Isaiah · Bible in Basic English
Isaiah 65 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 I have been ready to give an answer to those who did not make prayer to me; I have been offering myself to those who were not searching for me; I said, Here am I, here am I, to a nation which gave no respect to my name.
1 “I am inquired of by those who didn’t ask. I am found by those who didn’t seek me. I said, ‘See me, see me,’ to a nation that was not called by my name.
2 All day my hands have been stretched out to an uncontrolled people, who go in an evil way, after the purposes of their hearts;
2 I have spread out my hands all day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts;
3 A people who make me angry every day, making offerings in gardens, and burning perfumes on bricks.
3 a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks;
4 Who are seated in the resting-places of the dead, and by night are in the secret places; who take pig's flesh for food, and have the liquid of disgusting things in their vessels.
4 who sit among the graves, and spend nights in secret places; who eat pig’s meat, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
5 Who say, Keep away, do not come near me, for fear that I make you holy: these are a smoke in my nose, a fire burning all day.
5 who say, ‘Stay by yourself, don’t come near to me, for I am holier than you.’ These are smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all day.
6 See, it is recorded before me, says the Lord: I will not keep back my hand, till I have sent punishment,
6 “Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will repay, yes, I will repay into their bosom
7 For their sins and the sins of their fathers, who were burning perfumes on the mountains, and saying evil things against me on the hills: so I will take the measure of their sins, and will send the punishment for them into their breast.
7 your own iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together”, says Yahweh, “who have burned incense on the mountains, and blasphemed me on the hills. Therefore I will first measure their work into their bosom.”
8 This is the word of the Lord: As the new wine is seen in the grapes, and they say, Do not send destruction on it, for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants, in order that I may not put an end to them all.
8 Yahweh says, “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for a blessing is in it:’ so I will do for my servants’ sake, that I may not destroy them all.
9 And I will take a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah one who will have my mountains for a heritage: and the people I have taken to be mine will have it for themselves, and my servants will have their resting-place there.
9 I will bring offspring out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains. My chosen will inherit it, and my servants will dwell there.
10 And Sharon will be a grass-land for the flocks, and the valley of Achor a resting-place for the herds: for my people whose hearts have been turned back to me.
10 Sharon will be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for my people who have sought me.
11 But as for you who have given up the Lord, who have no care for my holy mountain, who get ready a table for Chance, and make offerings of mixed wine to Fate;
11 “But you who forsake Yahweh, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny;
12 Your fate will be the sword, and you will all go down to death: because when my voice came to you, you made no answer; you did not give ear to my word; but you did what was evil in my eyes, desiring what was not pleasing to me.
12 I will destine you to the sword, and you will all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you didn’t answer. When I spoke, you didn’t listen; but you did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn’t delight.”
13 For this cause says the Lord God, My servants will have food, but you will be in need of food: my servants will have drink, but you will be dry: my servants will have joy, but you will be shamed:
13 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry; behold, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, my servants will rejoice, but you will be disappointed.
14 My servants will make songs in the joy of their hearts, but you will be crying for sorrow, and making sounds of grief from a broken spirit.
14 Behold, my servants will sing for joy of heart, but you will cry for sorrow of heart, and will wail for anguish of spirit.
15 And your name will become a curse to my people, and the Lord God will put you to death, and give his servants another name:
15 You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen, and the Lord Yahweh will kill you. He will call his servants by another name,
16 So that he who is requesting a blessing will make use of the name of the true God, and he who takes an oath will do so by the true God; because the past troubles are gone out of mind, and because they are covered from my eyes.
16 so that he who blesses himself on the earth will bless himself in the God of truth; and he who swears on the earth will swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes.
17 For see, I am making a new heaven and a new earth: and the past things will be gone completely out of mind.
17 “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But men will be glad and have joy for ever in what I am making; for I am making Jerusalem a delight, and her people a joy.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem to be a delight, and her people a joy.
19 And I will be glad over Jerusalem, and have joy in my people: and the voice of weeping will no longer be sounding in her, or the voice of grief.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will be heard in her no more.
20 No longer will there be there a child whose days are cut short, or an old man whose days have not come to their full measure: for the young man at his death will be a hundred years old, and he whose life is shorter than a hundred years will seem as one cursed.
20 “No more will there be an infant who only lives a few days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child will die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old will be accursed.
21 And they will be building houses and living in them; planting vine-gardens and getting the fruit of them.
21 They will build houses and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will no longer be building for the use of others, or planting for others to have the fruit: for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my loved ones will have joy in full measure in the work of their hands.
22 They will not build and another inhabit. They will not plant and another eat; for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my chosen will long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 Their work will not be for nothing, and they will not give birth to children for destruction; for they are a seed to whom the Lord has given his blessing, and their offspring will be with them.
23 They will not labor in vain nor give birth for calamity; for they are the offspring of Yahweh’s blessed and their descendants with them.
24 And before they make their request I will give an answer, and while they are still making prayer to me, I will give ear.
24 It will happen that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will take their food together, and the lion will make a meal of grass like the ox: but dust will be the snake's food. There will be no cause of pain or destruction in all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. Dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” says Yahweh.
Cross references (25)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Romans 10:20; Romans 9:24–26; 1 Peter 2:10; Ephesians 2:12–13; Hosea 1:10
- 2 Romans 10:21; Jeremiah 4:14; Proverbs 1:24; Psalm 81:11–12; Isaiah 1:2
- 3 Isaiah 1:29; Isaiah 66:17; Deuteronomy 32:21; Job 1:11; 2 Kings 17:14–17
- 4 Isaiah 66:17; Leviticus 11:7; Deuteronomy 14:8; Isaiah 66:3; Matthew 8:28
- 5 Luke 18:9–12; Luke 7:39; Proverbs 16:5; Luke 15:28–30; Romans 2:17–29
- 6 Psalm 50:3; Jeremiah 16:18; Psalm 50:21; Psalm 79:12; Isaiah 64:12
- 7 Ezekiel 20:27–28; Isaiah 57:7; Exodus 20:5; Jeremiah 13:25; Isaiah 65:6
- 8 Romans 9:27–29; Amos 9:8–9; Mark 13:20; Romans 11:5–6; Jeremiah 30:11
- 9 Amos 9:11–15; Isaiah 27:6; Romans 11:5–7; Zechariah 10:6–12; Isaiah 65:22
- 10 Isaiah 35:2; Isaiah 33:9; Hosea 2:15; Isaiah 51:1; Joshua 7:24–26
- 11 Isaiah 1:28; Isaiah 2:2; Deuteronomy 32:17; 1 Corinthians 10:20–21; Isaiah 57:13
- 12 Jeremiah 7:13; 2 Chronicles 36:15–16; Isaiah 50:2; Matthew 21:34–43; Zechariah 7:11–13
- 13 Malachi 3:18; Isaiah 66:14; Luke 16:24–25; Isaiah 61:7; Isaiah 66:5
- 14 Psalm 66:4; Matthew 8:12; Isaiah 24:14; Matthew 13:42; James 5:1
- 15 Isaiah 62:2; Romans 9:26; Zechariah 8:13; Acts 11:26; Jeremiah 29:22
- 16 Jeremiah 4:2; Isaiah 19:18; Psalm 31:5; Hebrews 6:17–18; Philippians 2:11
- 17 2 Peter 3:13; Isaiah 66:22; Revelation 21:1–5; Isaiah 43:18; Jeremiah 3:16
- 18 Psalm 98:1–9; Isaiah 66:10–14; Revelation 19:1–6; Revelation 11:15–18; Psalm 67:3–5
- 19 Revelation 21:4; Revelation 7:17; Isaiah 25:8; Jeremiah 32:41; Isaiah 35:10
- 20 Job 5:26; Ecclesiastes 8:12–13; Deuteronomy 4:40; Psalm 34:12; Isaiah 3:11
- 21 Amos 9:14; Isaiah 62:8–9; Jeremiah 31:4–5; Isaiah 32:18; Isaiah 37:30
- 22 Psalm 92:12–14; Psalm 91:16; Psalm 21:4; Isaiah 65:15; Isaiah 65:9
- 23 Isaiah 61:9; Jeremiah 32:38–39; Deuteronomy 28:3–12; Psalm 115:14–15; Acts 2:39
- 24 Daniel 10:12; 1 John 5:14–15; Mark 11:24; Isaiah 58:9; Psalm 91:15
- 25 Isaiah 11:6–9; Micah 4:3; Acts 9:19–21; Revelation 14:1; Revelation 12:7–9
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
And when the Spirit of prophecy speaks from the person of Christ, the utterances are of this sort: "I have spread out My hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walk in a way that is not good." And again: "I gave My back to the scourges, and My cheeks to the buffetings; I turned not away …
… glory of God." And when these things are done, he says, "God will remove men far away, and those that are left shall multiply in the earth." "And they shall build houses, and shall inhabit them themselves: and plant vineyards, and eat of them themselves." For all these and other words were unquestionably spoken in reference to the resurrection of …
And I will exult in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her;" and other promises, which some endeavor to refer to carnal enjoyment during the thousand years.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
The prophet made this point safe beforehand, saying, But upon My servants shall a new name be called, which shall be blessed upon the earth.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
I spread out My hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walked in a way that is not good, but follow after their own sins; a people that provoketh Me to anger to My face." For the Jews having the prophecies, and being always in expectation of the Christ to come, did not recognise Him; and not …