Isaiah 65
The Lord says that He has extended His hands to an unbelieving people who provoke Him to anger, and they will face His retribution. However, He will spare a remnant of His servants and lead them to inherit His holy mountain. Those who have forsaken the Lord will be punished, while His servants will be blessed and rejoice. The Lord will create a new heavens and a new earth, and Jerusalem will be a place of exultation and joy, where there will be no more weeping or outcry, and His people will live long and peaceful lives.
Those who before were not asking for me have sought me. Those who have not sought me have found me. I said, "Behold, it is I! Behold, it is I!" to a nation which was not invoking my nameI have extended my hands all day long to an unbelieving people, who advance along a way that is not good, following their own thoughtsto a people who provoke me to anger before my face continually, who immolate in the gardens, and who sacrifice upon the bricksThey live in sepulchers, and they sleep in the shrines of idols. They eat the flesh of swine, and a profane elixir is in their vesselsThey say: "Depart from me! Do not approach me, for you are unclean!" Such as these will be the smoke in my fury, a fire burning all day longBehold, it has been written in my sight; I will not be silent. Instead, I will render retribution into their sinewsYour iniquities are joined with the iniquities of your fathers, says the Lord. For they have sacrificed upon the mountains, and they have offended me upon the hills. And so, I will measure back to them, from their first work, into their sinewsThus says the Lord: In the same way as it is said about a grain found in a cluster, "Do not destroy it, because it is a blessing," so will I act for the sake of my servants, so that I may not destroy the wholeAnd I will lead forth an offspring from Jacob, and a possessor of my mountains from Judah. And my elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall live thereAnd the open plains will become sheepfolds for the flocks, and the valley of Achor will become a domicile for the herds, for my people who have sought meAnd you who have forsaken the Lord, who have forgotten my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune, and who offer libations concerning herI will number you with the sword, and you will all fall by slaughter. For I called and you did not respond; I spoke, and you did not listen. And you did what is evil in my eyes; and what I did not will, you have chosenBecause of this, thus says the Lord God: Behold, my servants will eat, and you will be hungry. Behold, my servants will drink, and you will be thirstyBehold, my servants will rejoice, and you will be confounded. Behold, my servants will give praise in exultation of heart, and you will cry out in sorrow of heart, and you will wail in contrition of spiritAnd you will leave behind your name to my elect as a curse. And the Lord God will put you to death, and he will call his servants by another nameBy that name, whoever is blessed on earth, will be blessed in God. Amen! And whoever swears on earth, will swear by God. Amen! For the past anguishes have been delivered into oblivion, and they have been hidden from my eyesFor behold, I create the new heavens and the new earth. And the former things will not be in memory and will not enter into the heartBut you will be glad and exult, even forever, in these things that I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem as an exultation, and its people as a joyAnd I will exult in Jerusalem, and I will rejoice in my people. And neither a voice of weeping, nor a voice of outcry, will be heard in her anymoreThere will no longer be an infant of only a few days there, nor an elder who does not complete his days. For a mere child dies at a hundred years of age, and a sinner of a hundred years will be accursedAnd they will build houses, and will inhabit them. And they will plant vineyards, and will eat their fruitsThey will not build, so that another may inhabit. They will not plant, so that another may eat. For according to the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people. And the works of their hands will be long-standingMy elect will not labor in vain, and they will not bring forth in disorder. For they are the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their posterity are with themAnd this shall be: before they call out, I will perceive; while they are still speaking, I will hearThe wolf and the lamb will pasture together. The lion and the ox will eat hay. And dust will be the food of the serpent. They will not harm, and they will not kill, on all my holy mountain, says the Lord
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