Isa 65 | ESV | STEP | I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said , Here I am, here I am, to a nation that was not called by my name .

aq[See ver. 21 above]

arSee Ps. 92:12-14

at ch. 49:4

au[Deut. 28:41]

aw ch. 61:9; See Ps. 115:12-15

ax[Ps. 32:5]

ay[Dan. 9:21]

az ch. 11:6, 7

ba Gen. 3:14; Mic. 7:17

bb ch. 11:9

‏ Isaiah 65

Judgment and Salvation

1 ^aI was ready to be sought by ^bthose who did not ask for me;
I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
to a nation that was not called by ^{▼▼Or that did not call upon} my name.
2 ^dI spread out my hands all the day
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices;
3 a people who provoke me
to my face continually,
^esacrificing in gardens
and making offerings on bricks;
4 who sit in tombs,
and spend the night in secret places;
^fwho eat pig’s flesh,
and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;
5 who say, “Keep to yourself,
do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”
^gThese are a smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all the day.
6 Behold, ^hit is written before me:
ⁱ“I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
^jI will indeed repay into their lap
7 both your iniquities ^kand your fathers’ iniquities together,

says the Lord;
^lbecause they made offerings on the mountains
^mand insulted me on the hills,
I will measure into their lap
payment for their former deeds.” ^{▼▼Or I will first measure their payment into their lap}
8 Thus says the Lord:
^o“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,
for there is a blessing in it,’
so I will do for my servants’ sake,
^pand not destroy them all.
9 ^qI will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
and from Judah possessors of my mountains;
my chosen shall possess it,
and my servants shall dwell there.
10 ^rSharon shall become a pasture for flocks,
and ^sthe Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
for my people ^twho have sought me.
11 But ^uyou who forsake the Lord,
who forget ^vmy holy mountain,
who ^wset a table for Fortune
and ^xfill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you to the sword,
and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
^ybecause, when I called, you did not answer;
when I spoke, you did not listen,
^zbut you did what was evil in my eyes
and chose what I did not delight in.”
13 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, ^aamy servants shall eat,
but you shall be hungry;
behold, my servants shall drink,
but you shall be thirsty;
behold, my servants shall rejoice,
but you shall be put to shame;
14 behold, ^abmy servants shall sing for gladness of heart,
but you shall cry out for pain of heart
and shall wail for breaking of spirit.
15 You shall leave your name to ^acmy chosen ^adfor a curse,
and the Lord God will put you to death,
but his servants ^aehe will call by another name,
16 so that he who ^afblesses himself in the land
shall bless himself by ^agthe God of truth,
and he who takes an oath in the land
shall swear by ^ahthe God of truth;
^aibecause the former troubles are forgotten
and are hidden from my eyes.

New Heavens and a New Earth

17 “For behold, ^ajI create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, ^akI create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
19 ^alI will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
^amno more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for ^anthe young man shall die a hundred years old,
and ^aothe sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 ^apThey shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 ^aqThey shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
^arfor like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy ^{▼▼Hebrew shall wear out} the work of their hands.
23 ^atThey shall not labor in vain
^auor bear children for calamity, ^{▼▼Or for sudden terror}
for ^awthey shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.
24 ^axBefore they call I will answer;
^aywhile they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 ^azThe wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and ^badust shall be the serpent’s food.
^bbThey shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”

says the Lord.