will drink,
    but you will be thirsty;
my servants will rejoice,
    but you will be put to shame;
14 with gladness in their hearts
    my servants will sing for joy,
but you will cry out in heartfelt grief
    and wail in your anguish of spirit.
15 The Lord God will strike you dead
    and his chosen ones will use your name as a curse,
    but he will call his servants by a different name.
16 Then anyone in the land who blesses himself
    will bless himself by the God of truth,
and anyone who takes an oath in the land
    will swear by the God of truth,
because the troubles of the past will be forgotten
    and hidden from my sight.

A Renewed World[c]

17 For behold, I am about to create
    new heavens and a new earth.
The past will not be remembered
    or ever again called to mind.
18 Rather, rejoice and be filled with delight forever
    at what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a delight
    and her people as a cause of joy.
19 I will take delight in Jerusalem
    and rejoice in my people.
No more will be heard there
    the sound of weeping or the cries of distress.
20 Never again will an infant be there
    who dies after a few days of life
    or an old man who fails to live his allotted days.
For one who dies at the age of one hundred
    will be regarded as a youth,
while one who fails to achieve a hundred years
    will be considered accursed.[d]
21 They will live in the houses they have built;
    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will not build houses for others to dwell in
    or plant for others to eat.
For the days of my people will be
    like the days of a tree,
and my chosen ones will enjoy
    the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain
    or bear children destined for calamity.
For they will be offspring blessed by the Lord,
    as will their descendants after them.
24 Even before they call out to me,
    I will answer;
while they are still speaking,
    I will respond.
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.
No harm or destruction will be done
    on all my holy mountain,
    says the Lord.

Chapter 66

True and False Worship

Thus says the Lord:
    The heavens are my throne
    and the earth is my footstool.
What house could you build for me?
    What is to be my resting place?
All these things were made by me,
    and so all these things are mine,
    says the Lord.
The one for whom I have regard
    is humble and contrite in spirit
    and trembles at my word.
Whoever slaughters an ox
    is like one who kills a man;
whoever sacrifices a lamb
    is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever presents an offering of grain
    is like one who offers a swine’s blood;
whoever burns incense as a memorial
    is like one who blesses an idol.
These people have chosen their own ways,
    and they delight in their loathsome abominations.
I in turn will choose to punish them harshly
    and bring upon them what they fear
because, when I called, no one answered,
    and when I spoke, they refused to listen.
Rather, they did what was evil in my sight
    and chose what displeased me.
Hear the word of the Lord,
    you who tremble at his word.
Your brethren who hate you
    and reject you because of my name, have said,
“Let the Lord be glorified
    so that we may witness your joy”;
    however, they themselves will be put to shame.
Listen! There is an uproar from the city,
    a voice from the temple.
Such is the sound of the Lord
    bringing retribution to his enemies.

Mother Zion

Before she entered into labor,
    she gave birth.
Before she experienced the birth pains,
    she delivered a son.
Who ever heard of such a thing?
    Who has ever seen anything like this?
Can a country be born in a single day?
    Can a nation be delivered in a single moment?
Yet Zion was scarcely in labor
    when she brought forth her children.
Shall I open the womb and not deliver?
    says the Lord.
Shall I close the womb at the moment of delivery?
    says your God.
10 Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
    all you who love her.
Be joyful as you rejoice with her,
    all you who mourned over her,
11 so that you may suck fully and be satisfied
    from her consoling breast,
as you drink deeply with delight
    at her abundant bosom.
12 For thus says the Lord:
    I will make prosperity flow over her like a river,
and the wealth of the nations
    like a turbulent overflowing stream.
You will be nursed and carried in her arms
    and fondled in her lap.
13 As a mother comforts her child,
    so will I comfort you;
    in Jerusalem you will find your comfort.
14 When you behold this, your heart will rejoice,
    and your bodies will flourish like grass in spring.
The Lord will make his power known to his servants
    but reveal his wrath to his enemies.
15 Behold the Lord as he comes in fire,
    his chariots like the whirlwind,
to enact retribution with his furious anger
    and his rebukes with fiery flames.
16 For the Lord will execute his judgment
    on all mankind with fire and sword,
    and many will be those slain by the Lord.

17 Those who sanctify and purify themselves to enter the groves and follow the one in the center, consuming the flesh of pigs, vermin, and rats—they will all perish together, says the Lord, along with their deeds and their thoughts.[e]

18 Glory among the Nations. I am coming to gather every nation and every language. They will come forth to behold my glory. 19 I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of their survivors to the nations: to Tarshish,[f] Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant coasts and islands that have never heard of me or seen my glory.

They will proclaim my glory among the nations, 20 and from all the nations they will bring all your kindred as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots, in carts and on mules and camels, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites themselves bring their grain offerings in clean vessels to the house of the Lord. 21 Some of these I will appoint as priests and Levites, says the Lord.

Eternal Reward and Punishment

22 As the new heavens and the new earth
    that I am making
will endure before me, says the Lord,
    so will your descendants and your name endure.
23 From new moon to new moon
    and from one Sabbath to another,
all mankind will come to worship before me,
    says the Lord.
24 And as they go out,
    they will see the corpses
    of those who rebelled against me.
For their worm will never die,
    nor will their fire be quenched,
    and they will be abhorrent to all humanity.[g]

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 65:3 Allusions to idolatrous practices. The night spent in secret places refers perhaps to the rite of incubation, during which people awaited revelations through dreams.
  2. Isaiah 65:11 Fortune: literally, “Gad,” the Aramean god of fortune. Fate: literally, “Meni,” another divinity.
  3. Isaiah 65:17 The oracle looks beyond a restored Jerusalem to a future time when the prosperity and harmony that marked the beginnings of humankind are to be restored; this prosperity and harmony are expressed in images of paradisal life that were familiar to the ancients. Amid oracles that strike terror, here is a song of indestructible hope: a renewed world is coming in which sin will no longer exist (see also Isa 11:6-9). The Church awaits this new world for all of humanity; the dawn of this world breaks on Easter morning (2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21).
  4. Isaiah 65:20 Since the prospect of resurrection is still unknown, longevity is seen as a special sign of divine protection.
  5. Isaiah 66:17 A condemnation of pagan mystery cults.
  6. Isaiah 66:19 Tarshish: a large island in the western Mediterranean or simply a faraway place.
  7. Isaiah 66:24 A reference to the Valley of Ben-hinnom (Gehenna) outside the walls of ancient Jerusalem. In Mk 9:48, the images of the worm and the fire are used to signify an eternal punishment.