| 66:1 | This is what the Lord says: “The heavens are my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where then is the house you will build for me? Where is the place where I will rest? |
| 66:2 | My hand made them;* that is how they came to be,”* says the Lord. I show special favor* to the humble and contrite, who respect what I have to say.* |
| 66:3 | The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man;* the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck;* the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it;* the one who offers incense also praises an idol.* They have decided to behave this way;* they enjoy these disgusting practices.* |
| 66:4 | So I will choose severe punishment* for them; I will bring on them what they dread, because I called, and no one responded, I spoke and they did not listen. They did evil before me;* they chose to do what displeases me.” |
| 66:5 | Hear the word of the Lord, you who respect what he has to say!* Your countrymen,* who hate you and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name, say, “May the Lord be glorified, then we will witness your joy.”* But they will be put to shame. |
| 66:6 | The sound of battle comes from the city; the sound comes from the temple! It is the sound of the Lord paying back his enemies. |
| 66:7 | Before she goes into labor, she gives birth! Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy! |
| 66:8 | Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen this? Can a country* be brought forth in one day? Can a nation be born in a single moment? Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons! |
| 66:9 | “Do I bring a baby to the birth opening and then not deliver it?” asks the Lord. “Or do I bring a baby to the point of delivery and then hold it back?” asks your God.* |
| 66:10 | Be happy for Jerusalem and rejoice with her, all you who love her! Share in her great joy, all you who have mourned over her! |
| 66:11 | For* you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished;* you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts.* |
| 66:12 | For this is what the Lord says: “Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river, the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks.* You will nurse from her breast* and be carried at her side; you will play on her knees. |
| 66:13 | As a mother consoles a child,* so I will console you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.” |
| 66:14 | When you see this, you will be happy,* and you will be revived.* The Lord will reveal his power to his servants and his anger to his enemies.* |
| 66:15 | For look, the Lord comes with fire, his chariots come like a windstorm,* to reveal his raging anger, his battle cry, and his flaming arrows.* |
| 66:16 | For the Lord judges all humanity* with fire and his sword; the Lord will kill many.* |
| 66:17 | “As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards,* those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice* – they will all be destroyed together,”* says the Lord. |
| 66:18 | “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming* to gather all the nations and ethnic groups;* they will come and witness my splendor. |
| 66:19 | I will perform a mighty act among them* and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul,* Lud* (known for its archers*), Tubal, Javan,* and to the distant coastlands* that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor. |
| 66:20 | They will bring back all your countrymen* from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them* on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels* to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers. |
| 66:21 | And I will choose some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord. |
| 66:22 | “For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me,” says the Lord, “so your descendants and your name will remain. |
| 66:23 | From one month* to the next and from one Sabbath to the next, all people* will come to worship me,”* says the Lord. |
| 66:24 | “They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die,* and the fire that consumes them will not die out.* All people will find the sight abhorrent.”* |
Isaiah 66 - NET Bible [draft]
