Chapter 66
True and False Worship
1 Thus says the Lord:
The heavens are my throne,
the earth, my footstool.
What house can you build for me?
Where is the place of my rest?(A)
2 My hand made all these things
when all of them came to be—oracle of the Lord.
This is the one whom I approve:
the afflicted one, crushed in spirit,
who trembles at my word.(B)
3 The one slaughtering an ox, striking a man,
sacrificing a lamb, breaking a dog’s neck,
Making an offering of pig’s blood,
burning incense, honoring an idol—
These have chosen their own ways,
and taken pleasure in their own abominations.(C)
4 I in turn will choose affliction for them
and bring upon them what they fear.
Because when I called, no one answered,
when I spoke, no one listened.
Because they did what was evil in my sight,
and things I do not delight in they chose,(D)
5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you who tremble at his word!
Your kin who hate you
and cast you out because of my name say,
“May the Lord show his glory,
that we may see your joy”;
but they shall be put to shame.
6 A voice roaring from the city,
a voice from the temple;
The voice of the Lord
rendering recompense to his enemies!(E)
Blessings of Prosperity and Consolation
7 Before she is in labor,
she gives birth;(F)
Before her pangs come upon her,
she delivers a male child.
8 Who ever heard of such a thing,
or who ever saw the like?
Can a land be brought forth in one day,
or a nation be born in a single moment?
Yet Zion was scarcely in labor
when she bore her children.
9 Shall I bring a mother to the point of birth,
and yet not let her child be born? says the Lord.
Or shall I who bring to birth
yet close her womb? says your God.
10 Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her,
all you who love her;
Rejoice with her in her joy,
all you who mourn over her—(G)
11 So that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast;
That you may drink with delight
at her abundant breasts!
12 For thus says the Lord:
I will spread prosperity over her like a river,
like an overflowing torrent,
the wealth of nations.
You shall nurse, carried in her arms,
cradled upon her knees;
13 As a mother comforts her child,
so I will comfort you;
in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.(H)
14 You will see and your heart shall exult,
and your bodies shall flourish like the grass;
The Lord’s power shall be revealed to his servants,
but to his enemies, his wrath.
15 For see, the Lord will come in fire,
his chariots like the stormwind;
To wreak his anger in burning rage
and his rebuke in fiery flames.
16 For with fire the Lord shall enter into judgment,
and, with his sword, against all flesh;
Those slain by the Lord shall be many.(I)
17 Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one who stands within, eating pig’s flesh, abominable things, and mice, shall all together come to an end, with their deeds and purposes—oracle of the Lord.
God Gathers the Nations. 18 I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; they shall come and see my glory.(J) 19 I will place a sign among them; from them I will send survivors to the nations: to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands which have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory; and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations. 20 They shall bring all your kin from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries, to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the Lord.
22 Just as the new heavens and the new earth
which I am making
Shall endure before me—oracle of the Lord—
so shall your descendants and your name endure.(K)
23 From new moon to new moon,
and from sabbath to sabbath,
All flesh shall come to worship
before me, says the Lord.(L)
24 They shall go out and see the corpses(M)
of the people who rebelled against me;
For their worm shall not die,
their fire shall not be extinguished;
and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.
Footnotes
- 66:1–2
- 66:3–6
- 66:7–9
- 66:10–16
- 66:17
- 66:18–21
- 66:24
Cross references
- 66:1 : 2 Sm 7:4–7; 1 Kgs 8:27; Acts 7:49; 17:24.
- 66:2 : Ps 24:1–2.
- 66:3 : Lv 11:7.
- 66:4 : Is 65:12; Prv 1:24; Jer 7:13.
- 66:6 : Jl 4:16; Am 1:2.
- 66:7–9 : Is 49:18–21; 54:1.
- 66:10 : Tb 13:14.
- 66:13 : Is 40:1; 49:13.
- 66:16 : Lv 11:29.
- 66:18 : Is 56:1, 8; 59:20.
- 66:22 : Is 65:17; Rev 21:1.
- 66:23 : Is 1:13.
- 66:24 : Is 1:27–28; Mk 9:45.
