A PEOPLE BLESSED BY THE LORD
Key verse: 23
NIV
Judgment and Salvation
65 “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
I was found by those who did not seek me.(A)
To a nation(B) that did not call on my name,(C)
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
2 All day long I have held out my hands
to an obstinate people,(D)
who walk in ways not good,
pursuing their own imaginations(E)—
3 a people who continually provoke me
to my very face,(F)
offering sacrifices in gardens(G)
and burning incense(H) on altars of brick;
4 who sit among the graves(I)
and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,(J)
and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
5 who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
for I am too sacred(K) for you!’
Such people are smoke(L) in my nostrils,
a fire that keeps burning all day.
6 “See, it stands written before me:
I will not keep silent(M) but will pay back(N) in full;
I will pay it back into their laps(O)—
7 both your sins(P) and the sins of your ancestors,”(Q)
says the Lord.
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
and defied me on the hills,(R)
I will measure into their laps
the full payment(S) for their former deeds.”
8 This is what the Lord says:
“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes(T)
and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
there is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;(U)
I will not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth descendants(V) from Jacob,
and from Judah those who will possess(W) my mountains;
my chosen(X) people will inherit them,
and there will my servants live.(Y)
10 Sharon(Z) will become a pasture for flocks,(AA)
and the Valley of Achor(AB) a resting place for herds,
for my people who seek(AC) me.
11 “But as for you who forsake(AD) the Lord
and forget my holy mountain,(AE)
who spread a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine(AF) for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,(AG)
and all of you will fall in the slaughter;(AH)
for I called but you did not answer,(AI)
I spoke but you did not listen.(AJ)
You did evil in my sight
and chose what displeases me.”(AK)
13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“My servants will eat,(AL)
but you will go hungry;(AM)
my servants will drink,(AN)
but you will go thirsty;(AO)
my servants will rejoice,(AP)
but you will be put to shame.(AQ)
14 My servants will sing(AR)
out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out(AS)
from anguish of heart
and wail in brokenness of spirit.
15 You will leave your name
for my chosen ones to use in their curses;(AT)
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,
but to his servants he will give another name.(AU)
16 Whoever invokes a blessing(AV) in the land
will do so by the one true God;(AW)
whoever takes an oath in the land
will swear(AX) by the one true God.
For the past troubles(AY) will be forgotten
and hidden from my eyes.
New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.(AZ)
The former things will not be remembered,(BA)
nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice(BB) forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem(BC) to be a delight
and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice(BD) over Jerusalem
and take delight(BE) in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying(BF)
will be heard in it no more.
20 “Never again will there be in it
an infant(BG) who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;(BH)
the one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred
will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses(BI) and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.(BJ)
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,(BK)
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,(BL)
so will be the days(BM) of my people;
my chosen(BN) ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,(BO)
nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;(BP)
for they will be a people blessed(BQ) by the Lord,
they and their descendants(BR) with them.
24 Before they call(BS) I will answer;(BT)
while they are still speaking(BU) I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb(BV) will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,(BW)
and dust will be the serpent’s(BX) food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,”(BY)
says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:20 Or the sinner who reaches
Cross references
- Isaiah 65:1 : Hos 1:10; Ro 9:24-26; 10:20*
- Isaiah 65:1 : Ro 9:30; Eph 2:12
- Isaiah 65:1 : S Ps 14:4; S Isa 43:7
- Isaiah 65:2 : S Ps 78:8; S Isa 1:2, 23; Ro 10:21*
- Isaiah 65:2 : Ps 81:11-12; S Pr 24:2; Isa 66:18
- Isaiah 65:3 : S Job 1:11
- Isaiah 65:3 : S Isa 1:29
- Isaiah 65:3 : S Lev 2:2; Jer 41:5; 44:17; Eze 23:41
- Isaiah 65:4 : S Lev 19:31; S Isa 8:19
- Isaiah 65:4 : S Lev 11:7
- Isaiah 65:5 : S Ps 40:4; Mt 9:11; Lk 7:39; 18:9-12
- Isaiah 65:5 : Pr 10:26
- Isaiah 65:6 : S Ps 50:3
- Isaiah 65:6 : S 2Ch 6:23; Isa 59:18; Jer 16:18
- Isaiah 65:6 : S Ps 79:12; Eze 9:10; Lk 6:38
- Isaiah 65:7 : S Isa 22:14
- Isaiah 65:7 : Ex 20:5; Jer 32:18
- Isaiah 65:7 : S Isa 57:7
- Isaiah 65:7 : S Pr 10:24; S Isa 10:12
- Isaiah 65:8 : Isa 5:2
- Isaiah 65:8 : S Isa 54:17
- Isaiah 65:9 : S Isa 45:19
- Isaiah 65:9 : S Nu 34:13; S Isa 60:21; Jer 50:19; Am 9:11-15
- Isaiah 65:9 : S Isa 14:1
- Isaiah 65:9 : Isa 32:18
- Isaiah 65:10 : S 1Ch 27:29; S Isa 35:2; Ac 9:35
- Isaiah 65:10 : Jer 31:12; 33:12; Eze 34:13-14
- Isaiah 65:10 : S Jos 7:26
- Isaiah 65:10 : S Isa 51:1
- Isaiah 65:11 : Dt 28:20; 29:24-25; S 32:15; Isa 1:28; Jer 2:13; 19:4
- Isaiah 65:11 : S Dt 33:19; S Ps 137:5
- Isaiah 65:11 : S Isa 5:22
- Isaiah 65:12 : S Isa 1:20; S 27:1
- Isaiah 65:12 : S Isa 30:25
- Isaiah 65:12 : S Pr 1:24-25; S Isa 41:28; 66:4; Jer 7:27
- Isaiah 65:12 : 2Ch 36:15-16; Jer 7:13; 13:11; 25:3; 26:5
- Isaiah 65:12 : Ps 149:7; Isa 1:24; 66:4; Mic 5:15
- Isaiah 65:13 : S Isa 1:19
- Isaiah 65:13 : S Job 18:12; Lk 6:25
- Isaiah 65:13 : S Isa 33:16
- Isaiah 65:13 : S Isa 3:1; 41:17
- Isaiah 65:13 : S Isa 60:5; 61:7
- Isaiah 65:13 : S Isa 44:9
- Isaiah 65:14 : S Ps 109:28; Zep 3:14-20; Jas 5:13
- Isaiah 65:14 : S Isa 15:2; Mt 8:12; Lk 13:28
- Isaiah 65:15 : S Nu 5:27; S Ps 102:8
- Isaiah 65:15 : S Ge 32:28; Rev 2:17
- Isaiah 65:16 : S Dt 29:19
- Isaiah 65:16 : Ps 31:5; Rev 3:14
- Isaiah 65:16 : S Ps 63:11; S Isa 19:18
- Isaiah 65:16 : S Job 11:16
- Isaiah 65:17 : S Isa 41:22; 66:22; 2Co 5:17; S 2Pe 3:13
- Isaiah 65:17 : Isa 43:18; Jer 3:16; S Rev 7:17
- Isaiah 65:18 : S Dt 32:43; Ps 98:1-9; S Isa 25:9
- Isaiah 65:18 : Rev 21:2
- Isaiah 65:19 : S Isa 35:10; S 62:5
- Isaiah 65:19 : S Dt 30:9
- Isaiah 65:19 : S Isa 25:8; Rev 7:17
- Isaiah 65:20 : Isa 11:8
- Isaiah 65:20 : Ge 5:1-32; S 15:15; S Ecc 8:13; Zec 8:4
- Isaiah 65:21 : S Isa 32:18; S 61:4
- Isaiah 65:21 : S 2Ki 19:29; S Isa 37:30; Eze 28:26; Am 9:14
- Isaiah 65:22 : S Dt 28:30
- Isaiah 65:22 : Ps 1:3; 92:12-14
- Isaiah 65:22 : Ps 21:4; 91:16
- Isaiah 65:22 : S Isa 14:1
- Isaiah 65:23 : S Isa 49:4; 1Co 15:58
- Isaiah 65:23 : Dt 28:32, 41; Jer 16:3-4
- Isaiah 65:23 : S Ge 12:2; S Dt 28:3-12
- Isaiah 65:23 : S Isa 44:3; Ac 2:39
- Isaiah 65:24 : S Isa 55:6; Mt 6:8
- Isaiah 65:24 : S Job 8:6; S Isa 30:19; S Zec 10:6
- Isaiah 65:24 : Da 9:20-23; 10:12
- Isaiah 65:25 : Isa 11:6
- Isaiah 65:25 : S Job 40:15
- Isaiah 65:25 : Ge 3:14; Mic 7:17
- Isaiah 65:25 : S Job 5:23; S Isa 2:4
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway
ESV
Judgment and Salvation
65 (A)I was ready to be sought by (B)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[a] my name.
2 (C)I spread out my hands all the day
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices;
3 a people who provoke me
to my face continually,
(D)sacrificing in gardens
and making offerings on bricks;
4 who sit in tombs,
and spend the night in secret places;
(E)who eat pig's flesh,
and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;
5 who say, “Keep to yourself,
do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”
(F)These are a smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all the day.
6 Behold, (G)it is written before me:
(H)“I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
(I)I will indeed repay into their lap
7 both your iniquities (J)and your fathers' iniquities together,
says the Lord;
(K)because they made offerings on the mountains
(L)and insulted me on the hills,
I will measure into their lap
payment for their former deeds.”[b]
8 Thus says the Lord:
(M)“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,
for there is a blessing in it,’
so I will do for my servants' sake,
(N)and not destroy them all.
9 (O)I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
and from Judah possessors of my mountains;
my chosen shall possess it,
and my servants shall dwell there.
10 (P)Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks,
and (Q)the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
for my people (R)who have sought me.
11 But (S)you who forsake the Lord,
who forget (T)my holy mountain,
who (U)set a table for Fortune
and (V)fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you to the sword,
and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
(W)because, when I called, you did not answer;
when I spoke, you did not listen,
(X)but you did what was evil in my eyes
and chose what I did not delight in.”
13 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, (Y)my servants shall eat,
but you shall be hungry;
behold, my servants shall drink,
but you shall be thirsty;
behold, my servants shall rejoice,
but you shall be put to shame;
14 behold, (Z)my servants shall sing for gladness of heart,
but you shall cry out for pain of heart
and shall wail for breaking of spirit.
15 You shall leave your name to (AA)my chosen (AB)for a curse,
and the Lord God will put you to death,
but his servants (AC)he will call by another name,
16 so that he who (AD)blesses himself in the land
shall bless himself by (AE)the God of truth,
and he who takes an oath in the land
shall swear by (AF)the God of truth;
(AG)because the former troubles are forgotten
and are hidden from my eyes.
New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “For behold, (AH)I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, (AI)I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
19 (AJ)I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
(AK)no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for (AL)the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and (AM)the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 (AN)They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 (AO)They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
(AP)for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy[c] the work of their hands.
23 (AQ)They shall not labor in vain
(AR)or bear children for calamity,[d]
for (AS)they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.
24 (AT)Before they call I will answer;
(AU)while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 (AV)The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and (AW)dust shall be the serpent's food.
(AX)They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:1 Or that did not call upon
- Isaiah 65:7 Or I will first measure their payment into their lap
- Isaiah 65:22 Hebrew shall wear out
- Isaiah 65:23 Or for sudden terror
Cross references
- Isaiah 65:1 : Cited Rom. 10:20; [Eph. 2:12, 13]
- Isaiah 65:1 : [ch. 2:2, 3; 18:7; 19:19, 25; Zech. 14:16]
- Isaiah 65:2 : Rom. 10:21
- Isaiah 65:3 : ch. 1:29; 66:17; [ch. 57:3-6]
- Isaiah 65:4 : ch. 66:17
- Isaiah 65:5 : ch. 1:31; 9:18
- Isaiah 65:6 : [Jer. 2:22; 17:1]
- Isaiah 65:6 : Ps. 50:3
- Isaiah 65:6 : Ps. 79:12; [Jer. 16:18]
- Isaiah 65:7 : Ex. 20:5; [Matt. 23:35]
- Isaiah 65:7 : [Ezek. 20:27, 28]
- Isaiah 65:7 : [Ezek. 20:27, 28]
- Isaiah 65:8 : [ch. 17:6]
- Isaiah 65:8 : [ch. 2:21]
- Isaiah 65:9 : [ch. 27:6; 37:31]
- Isaiah 65:10 : ch. 33:9; 35:2
- Isaiah 65:10 : Hos. 2:15; [Josh. 7:26]
- Isaiah 65:10 : [ch. 51:1]
- Isaiah 65:11 : [Josh. 24:20]
- Isaiah 65:11 : ver. 25; Joel 3:17
- Isaiah 65:11 : Ezek. 23:41; [1 Cor. 10:21]
- Isaiah 65:11 : Ezek. 23:41; [1 Cor. 10:21]
- Isaiah 65:12 : ch. 66:4; Prov. 1:24; Jer. 7:13
- Isaiah 65:12 : ch. 66:4
- Isaiah 65:13 : ch. 55:1; Ps. 22:26
- Isaiah 65:14 : [Ps. 5:11]
- Isaiah 65:15 : ver. 9
- Isaiah 65:15 : [Deut. 28:37; Jer. 29:22; Zech. 8:13]
- Isaiah 65:15 : ch. 62:2
- Isaiah 65:16 : Jer. 4:2
- Isaiah 65:16 : Jer. 4:2
- Isaiah 65:16 : [Deut. 32:4]
- Isaiah 65:16 : [ch. 43:18, 19]
- Isaiah 65:17 : ch. 66:22; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1
- Isaiah 65:18 : [Jer. 31:7]
- Isaiah 65:19 : ch. 62:5; 66:10
- Isaiah 65:19 : ch. 35:10; Rev. 21:4
- Isaiah 65:20 : [Prov. 3:2]
- Isaiah 65:20 : Eccles. 8:12
- Isaiah 65:21 : Ezek. 28:26; [Deut. 28:30]
- Isaiah 65:22 : [See ver. 21 above]; Ezek. 28:26; [Deut. 28:30]
- Isaiah 65:22 : See Ps. 92:12-14
- Isaiah 65:23 : ch. 49:4
- Isaiah 65:23 : [Deut. 28:41]
- Isaiah 65:23 : ch. 61:9; See Ps. 115:12-15
- Isaiah 65:24 : [Ps. 32:5]
- Isaiah 65:24 : [Dan. 9:21]
- Isaiah 65:25 : ch. 11:6, 7
- Isaiah 65:25 : Gen. 3:14; Mic. 7:17
- Isaiah 65:25 : ch. 11:9
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway
1. Only a remnant will be spared (1-16)
God wants to bless and use his people. But when his people ignore his outstretched hand, despise his word, and seek help from demons, he will punish them and raise up a people whom he can use. Even though the human race seems totally corrupt, there is good juice left in the cluster of grapes--a remnant who seek God (8). Those who only serve themselves will be hungry, thirsty, shamed and destroyed. God's servants--those who obey him and do his work--will eat, rejoice and sing joyful songs. They will be blessed and will be his blessing.
2. New heavens and a new earth (17-25)
God plants hope in the hearts of his people. He will create a new Jerusalem, a place of joy forever. There will be no more weeping, no more poverty, no more vain toil, no more children born to misfortune. God's people and their descendants will be blessed. There will be peace (Rev 21:1-4).
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your promise of the kingdom of heaven. Help me hold your vision in my heart and do your work by faith.
One Word: Seek God and hope in him