Isaiah 65

‘I wanted to show my love

to people who did not ask for Me.

I wanted people to find Me,

people who were not looking for Me.

They were people who

did not worship Me, but I told them:

“Here I am. I want to be with you.”

₂I put out my hands to help them

every day but they were stubborn.

They lived in a way that was not good,

and they did what they wanted to do.

₃They made Me very sad.

They were always against Me.

They gave offerings to idols,

and they burnt incense on flat stones.

₄They stayed among graves

at night and hid there.

They ate the meat of pigs.

There was impure meat on their plates.

₅But they said: “Don't come near us.

Don't touch us because we are holy.”

These people are like smoke

that comes into my nose,

like a fire that keeps on burning all day.

₆I have written it down.

I will not keep quiet.

I will punish them. I will punish them

₇for their sins and for the sins

of their forefathers who burnt incense

for the idols on the mountains

and humiliated Me.

I will punish them for their sins

that they did before.’

‘If someone finds grapes

that he can use to make wine, he says:

“Don't throw it away. We must keep it.”

I will do the same with my servants.

I will not throw them all away.

₉I have given descendants to Jacob, to Judah,

and my mountain will belong to them.

I have chosen people to serve Me

and they will live there.

₁₀My people will ask Me

what I want them to do,

and their sheep and goats and cattle

will stay at Sharon and the Achor Valley.

They will have enough food to eat.

₁₁But you have

turned away from the Lord.

You forgot my holy_mountain.

You gave offerings

to the idols of Gad and Meni.

₁₂I will punish you and you will die.

You will have to kneel down

so that people can kill you

because I called you,

but you did not answer Me.

I talked to you, but you did not listen to Me.

You did what was wrong, and you chose

to do things that I hate.’

‘My servants will have food to eat,

but you will be hungry.

My servants will have water to drink,

but you will be thirsty.

My servants will celebrate,

but you will stand far away.

₁₄My servants will rejoice

because they will be happy,

but you will cry and ask someone to help you.

You will cry because you will be

unhappy and suffer a lot of pain.

₁₅I, the Lord, will kill you,

but I will give a new name to my servants.

The people that I have chosen to belong to Me

will use your names

when they want to curse people.

₁₆Anyone in the land who prays

and asks God to bless him

will pray to Me and say my name.

Anyone who promises something

will say I am his Witness,

because I am the faithful God

who do what I have promised.

It will make all their trouble go away,

and I will not think about the bad things

that happened before.’

‘I will now make a new heaven

and a new earth.

No one will ever again think of this

heaven and earth that are here now,

and no one will remember them.

₁₈You will be happy

and always rejoice because of

what I am going to do now,

because I am going to make a new Jerusalem,

a Jerusalem that rejoices,

and its people will always be happy.

₁₉I will also rejoice with Jerusalem.

I will rejoice because of my people,

because they will no longer cry or

shout and ask someone to help them.

₂₀Young children will not die,

and everyone will grow old.

If someone dies at the age of 100 years,

people will say that he has died young.

And if someone dies

before he is 100 years old,

people will think that he was a sinner

and that God has punished him.

₂₁My people will live

in the houses that they have built,

and they will eat the grapes

of the vineyards that they have planted.

₂₂Other people will not live

in their houses and eat their grapes.

I have chosen people to belong to Me.

They will become as old as trees,

and they will eat the fruit

of the trees that they have planted.

₂₃They will not work until

they are tired and get nothing for it,

and they will not have children

who will have a lot of trouble,

because I will make good things happen

to them and their children.

₂₄I will answer them before they pray to Me,

and I will give them what they ask Me

while they are praying.

₂₅Wolves and lambs will sleep

and eat together,

lions will eat grass like cattle

and snakes will eat dust.

That will be their food.

They will not do anything wrong

on my holy_mountain,

and they shall not hurt or destroy anything.’