Isaiah 65 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 I let myself be consulted by people who weren't even asking me questions; I let myself be found by people who weren't even looking for me. To a nation that wasn't even calling for me, I said, “I'm here, I'm here!”
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 I spread out my hands all day long, pleading with a stubborn people who follow bad ways, doing whatever they choose.
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 These people are always making me angry, because they present sacrifices to idols in their sacred gardens, and offer incense on pagan altars made of brick.
3 a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks;
4 They spend the night among the graves and in caves, eating pork and cooking other unclean meats.
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 They tell others, “Keep your distance! Don't come close to me as I'm too holy to be touched by you!” These people are like smoke in my nostrils, a stink burning all day long!
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 Look—it's all written down right in front of me! I'm not going to keep quiet. I'm going to pay them back by throwing their punishment into their laps.
6 “Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will repay, yes, I will repay into their bosom
7 I'm going to pay you back for both your own sins and the sins of your forefathers, says the Lord, because they burned incense on the mountains and ridiculed me on the hills. I'm going to measure into their laps full payment for what they've done.
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 what the Lord says: It's like when there's a bit of juice left in a bunch of grapes and people say, “Don't get rid of it all; there's still some good in it.” I'll do the same for my servants—I won't destroy 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 I will make sure Jacob has descendants, and people from Judah who can take ownership of my mountain. My chosen ones, my servants, will own the land and live 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 Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to rest, for my people who follow 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 those of you who desert the Lord and forget about my holy mountain, who prepare feasts for the god of good luck, who fill jugs of mixed wine for the god of destiny,
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 I will make sure your destiny is to be killed by the sword. All of you will bow down to be slaughtered, because I called out to you but you didn't answer; I spoke to you, but you didn't listen. Instead you did what's evil in my sight, choosing to do what I hate.
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 So this is what the Lord says, My servants will eat, but you will go hungry. My servants will drink, but you will go thirsty. My servants will celebrate, but you will feel ashamed.
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 Listen! My servants will shout because they're so happy inside, but you will cry out in deepest pain, howling because your spirit is broken.
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 Your name will only be used as a curse by my chosen ones, for the Lord God will kill you 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 Whoever asks a blessing or takes an oath in the land will do so by the one true God, for I have forgotten the troubles of the past—I don't look on them anymore.
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 Look! I'm going to create new heavens and a new earth. The former things won't be remembered—they won't cross anyone's 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 Be glad, and be happy forever and ever in what I'm going to create, for I will make Jerusalem a delightful place, and its people a real 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 I will be so happy over Jerusalem; I will celebrate among my people. The sound of weeping and cries for help won't ever be heard there again.
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 babies will die after just a few days, and no adults will die without having lived a long life. Those who reach a hundred will be thought of as just a child, and anyone who doesn't reach a hundred will be seen as being under a curse.
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 They will build houses and live in them; they will eat the fruit of the vineyards they themselves planted.
21 They will build houses and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses for others to live in; no longer will they plant for others to eat. For my people will live as long as trees do; my chosen ones will live long enough to enjoy all they've worked for.
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 They won't work for nothing, and they won't have children destined for disaster. For they are people living under the blessing of the Lord, and their children will be too.
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 I will reply even before they ask me. While they are still speaking, I will answer them!
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 eat together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. The snakes will eat dust. Nothing will cause any harm or damage anywhere on my holy mountain.
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 …