• A Rebellious People

  • 1 “I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’ To a nation which did not call on My name.
  • 2 “I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, Who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts,
  • 3 A people who continually provoke Me to My face, Offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks;
  • 4 Who sit among graves and spend the night in secret places; Who eat pig’s flesh, And the broth of unclean meat is in their pots.
  • 5 “Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me, For I am holier than you!’ These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day.
  • 6 “Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will even repay into their laps,
  • 7 Both your own wrongdoings and the wrongdoings of your fathers together,” says the Lord. “Because they have burned incense on the mountains And scorned Me on the hills, Therefore I will measure their former work into their laps.”
  • 8 This is what the Lord says: “Just as the new wine is found in the cluster, And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is benefit in it,’ So I will act in behalf of My servants In order not to destroy all of them.
  • 9 “I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, And an heir of My mountains from Judah; My chosen ones shall inherit it, And My servants will live there.
  • 10 “Sharon will be a pasture land for flocks, And the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, For My people who seek Me.
  • 11 “But as for you who abandon the Lord, Who forget My holy mountain, Who set a table for Fortune, And fill a jug of mixed wine for Destiny,
  • 12 I will destine you for the sword, And all of you will bow down to the slaughter. Because I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not listen. Instead, you did evil in My sight And chose that in which I did not delight.”
  • 13 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “Behold, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry. Behold, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
  • 14 “Behold, My servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart, But you will cry out from a painful heart, And you will wail from a broken spirit.
  • 15 “You will leave your name as a curse to My chosen ones, And the Lord God will put you to death. But My servants will be called by another name.
  • 16 “Because the one who is blessed on the earth Will be blessed by the God of truth; And the one who swears an oath on the earth Will swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My sight!

  • New Heavens and a New Earth

  • 17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
  • 18 “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness.
  • 19 “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
  • 20 “No longer will there be in it an infant who lives only a few days, Or an old person who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of a hundred, And the one who does not reach the age of a hundred Will be thought accursed.
  • 21 “They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
  • 22 “They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands.
  • 23 “They will not labor in vain, Or give birth to children for disaster; For they are the descendants of those blessed by the Lord, And their descendants with them.
  • 24 It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will listen.
  • 25 The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm on all My holy mountain,” says the Lord.