Isaiah 66
The Worship God Demands
1 Thus says the LORD:
Heaven is my throne
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is
my resting place?
2 All these things my hand
has made,
and so all these things are mine, a
says the LORD.
But this is the one to whom I will
look,
to the humble and contrite in spirit,
who
trembles at my word.
3 Whoever slaughters an
ox is like one who kills a human being;
whoever sacrifices a
lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck;
whoever presents a grain
offering, like one who offers swine's blood;b
whoever makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who
blesses an idol.
These have chosen their own ways,
and
in their abominations they take delight;
4 I
also will choose to mockc them,
and bring upon
them what they fear;
because, when I called, no one answered,
when I spoke, they did not listen;
but they did what was
evil in my sight,
and chose what did not please me.
The LORD Vindicates Zion
5 Hear
the word of the LORD,
you who tremble at his
word:
Your own people who hate you
and reject you for my
name's sake
have said, "Let the LORD be glorified,
so that we may see your joy";
but it is they who shall
be put to shame.
6 Listen, an uproar from
the city!
A voice from the temple!
The voice of the LORD,
dealing retribution to his enemies!
7 Before
she was in labor
she gave birth;
before her pain came
upon her
she delivered a son.
8 Who
has heard of such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
Shall a nation be
delivered in one moment?
Yet as soon as Zion was in labor
she delivered her children.
9 Shall
I open the womb and not deliver?
says the LORD;
shall I, the one who delivers, shut the womb?
says your
God.
10 Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad
for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her--
11 that
you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
from her glorious
bosom.
12 For thus says the LORD:
I will extend prosperity to her like a river,
and the
wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and you shall
nurse and be carried on her arm,
and dandled on her knees.
13 As
a mother comforts her child,
so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
The Reign and Indignation of God
14 You shall
see, and your heart shall rejoice;
your bodiesd
shall flourish like the grass;
and it shall be known that the hand
of the LORD is with his servants,
and his
indignation is against his enemies.
15 For
the LORD will come in fire,
and his chariots like
the whirlwind,
to pay back his anger in fury,
and his
rebuke in flames of fire.
16 For by fire
will the LORD execute judgment,
and by his sword,
on all flesh;
and those slain by the LORD shall
be many.
17 Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following the one in the center, eating the flesh of pigs, vermin, and rodents, shall come to an end together, says the LORD.
18 For I knowe their works and their thoughts, and I amf coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory, 19and I will set a sign among them. From them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put,g and Lud--which draw the bow--to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. 20They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring a grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. 21And I will also take some of them as priests and as Levites, says the LORD.
22 For as the new heavens and the new earth,
which I will make,
shall remain before me, says the LORD;
so shall your descendants and your name remain.
23 From
new moon to new moon,
and from sabbath to sabbath,
all
flesh shall come to worship before me,
says the LORD.
24 And they shall go out and look at the dead bodies of the people who have rebelled against me; for their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.