Isaiah 65

1I 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.

2All day long I have held out my hands to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own thoughts,

3a people who continually provoke me to my face, sacrificing in gardens and burning incense on bricks,

4who sit among the graves and spend the night in secret places, who eat the flesh of pigs, with broth of unclean meat in their pots,

5who say, “Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” These are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.

6See, it is written before me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will repay into their lap

7your iniquities and the iniquities of your ancestors together, says Yahweh, because they burned incense on the mountains and insulted me on the hills. I will measure into their lap the full payment for their former deeds.

8This is what Yahweh says: As when new wine is found in a cluster of grapes and someone says, “Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,” so I will do for the sake of my servants and not destroy them all.

9I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah heirs of my mountains; my chosen ones will possess it, and my servants will live there.

10Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for my people who have sought me.

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

12I will destine you for the sword, and all of you will bow down to be slaughtered, because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen. You did what is evil in my sight and chose what I did not delight in.

13Therefore this is what the Lord Yahweh says: See, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry; see, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty; see, my servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.

14See, my servants will sing for joy from gladness of heart, but you will cry out from pain of heart and wail from a broken spirit.

15You will leave your name to my chosen ones as a curse, and the Lord Yahweh will put you to death; but he will call his servants by another name,

16so that whoever invokes a blessing in the land will bless himself by the God of truth, and whoever swears an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth; for the former troubles are forgotten and hidden from my eyes.

17For see, I am creating new heavens and a new earth; the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.

18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for see, I am creating Jerusalem to be a delight, and her people to be a joy.

19I will rejoice over Jerusalem and delight in my people; the sound of weeping and the sound of crying will no longer be heard in her.

20No longer will there be in it an infant who lives only a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days; for one who dies at a hundred will be only a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered cursed.

21They will build houses and live in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22They will not build and another live there; they will not plant and another eat. For like the days of a tree will be the days of my people, and my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands.

23They will not labor in vain or bear children for sudden terror; for they are the offspring of those blessed by Yahweh, and their descendants with them.

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

25The wolf and the lamb will graze together; the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not harm or destroy on all my holy mountain, says Yahweh.