Isaiah 65

1I have been ready to give an answer to those who did not make prayer to me; I have been offering myself to those who were not searching for me; I said, Here am I, here am I, to a nation which gave no respect to my name.

1I have been inquired of by those who asked not, I have been found by those who sought Me not, I have said, `Behold Me, behold Me,' Unto a nation not calling in My name.

2All day my hands have been stretched out to an uncontrolled people, who go in an evil way, after the purposes of their hearts;

2I have spread out My hands all the day Unto an apostate people, Who are going in the way not good after their own thoughts.

3A people who make me angry every day, making offerings in gardens, and burning perfumes on bricks.

3The people who are provoking Me to anger, To My face continually, Sacrificing in gardens, and making perfume on the bricks:

4Who are seated in the resting-places of the dead, and by night are in the secret places; who take pig's flesh for food, and have the liquid of disgusting things in their vessels.

4Who are dwelling among sepulchres, And lodge in reserved places, Who are eating flesh of the sow, And a piece of abominable things--their vessels.

5Who say, Keep away, do not come near me, for fear that I make you holy: these are a smoke in my nose, a fire burning all day.

5Who are saying, `Keep to thyself, come not nigh to me, For I have declared thee unholy.' These <FI>are<Fi> a smoke in Mine anger, A fire burning all the day.

6See, it is recorded before me, says the Lord: I will not keep back my hand, till I have sent punishment,

6Lo, it is written before Me: `I am not silent, but have recompensed; And I have recompensed into their bosom,

7For their sins and the sins of their fathers, who were burning perfumes on the mountains, and saying evil things against me on the hills: so I will take the measure of their sins, and will send the punishment for them into their breast.

7Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, said Jehovah, Who have made perfume on the mountains, And on the heights have reproached Me, And I have measured their former work into their bosom.'

8This is the word of the Lord: As the new wine is seen in the grapes, and they say, Do not send destruction on it, for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants, in order that I may not put an end to them all.

8Thus said Jehovah: As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one hath said, `Destroy it not for a blessing <FI>is<Fi> in it,' So I do for My servants' sake, not to destroy the whole.

9And I will take a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah one who will have my mountains for a heritage: and the people I have taken to be mine will have it for themselves, and my servants will have their resting-place there.

9And I have brought out from Jacob a seed, And from Judah a possessor of My mount, And possess it do My chosen ones, And My servants do dwell there.

10And Sharon will be a grass-land for the flocks, and the valley of Achor a resting-place for the herds: for my people whose hearts have been turned back to me.

10And Sharon hath been for the habitation of a flock, And the valley of Achor for the lying down of a herd, For My people who have sought Me.

11But as for you who have given up the Lord, who have no care for my holy mountain, who get ready a table for Chance, and make offerings of mixed wine to Fate;

11And ye <FI>are<Fi> those forsaking Jehovah, Who are forgetting My holy mountain, Who are setting in array for Gad a table, And who are filling for Meni a mixture.

12Your fate will be the sword, and you will all go down to death: because when my voice came to you, you made no answer; you did not give ear to my word; but you did what was evil in my eyes, desiring what was not pleasing to me.

12And I have numbered you for the sword, And all of you for slaughter bow down, Because I called, and ye have not answered, I have spoken, and ye have not hearkened, And ye do the evil thing in Mine eyes, And on that which I desired not--fixed.

13For this cause says the Lord God, My servants will have food, but you will be in need of food: my servants will have drink, but you will be dry: my servants will have joy, but you will be shamed:

13Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, My servants do eat, and ye do hunger, Lo, My servants do drink, and ye do thirst, Lo, My servants rejoice, and ye are ashamed,

14My servants will make songs in the joy of their hearts, but you will be crying for sorrow, and making sounds of grief from a broken spirit.

14Lo, My servants sing from joy of heart, And ye cry from pain of heart, And from breaking of spirit ye do howl.

15And your name will become a curse to my people, and the Lord God will put you to death, and give his servants another name:

15And ye have left your name For an oath for My chosen ones, And the Lord Jehovah hath put thee to death, And to His servants He giveth another name.

16So that he who is requesting a blessing will make use of the name of the true God, and he who takes an oath will do so by the true God; because the past troubles are gone out of mind, and because they are covered from my eyes.

16So that he who is blessing himself in the earth, Doth bless himself In the God of faithfulness, And he who is swearing in the earth, Doth swear by the God of faithfulness, Because the former distresses have been forgotten, And because they have been hid from Mine eyes.

17For see, I am making a new heaven and a new earth: and the past things will be gone completely out of mind.

17For, lo, I am creating new heavens, and a new earth, And the former things are not remembered, Nor do they ascend on the heart.

18But men will be glad and have joy for ever in what I am making; for I am making Jerusalem a delight, and her people a joy.

18But joy ye, and rejoice for ever, that I <FI>am<Fi> Creator, For, lo, I am creating Jerusalem a rejoicing, And her people a joy.

19And I will be glad over Jerusalem, and have joy in my people: and the voice of weeping will no longer be sounding in her, or the voice of grief.

19And I have rejoiced in Jerusalem, And have joyed in My people, And not heard in her any more Is the voice of weeping, and the voice of crying.

20No longer will there be there a child whose days are cut short, or an old man whose days have not come to their full measure: for the young man at his death will be a hundred years old, and he whose life is shorter than a hundred years will seem as one cursed.

20There is not thence any more a suckling of days, And an aged man who doth not complete his days, For the youth a hundred years old dieth, And the sinner, a hundred years old, is lightly esteemed.

21And they will be building houses and living in them; planting vine-gardens and getting the fruit of them.

21And they have built houses, and inhabited, And planted vineyards, and eaten their fruit.

22They will no longer be building for the use of others, or planting for others to have the fruit: for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my loved ones will have joy in full measure in the work of their hands.

22They do not build, and another inhabit, They do not plant, and another eat, For as the days of a tree <FI>are<Fi> the days of My people, And the work of their hands wear out do My chosen ones.

23Their work will not be for nothing, and they will not give birth to children for destruction; for they are a seed to whom the Lord has given his blessing, and their offspring will be with them.

23They labour not for a vain thing, Nor do they bring forth for trouble, For the seed of the blessed of Jehovah <FI>are<Fi> they, And their offspring with them.

24And before they make their request I will give an answer, and while they are still making prayer to me, I will give ear.

24And it hath come to pass, They do not yet call, and I answer, They are yet speaking, and I hear.

25The wolf and the lamb will take their food together, and the lion will make a meal of grass like the ox: but dust will be the snake's food. There will be no cause of pain or destruction in all my holy mountain, says the Lord.

25Wolf and lamb do feed as one, And a lion as an ox eateth straw, As to the serpent--dust <FI>is<Fi> its food, They do no evil, nor destroy, In all My holy mountain, said Jehovah!