The LORD’S Response
1 “I was sought by those who did not ask;
I was found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’
to a nation that did not call on H my name. u
2 I spread out my hands all day long
to a rebellious people v
who walk in the path that is not good,
following their own thoughts.
3 These people continually anger me
to my face,
sacrificing in gardens, w
burning incense on bricks,
spending nights in secret places,
eating the meat of pigs, x
and putting polluted broth in their bowls. I
5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself,
don’t come near me, for I am too holy for you! ’
These practices are smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all day long.
6 Look, it is written in front of me:
I will not keep silent, y but I will repay; z
I will repay them fully J
7 for your iniquities and the iniquities a
of your K fathers together,”
says the LORD.
“Because they burned incense on the mountains
and reproached me on the hills, b
I will reward them fully L
for their former deeds.”
8 The LORD says this:
“As the new wine is found in a bunch of grapes,
and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it,
for there’s some good M in it,’
so I will act because of my servants
and not destroy them all.
9 I will produce descendants from Jacob, c
and heirs to my mountains from Judah;
my chosen d ones will possess it,
and my servants will dwell there. e
10 Sharon will be a pasture for flocks, f
and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, g
for my people who have sought me. h
11 But you who abandon the LORD,
who forget my holy mountain,
who prepare a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny, N
12 I will destine you for the sword,
and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered,
because I called and you did not answer,
I spoke and you did not hear;
you did what was evil in my sight
and chose what I did not delight in.” i
13 Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says:
“My servants will eat,
but you will be hungry;
my servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty;
my servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame.
14 My servants will shout for joy from a glad heart,
but you will cry out from an anguished heart,
and you will lament out of a broken spirit.
15 You will leave your name behind
as a curse for my chosen ones, j
and the Lord GOD will kill you;
but he will give his servants another name. k
16 Whoever asks for a blessing in the land
will ask for a blessing by the God of truth, l
and whoever swears in the land
will swear by the God of truth.
For the former troubles will be forgotten
and hidden from my sight.
A New Creation
17 “For I will create a new heaven and a new earth; m
the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.
18 Then be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people.
The sound of weeping and crying
will no longer be heard in her. n
20 In her, a nursing infant will no longer live
only a few days, O
or an old man not live out his days.
Indeed, the one who dies at a hundred years old
will be mourned as a young man, P
and the one who misses a hundred years
will be considered cursed. o
21 People will build houses and live in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. p
22 They will not build and others live in them;
they will not plant and others eat.
For my people’s lives will be
like the lifetime of a tree. q
My chosen ones will fully enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor without success r
or bear children destined for disaster,
for they will be a people blessed by the LORD
along with their descendants. s
24 Even before they call, I will answer; t
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, Q
and the lion will eat straw like cattle, u
but the serpent’s food will be dust! v
They will not do what is evil or destroy
on my entire holy mountain,” w
says the LORD.