Isaiah 65

New Heavens and a New Earth

1“I made myself available to those who did not ask;
I let myself be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’
to a nation that did not call on my name. 2All day long I spread out my hands
to a rebellious people
walking a way that is not good,
following their own thoughts. 3These people continually provoke me to my face,
sacrificing in gardens
and burning offerings on bricks, 4sitting among graves,
spending the night in secret places,
eating pig’s flesh,
with broth of offensive things in their pots.

5They say, ‘Keep to yourself! Do not come near me,
for I am too holy for you.’
These are smoke in my nostrils,
a fire burning all day. 6Look, it is written before me.
I will not be silent; I will repay,
repay right into their laps 7your offenses and your ancestors’ offenses together,”
says the LORD.
“They burned offerings on mountains
and insulted me on hills.
I will first measure their payment into their laps.” 8This is what the LORD says:
“As when new wine is found in a cluster
and someone says, ‘Do not destroy it; there is a blessing in it,’
so I will act for my servants’ sake
and not destroy them all.

9I will bring offspring out of Jacob,
and from Judah an heir to my mountains.
My chosen ones will possess the land,
and my servants will live there. 10Sharon will become pasture for flocks,
and the Valley of Achor a resting place for cattle,
for my people who seek me. 11But you who abandon the LORD,
who forget my holy mountain,
who set a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny— 12I will destine you for the sword;
all of you will bow down for slaughter,
because I called and you did not answer,
I spoke and you did not listen.
You did what was evil in my eyes
and chose what did not please me.”

13So this is what the Lord GOD says:
“Look, my servants will eat, but you will hunger.
Look, my servants will drink, but you will thirst.
Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be ashamed. 14Look, my servants will sing from glad hearts,
but you will cry out from aching hearts
and howl from broken spirits. 15You will leave your name as a curse for my chosen ones:
‘May the Lord GOD put you to death!’
But he will call his servants by another name. 16Whoever seeks a blessing in the land
will seek it by the God of Amen,
and whoever swears in the land
will swear by the God of Amen.
For the former troubles are forgotten
and hidden from my eyes.

17For look, I am creating new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered
nor come to mind. 18Instead, rejoice and be glad forever in what I create,
for look, I am creating Jerusalem as gladness
and her people as joy. 19I will be glad in Jerusalem
and rejoice in my people.
No sound of weeping or cry of distress
will be heard in her again. 20No infant there will live only a few days,
no old person fail to complete their years.
Someone dying at a hundred will be a youth;
someone falling 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 for another to inhabit
nor plant for another to eat.
My people’s days will be like a tree’s days;
my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. 23They will not labor for nothing
nor bear children for terror,
for they are offspring blessed by the LORD,
and their descendants are with them. 24Before they call, I will answer;
while they are still speaking, I will hear.

25Wolf and lamb will graze together;
the lion will eat straw like cattle,
and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.