Read Isaiah 65

Isaiah65

Judgments and Promises

¹“I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me;I was found by those who did not seek Me.To a nation that did not call My name,I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’²All day long I have held out My handsto an obstinate peoplewho walk in the wrong path,who follow their own imaginations,³to a people who continually provoke Me to My face,sacrificing in the gardensand burning incense on altars of brick,⁴sitting among the graves,spending nights in secret places,eating the meat of pigsand polluted broth from their bowls.⁵They say, ‘Keep to yourself;do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’Such people are smoke in My nostrils,a fire that burns all day long.⁶Behold, it is written before Me:I will not keep silent, but I will repay;I will pay it back into their laps,⁷both for your iniquitiesand for those of your fathers,”says the LORD.“Because they burned incense on the mountainsand scorned Me on the hills,I will measure into their lapsfull payment for their former deeds.”

⁸This is what the LORD says:
“As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes,and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’so I will act on behalf of My servants;I will not destroy them all.⁹And I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,and heirs from Judah;My elect will possess My mountains,and My servants will dwell there.¹⁰Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,for My people who seek Me.

¹¹But you who forsake the LORD,who forget My holy mountain,who set a table for Fortuneand fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,¹²I will destine you for the sword,and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered,because I called and you did not answer,I spoke and you did not listen;you did evil in My sightand chose that in which I did not delight.”

¹³Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says:
“My servants will eat,but you will go hungry;My servants will drink,but you will go thirsty;My servants will rejoice,but you will be put to shame.¹⁴My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart,but you will cry out with a heavy heartand wail with a broken spirit.

¹⁵You will leave behind your nameas a curse for My chosen ones,and the Lord GOD will slay you;but to His servants He will give another name.¹⁶Whoever invokes a blessing in the landwill do so by the God of truth,and whoever takes an oath in the landwill swear by the God of truth.For the former troubles will be forgottenand hidden from My sight.

A New Heaven and a New Earth

¹⁷For behold, I will createnew heavens and a new earth.The former things will not be remembered,nor will they come to mind.¹⁸But be glad and rejoice foreverin what I create;for I will create Jerusalem to be a joyand its people to be a delight.¹⁹I will rejoice in Jerusalemand take delight in My people.The sounds of weeping and cryingwill no longer be heard in her.

²⁰No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days,or an old man fail to live out his years.For the youth will die at a hundred years,and he who fails to reach a hundredwill be considered accursed.²¹They will build houses and dwell in them;they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

²²No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit,nor plant for others to eat.For as is the lifetime of a tree,so will be the days of My people,and My chosen ones will fully enjoythe work of their hands.

²³They will not labor in vainor bear children doomed to disaster;for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—they and their descendants with them.²⁴Even before they call, I will answer,and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

²⁵The wolf and the lamb will feed together,and the lion will eat straw like the ox,but the food of the serpent will be dust.They will neither harm nor destroyon all My holy mountain,”says the LORD.