| 65:1 | “I made myself available to those who did not ask for me;* I appeared to those who did not look for me.* I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ to a nation that did not invoke* my name. |
| 65:2 | I spread out my hands all day long to my rebellious people, who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable, and who did what they desired.* |
| 65:3 | These people continually and blatantly offend me* as they sacrifice in their sacred orchards* and burn incense on brick altars.* |
| 65:4 | They sit among the tombs* and keep watch all night long.* They eat pork,* and broth* from unclean sacrificial meat is in their pans. |
| 65:5 | They say, ‘Keep to yourself! Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’ These people are like smoke in my nostrils, like a fire that keeps burning all day long. |
| 65:6 | Look, I have decreed:* I will not keep silent, but will pay them back; I will pay them back exactly what they deserve,* |
| 65:7 | for your sins and your ancestors’ sins,”* says the Lord. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and offended* me on the hills, I will punish them in full measure.”* |
| 65:8 | This is what the Lord says: “When* juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes, someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’* So I will do for the sake of my servants – I will not destroy everyone.* |
| 65:9 | I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains. My chosen ones will take possession of the land;* my servants will live there. |
| 65:10 | Sharon* will become a pasture for sheep, and the Valley of Achor* a place where cattle graze;* they will belong to my people, who seek me.* |
| 65:11 | But as for you who abandon the Lord and forget about worshiping at* my holy mountain, who prepare a feast for the god called ‘Fortune,’* and fill up wine jugs for the god called ‘Destiny’* – |
| 65:12 | I predestine you to die by the sword,* all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block,* because I called to you, and you did not respond, I spoke and you did not listen. You did evil before me;* you chose to do what displeases me.” |
| 65:13 | So this is what the sovereign Lord says: “Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry! Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty! Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated! |
| 65:14 | Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts!* But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts;* you will wail because your spirits will be crushed.* |
| 65:15 | Your names will live on in the curse formulas of my chosen ones.* The sovereign Lord will kill you, but he will give his servants another name. |
| 65:16 | Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth* will do so in the name of the faithful God;* whoever makes an oath in the earth will do so in the name of the faithful God.* For past problems will be forgotten; I will no longer think about them.* |
| 65:17 | For look, I am ready to create new heavens and a new earth!* The former ones* will not be remembered; no one will think about them anymore.* |
| 65:18 | But be happy and rejoice forevermore over what I am about to create! For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem* to be a source of joy,* and her people to be a source of happiness.* |
| 65:19 | Jerusalem will bring me joy, and my people will bring me happiness.* The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow will never be heard in her again. |
| 65:20 | Never again will one of her infants live just a few days* or an old man die before his time.* Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred,* anyone who fails to reach* the age of a hundred will be considered cursed. |
| 65:21 | They will build houses and live in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. |
| 65:22 | No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it,* or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit,* for my people will live as long as trees,* and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced.* |
| 65:23 | They will not work in vain, or give birth to children that will experience disaster.* For the Lord will bless their children and their descendants.* |
| 65:24 | Before they even call out,* I will respond; while they are still speaking, I will hear. |
| 65:25 | A wolf and a lamb will graze together;* a lion, like an ox, will eat straw,* and a snake’s food will be dirt.* They will no longer injure or destroy on my entire royal mountain,”* says the Lord. |
Yesaya 65 - NET Bible [draft]
