Isaiah 56-66

New Catholic Bible

¹ Thus says the Lord:
    Maintain justice
    and do what is right.
For my salvation is close at hand,
    and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
² Happy is the man who does this,
    the one who holds fast to my instructions,
who observes the Sabbath without profaning it
    and refrains from every evil deed.
³ Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
    “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.”
Permit no eunuch^[b] to believe,
    “I am nothing but a dried-up tree.”
⁴ For thus says the Lord:
    To the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths,
who choose to do my will
    and hold fast to my covenant,
⁵ I will give in my house
    and within my walls
a monument and a name
    better than sons and daughters.
I will give them an everlasting name
    that will never be effaced.
⁶ The foreigners who pledge their allegiance to the Lord,
    who minister to him,
who love the name of the Lord
    and become his servants,
who keep the Sabbath and do not profane
    and who hold fast to my covenant:
⁷ all these I will bring to my holy mountain
    and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar,
for my house will be called
    a house of prayer for all peoples.
⁸ Thus says the Lord God
    who gathers the exiles of Israel:
There are others whom I will call forth
    besides those who have already been gathered.

⁹ All you wild beasts of the fields and of the forest,
    come forth and gorge yourselves.
¹⁰ Israel’s watchmen are all blind;
    they perceive absolutely nothing.
They are all dumb watchdogs
    that are unable to bark,
dreaming as they lie there,
    loving the opportunity to sleep.
¹¹ The dogs have a ravenous appetite;
    meanwhile the shepherds are never satisfied.
They comprehend nothing;
    each of them goes his own way,
    all of them interested solely in their own gain.
¹² “Come,” says each one, “I will fetch some wine,
    and we will fill ourselves with strong drink.
And tomorrow will be like today,
    or perhaps even better.”

¹ Those who are righteous perish,
    but no one takes it to heart.
Those who are devout are taken away,
    and no one understands
that the righteous are taken away
    to be spared from evil.
² Those who have walked uprightly
    enter into peace;
    they find rest as they lie in death.

³ But as for you, come here,
    you children of a sorceress,
    you offspring of an adulterer and a harlot!
⁴ Whom are you mocking?
    At whom do you open your mouths
    and stick out your tongues?
Are you not a rebellious brood,
    the offspring of liars?
⁵ You burn with lust among the oaks
    and under every spreading tree,
sacrificing your children in the ravines
    and under the clefts in the rocks.^[c]
6 The smooth stones of the ravines will be your portion;
    these are your lot.
To them you poured out libations
    and brought forth your cereal offerings.
    Should such acts appease me?
⁷ Upon a high and lofty mountain
    you have placed your bed,
    and there you went up to offer sacrifice.
⁸ Behind the door and the doorpost
    you have displayed your pagan symbols.
Forsaking me, you have uncovered your bed;
    you climbed into it and opened it wide.
You struck a profitable bargain
    with those whose beds you love,
    and you gazed endlessly at their nakedness.
⁹ You approached the king with oil,
    having lavished your body with perfumes.
You sent forth your procurers far and wide,
    even to the depths of Sheol.^[d]
10 Although exhausted by your endless travels,
    you never said, “It is useless.”
You realized that your desire had been rekindled,
    and so you never gave up.
¹¹ Whom did you so greatly dread and fear
    that you betrayed me
and no longer remembered me
    or gave me any thought?
Is it because I was silent for so long a time
    that you do not fear me?
¹² Now I will expose your conduct
    that you regard as so righteous.
¹³ When you cry out for help,
    your collection of idols will not save you.
The wind will carry off all of them;
    a gentle breeze will bear them away.
But whoever makes me his refuge
    will possess the land
    and inherit my holy mountain.

¹⁴ Then the Lord will say:
    Build up, build up! Prepare the way!
    Remove every obstruction from my people’s path.
¹⁵ For thus says the One who is high and exalted,
    who lives eternally
    and whose name is holy:
I dwell in a high and holy place
    but I am with the contrite and the humble,
to revive the spirit of the humble
    and to revive the heart of the contrite.
¹⁶ I will not accuse forever,
    nor will I always be angry.
For then the spirits of the souls that I have made
    would grow faint because of me.
¹⁷ Because of their wicked avarice I was angry,
    and I struck them, keeping myself hidden,
    but they continued on their rebellious path.
¹⁸ I saw how they behaved, but I will heal them;
    I will lead them and fill them with consolation,
    both them and those who mourn for them.
¹⁹ Peace, peace to all, both far and near,
    and I will heal them, says the Lord.
²⁰ But the wicked are like the restless sea that cannot be still;
    its waters cast up mud and dirt.
²¹ There is no peace for the wicked,
    says my God.

¹ Shout loudly, without holding back.
    Lift up your voice like a trumpet.
Proclaim to my people their wicked deeds,
    to the house of Jacob their sins.
² Yet they search for me day after day
    in their desire to know my ways,
as if they are a nation that adheres to righteousness
    and has not abandoned the law of their God.
They request that I make righteous judgments,
    and they long to be near God.
³ They ask, “Why should we fast
    when you do not even notice?
Why should we mortify ourselves
    when you pay no heed?”
The truth is that on your fast days
    you serve your own interests
    and oppress all your workers.
⁴ Your fasting only leads to quarrels and fights
    and lashing out with vicious blows.
Such fasting as you currently practice
    will not make your voice heard on high.
⁵ Is this the type of fast that pleases me,
    a day for a man to humble himself,
to bow his head like a reed
    and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Is this what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?
⁶ This rather is the type of fast that I wish:
    to loosen the fetters of injustice,
    to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to set free those who are oppressed
    and to break every yoke,
⁷ to share your bread with the hungry
    and to offer shelter to the homeless poor,
to clothe the naked when you behold them
    and not turn your back on your own kin.
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your wound will quickly be healed;
your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then, when you call, the Lord will answer;
    you will cry out for help,
    and he will say, “Here I am.”
If you cease to tolerate the yoke of oppression,
    the pointing of fingers^[e] and malicious words,
¹⁰ if you offer your food to the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like midday.
¹¹ The Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your needs in the barren desert.
He will strengthen your limbs,
    and you will be like a watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never run dry.
¹² Your ancient ruins will be rebuilt,
    constructed on foundations from generations past.
You will be called the rebuilder of broken walls
    and the restorer of ruined streets and dwellings.
¹³ If you refrain from traveling on the Sabbath
    and from engaging in your own interests on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a day of joy
    and regard the Lord’s holy day as honorable,
if you honor it by not going your own way,
    serving your own interests,
    or attending to your own affairs;
¹⁴ then you will find true happiness in the Lord,
    and I will enable you to ride
    upon the heights of the earth.
I will nourish you with the heritage of your father Jacob,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

¹ Truly the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
    nor is his ear too dull to hear.
² Rather, it is your iniquities that have been barriers
    between you and your God.
Your sins have caused him to hide his face
    so that he does not hear you.
³ For your hands are stained with blood
    and your fingers with guilt.
Your lips utter lies
    and your tongue mutters wicked things.
⁴ No one brings a suit justly
    or pleads honestly in court.
They all rely on empty words and utter lies;
    they conceive mischief and bring forth evil.
⁵ They hatch adders’ eggs
    and weave the spider’s web;
whoever eats their eggs will die;
    crush one and a viper emerges.
⁶ Their webs are useless for clothing;
    what they make cannot serve to cover them.
Their works are deeds of evil,
    and acts of violence flow from their hands.
⁷ Their feet rush headlong to do evil,
    and they do not hesitate to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are those of iniquity;
    their paths are marked by havoc and ruin.
⁸ They do not know the way of peace,
    and justice is not seen along their paths.
The roads they follow are crooked,
    and no one who travels on them knows any peace.
⁹ Therefore, justice is far removed from us,
    and righteousness is far beyond our reach.
We look for light but behold only darkness,
    for brightness but we walk in gloom.
¹⁰ Like blind men we grope along a wall,
    feeling our way like those bereft of eyes.
We stumble at noon as if it were twilight;
    in the midst of the strong we are like the dead.
¹¹ All of us growl like bears;
    like doves we continue to moan mournfully.
We wait for justice but receive none,
    for deliverance but it is far from us.
¹² For our transgressions against you are numerous,
    and our sins bear witness against us.
We are unable to forget our offenses,
    and we are well aware of our iniquities:
¹³ our rebellion and our denial of the Lord
    and our turning away from following him,
threatening acts of oppression and revolt,
    and uttering lies conceived in our hearts.
¹⁴ Justice has been rebuffed
    and righteousness stands at a distance.
For truth stumbles in the public square
    and uprightness cannot enter.
¹⁵ Truth has disappeared,
    and those who turn from evil are terrorized.

When the Lord witnessed this, he was displeased
    that justice had ceased to exist.
¹⁶ He saw that no help was in sight,
    and he was outraged that no one sought to intervene.
Therefore, his own arm effected the victory,
    with his righteousness as his support.
¹⁷ He put on justice like a breastplate
    and a helmet of salvation on his head.
He clothed himself with garments of vengeance
    and wrapped himself in a cloak of zeal.
¹⁸ He will repay his enemies
    according to their deeds:
wrath to his adversaries,
    retribution to his enemies;
he will render requital
    to the islands and the coastlands.
¹⁹ And so those in the west will fear the name of the Lord,
    and those in the east his glory.
He will come like a pent-up stream
    that is driven by the breath of the Lord.
²⁰ He will come as a redeemer to Zion,
    and to those in Jacob who cease to rebel.
    This is the word of the Lord.
²¹ As for me, says the Lord,
    this is my covenant with them:
my Spirit which rests upon you
    and my words that I have put into your mouth
will not depart from your mouth
    or out of the mouths of your children,
or out of the mouths of your children’s children,
    says the Lord, from now on and forevermore.

^1 [f]Arise and shine forth, for your light has come
    and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you.
² Even though darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness enshrouds the peoples,
upon you the Lord will shine,
    and over you his glory will appear.
³ Nations will be guided by your light
    and kings by the brightness of your radiance.
⁴ Raise your eyes and look around;
    they are all assembling and returning to you.
Your sons are coming from far away,
    and your daughters will be carried
    in the arms of their nurses.
^{5     [g]}Then you will be radiant at what you behold,
    and your hearts will throb and rejoice.
For the riches of the sea will be brought to you,
    and the wealth of the nations will come to you.
⁶ Droves of camels will cover your land,
    the young camels from Midian and Ephah;
all from Sheba will come,
    laden with gold and frankincense,
    while the people proclaim the praises of the Lord.
⁷ All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you;
    the rams of Nebaioth will serve your needs.
They will be acceptable offerings on my altar,
    and I will enhance the splendor of my house.
⁸ Who are these that fly along like clouds
    and like doves to their dovecotes?
⁹ All the vessels are assembled
    from the seacoasts and the islands,
    with the ships of Tarshish in the lead;
they are bringing your children from far away,
    along with their silver and gold,
to pay honor to the name of the Lord, your God,
    the Holy One of Israel,
    for he has glorified you.
¹⁰ Foreigners will rebuild your walls,
    and their kings will be your servants.
Although I struck you down in my wrath,
    now in my mercy I will show you my favor.
¹¹ Your gates will always be open;
    day and night they will never be shut,
so that the wealth of the nations may be brought to you,
    led by their kings in triumphal procession.
¹² For the nation or the kingdom that refuses to serve you
    will be totally destroyed
    and suffer widespread devastation.
¹³ The glory of Lebanon will come to you,
    the cypress, the plane tree, and the pine,
    one and all,
to adorn my holy sanctuary
    and to honor the place where I stand.^[h]
14 The sons of those who oppressed you
    will come forward and bend low before you,
and all those who despised you
    will bow down at your feet;
they will call you “City of the Lord,”
    “Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”
¹⁵ Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,
    with no one traveling through you,
I will make you an object of everlasting pride
    and a source of never-ending joy.
¹⁶ You will suck the milk of nations
    and be nursed at royal breasts.
Then you will know
    that I, the Lord, am your Savior
    and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
¹⁷ Instead of bronze I will bring you gold,
    instead of iron I will bring you silver;
instead of wood, bronze,
    and instead of stone, iron.
I will ensure that you will be governed in peace
    and be ruled with righteousness.
¹⁸ No longer will violence appear in your land,
    nor will devastation and ruin occur within your borders.
You will call your walls “Salvation”
    and your gates “Praise.”
¹⁹ The sun will no longer serve
    as the source of your light by day,
nor will the brightness of the moon
    afford light to you during the night.
Rather, the Lord will be your everlasting light,
    and your God will be your splendor.
²⁰ Never again will your sun go down,
    nor will your moon withdraw its light.
For the Lord will be your everlasting light,
    and your days of mourning will be ended.
²¹ Your people will all be righteous
    and possess the land forever.
They are the shoot that I have planted,
    my handiwork to exhibit my glory.
²² The least of you will become a thousand,
    and the weakest will become a mighty nation.
I am the Lord, and I will accomplish all this
    at the appointed time.

^{1     [i]}The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me
    because the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to announce good news to the oppressed,
    to strengthen the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom to those held in captivity
    and release to those who have been imprisoned,
² to proclaim a year of the Lord’s favor
    and a day of vengeance for our God,
    to comfort all who mourn,
³ to give to all those who mourn in Zion
    a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    a glorious mantle instead of a spirit of despair.
And they will be called oaks of righteousness
    planted by the Lord to show forth his glory.

⁴ They will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and raise up sites that have long been desolate.
They will restore the ruined cities
    that for generations have been merely ravaged wastes.
⁵ Strangers will come forth to shepherd your flocks;
    foreigners will farm your land and dress your vines.
⁶ But you will be called priests of the Lord;
    and you will be named ministers of our God.
You will enjoy the wealth of the nations,
    and their former glory will be yours.
⁷ Because you endured a double measure of shame
    and were regarded as deserving of dishonor and disgrace,
you will receive a double portion,
    and everlasting joy will be yours.
⁸ For I, the Lord, love justice,
    and I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
I will be faithful in rewarding such victims,
    and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
⁹ Their descendants will be renowned among the nations
    and their offspring among the peoples.
All who behold them will acknowledge
    that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.
¹⁰ I rejoice in the Lord with all my heart;
    my soul exults in my God.
For he has clothed me in garments of salvation
    and wrapped me in a robe of saving justice,
like a bridegroom adorned with a garland
    or a bride bedecked with her jewels.
¹¹ As the earth puts forth its shoots
    and a garden causes its seeds to sprout,
so the Lord God will cause his justice and praise
    to spring up in the sight of all the nations.

¹ For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
    and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
until her vindication shines forth like the dawn
    and her salvation like a burning torch.
² The nations will see your vindication
    and all the kings your glory.
You will be called by a new name
    that the mouth of the Lord will reveal.
³ You will be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord,
    a royal diadem held by your God.
⁴ No longer will you be called “Forsaken,”
    nor will your land be known by the name “Desolate.”
Rather you will be called “My Delight Is in Her,”
    and your land will be known as “Married.”
For the Lord will take delight in you,
    and your land will be his spouse.
⁵ As a young man marries a virgin,
    so will your builder marry you,
and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride,
    so will your God rejoice over you.

⁶ Upon your walls, O Jerusalem,
    I have stationed sentinels.
Neither by day nor by night
    will they be silent.
You whose responsibility is to call upon the Lord,
    give yourselves no rest,
⁷ and also give no rest to him
    until he restores Jerusalem
    and makes her renowned throughout the earth.
⁸ The Lord has sworn by his right hand
    and by his mighty arm:
Never again will I give your grain
    to serve as food for your enemies,
nor shall foreigners drink the wine
    for which you have toiled.
⁹ However, those who harvest the grain will eat it
    and give praise to the Lord,
while those who gather the grapes will drink the wine
    within my sacred courts.
¹⁰ Pass through, pass through the gates,
    and clear a path for my people.
Build up, build up the highway;
    clear it of stones
    and lift up a standard over the nations.
¹¹ The Lord has made this proclamation
    to the farthest bounds of the earth:
Say to the daughter of Zion,
    “See, your Savior comes!
His reward is with him
    and his recompense precedes him.”^[j]
12 They will be called “The Holy People,”
    “The Redeemed of the Lord.”
And you will be called “Sought After,”
    “A City No Longer Forsaken.”

^{1     [k]}Who is this that comes from Edom,
    from Bozrah in crimson garments?
Who is this so magnificently attired,
    marching with his mighty strength?
“It is I, proclaiming victory,
    I who possess the power to save.”
² Why are your robes red,
    like the garments of those
    who tread the winepress?
³ “I have trodden the winepress alone;
    not one of the nations came to my aid.
I trod the nations in my anger
    and trampled them in my wrath.
Their blood spurted out all over my garments
    and stained all my robes.
⁴ I resolved in my heart on a day of vengeance,
    and my year for redeeming was at hand.
⁵ I looked all around, but there was no one to help;
    I was outraged that no one offered any assistance.
Even so, my own arm brought me victory
    and my wrath sustained me.
⁶ I trampled down the peoples in my anger;
    I crushed them in my wrath
    and sent their blood streaming forth over the ground.”

⁷ I will recount the favors of the Lord,
    the glorious deeds of the Lord,
because of all that the Lord has done for us
    and the great kindness he has shown
    to the house of Israel.
He has favored us with his mercy
    and the abundance of his steadfast love.
⁸ For he said, “These are indeed my people,
    children who will not betray me,”
    and he became their Savior.
⁹ In all their difficulties
    it was no messenger or an angel
    but he himself who saved them.
In his love and his pity he redeemed them;
    he lifted them up and carried them
    through all the days of old.
¹⁰ However, they rebelled
    and grieved his Holy Spirit.
Therefore, he became their enemy
    and he himself fought against them.
¹¹ Then they remembered the days of old
    and Moses his servant.
Where is he who brought up from the water
    the shepherd of his flock?
Where is he who put his Holy Spirit
    in their midst,
¹² whose glorious arm led them
    to march at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them
    to win for himself everlasting renown,
¹³     and who led them through the depths?
Like horses in open country,
    they did not stumble.
¹⁴ Like cattle descending into a valley,
    the Spirit of the Lord afforded them rest.
¹⁵ Look down from heaven and see,
    from your holy and glorious dwelling.
Where are your zeal and your might,
    your compassion and your tender mercy?
    Do not withhold them from me.
¹⁶ For you are our Father.
    Although Abraham does not know us
    and Israel^[m] does not acknowledge us,
you, O Lord, are our Father;
    forever you have been called our Redeemer.
¹⁷ Why, O Lord, do you allow us
    to wander from your ways,
and harden our hearts
    so that we do not fear you?
Return for the sake of your servants,
    for the tribes that are your heritage.
¹⁸ For a brief period of time
    your people possessed your holy place,
    but now your enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.
¹⁹ For far too long we have been
    like those whom you do not rule,
    like those who do not bear your name.

¹ Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down
    so that the mountains would quake in your presence,
² as when fire sets brushwood ablaze
    or causes water to boil.
Thus your name would be known to your adversaries
    and the nations would tremble at your presence.
³ When you descended to perform awesome deeds
    that we did not anticipate,
    the mountains quaked when you appeared.
⁴ Throughout the ages no ear has ever heard,
    nor has any eye ever seen,
any other god except you
    performing such deeds for those who trust him.
⁵ You welcome those who lead an upright life
    and rejoice to imitate your ways.
When we sin, you become angry,
    but when we follow your ways,
    we know that we will be saved.
⁶ All of us have become unclean,
    and all of our righteous deeds are like filthy rags
We all become withered like leaves,
    and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
⁷ There is no one who invokes your name
    or attempts to hold fast to you.
For you have hidden your face from us
    and have delivered us up because of our sins.
⁸ Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
    we are the clay and you are our potter;
    all of us are the work of your hands.
⁹ Do not let your anger go to extremes, O Lord,
    and do not remember our sinfulness forever.
Look upon us all,
    for we are all your people.
¹⁰ Your holy cities have become a desert;
    Zion has become a wilderness,
    Jerusalem a desolate waste.
¹¹ Our holy and glorious temple
    in which our ancestors praised you
has been burned to the ground,
    and all that we treasured lies in ruins.
¹² After all this, will you restrain yourself, O Lord?
    Will you remain silent
    and punish us beyond our endurance?

¹ I was eager to respond
    to those who did not consult me.
I was anxious to be approached
    by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am! Here I am!”
    to a nation that did not summon me.
² Throughout each day I held out my hands
    and appealed to a rebellious people
who walk along evil paths
    in pursuit of their own desires.
^{3     [n]}These people provoke me to anger
    continually, to my face,
offering sacrifices in gardens
    and burning incense on bricks.
⁴ They live in the midst of tombs
    and spend the night in secret places,
eating the flesh of pigs
    and filling their plates with unclean food,
⁵ as they cry out, “Keep away!
    Do not touch me,
    for I am too sacred for you.”
Such people to me are like choking smoke,
    a fire that smolders throughout the day.
⁶ Their deeds have been inscribed in my memory;
    I will not remain silent until I have repaid in full
⁷ your iniquities and those of your ancestors,
    says the Lord.
Since they burned incense on the mountains
    and shamed me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
    the full payment that their deeds deserve.

⁸ Thus says the Lord:
    As in the harvest of grapes
    juice is often still found in the cluster,
and people say, “Do not discard them,
    for some good still remains in them,”
so I will act for the sake of my servants
    and not destroy them all.
⁹ From Jacob I will bring forth descendants,
    and from Judah those who will inherit my mountains.
My chosen ones will take possession of the land,
    and my servants will settle there.
¹⁰ Sharon will serve as a pasture for flocks
    and the Valley of Achor will be
    a resting place for cattle.
¹¹ However, those of you who forsake the Lord
    and forget my holy mountain,
who spread a table for Fortune^[o]
    and fill cups of mixed wine for Fate,
¹² I will destine you for the sword,
    and all of you will submit to the slaughter,
because, when I called, you did not respond,
    and when I spoke, you refused to listen.
Rather, you did what was evil in my sight
    and chose to do what displeases me.
¹³ Therefore, this is what I have decreed,
    says the Lord God:
My servants will eat,
    but you will go hungry;
my servants will drink,
    but you will be thirsty;
my servants will rejoice,
    but you will be put to shame;
¹⁴ with gladness in their hearts
    my servants will sing for joy,
but you will cry out in heartfelt grief
    and wail in your anguish of spirit.
¹⁵ The Lord God will strike you dead
    and his chosen ones will use your name as a curse,
    but he will call his servants by a different name.
¹⁶ Then anyone in the land who blesses himself
    will bless himself by the God of truth,
and anyone who takes an oath in the land
    will swear by the God of truth,
because the troubles of the past will be forgotten
    and hidden from my sight.

¹⁷ For behold, I am about to create
    new heavens and a new earth.
The past will not be remembered
    or ever again called to mind.
¹⁸ Rather, rejoice and be filled with delight forever
    at what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a delight
    and her people as a cause of joy.
¹⁹ I will take delight in Jerusalem
    and rejoice in my people.
No more will be heard there
    the sound of weeping or the cries of distress.
²⁰ Never again will an infant be there
    who dies after a few days of life
    or an old man who fails to live his allotted days.
For one who dies at the age of one hundred
    will be regarded as a youth,
while one who fails to achieve a hundred years
    will be considered accursed.^[q]
21 They will live in the houses they have built;
    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²² They will not build houses for others to dwell in
    or plant for others to eat.
For the days of my people will be
    like the days of a tree,
and my chosen ones will enjoy
    the work of their hands.
²³ They will not labor in vain
    or bear children destined for calamity.
For they will be offspring blessed by the Lord,
    as will their descendants after them.
²⁴ Even before they call out to me,
    I will answer;
while they are still speaking,
    I will respond.
²⁵ The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
but as for the serpent,
    its food will be dust.
No harm or destruction will be done
    on all my holy mountain,
    says the Lord.

¹ Thus says the Lord:
    The heavens are my throne
    and the earth is my footstool.
What house could you build for me?
    What is to be my resting place?
² All these things were made by me,
    and so all these things are mine,
    says the Lord.
The one for whom I have regard
    is humble and contrite in spirit
    and trembles at my word.
³ Whoever slaughters an ox
    is like one who kills a man;
whoever sacrifices a lamb
    is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever presents an offering of grain
    is like one who offers a swine’s blood;
whoever burns incense as a memorial
    is like one who blesses an idol.
These people have chosen their own ways,
    and they delight in their loathsome abominations.
⁴ I in turn will choose to punish them harshly
    and bring upon them what they fear
because, when I called, no one answered,
    and when I spoke, they refused to listen.
Rather, they did what was evil in my sight
    and chose what displeased me.
⁵ Hear the word of the Lord,
    you who tremble at his word.
Your brethren who hate you
    and reject you because of my name, have said,
“Let the Lord be glorified
    so that we may witness your joy”;
    however, they themselves will be put to shame.
⁶ Listen! There is an uproar from the city,
    a voice from the temple.
Such is the sound of the Lord
    bringing retribution to his enemies.

⁷ Before she entered into labor,
    she gave birth.
Before she experienced the birth pains,
    she delivered a son.
⁸ Who ever heard of such a thing?
    Who has ever seen anything like this?
Can a country be born in a single day?
    Can a nation be delivered in a single moment?
Yet Zion was scarcely in labor
    when she brought forth her children.
⁹ Shall I open the womb and not deliver?
    says the Lord.
Shall I close the womb at the moment of delivery?
    says your God.
¹⁰ Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
    all you who love her.
Be joyful as you rejoice with her,
    all you who mourned over her,
¹¹ so that you may suck fully and be satisfied
    from her consoling breast,
as you drink deeply with delight
    at her abundant bosom.
¹² For thus says the Lord:
    I will make prosperity flow over her like a river,
and the wealth of the nations
    like a turbulent overflowing stream.
You will be nursed and carried in her arms
    and fondled in her lap.
¹³ As a mother comforts her child,
    so will I comfort you;
    in Jerusalem you will find your comfort.
¹⁴ When you behold this, your heart will rejoice,
    and your bodies will flourish like grass in spring.
The Lord will make his power known to his servants
    but reveal his wrath to his enemies.
¹⁵ Behold the Lord as he comes in fire,
    his chariots like the whirlwind,
to enact retribution with his furious anger
    and his rebukes with fiery flames.
¹⁶ For the Lord will execute his judgment
    on all mankind with fire and sword,
    and many will be those slain by the Lord.

²² As the new heavens and the new earth
    that I am making
will endure before me, says the Lord,
    so will your descendants and your name endure.
²³ From new moon to new moon
    and from one Sabbath to another,
all mankind will come to worship before me,
    says the Lord.
²⁴ And as they go out,
    they will see the corpses
    of those who rebelled against me.
For their worm will never die,
    nor will their fire be quenched,
    and they will be abhorrent to all humanity.^[t]