Judgment and Salvation

Isaiah 65

1 g I was ready to be sought by h those who did not ask for me;
I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, "Here am I, here am I,"
to a nation that was not called by 1 my name.
 2 i I 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,
j sacrificing in gardens
and making offerings on bricks;
 4 who sit in tombs,
and spend the night in secret places;
k who 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."
l These are a smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all the day.
 6 Behold, m it is written before me:
n "I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
o I will indeed repay into their bosom
 7 both your iniquities p and your fathers' iniquities together,
says the Lord;
q because they made offerings on the mountains
q and insulted me on the hills,
I will measure into their bosom
payment for their former deeds." 2

8 Thus says the Lord:
r "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,
s and not destroy them all.
 9 t I 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 u Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks,
and v the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
for my people w who have sought me.
 11 But x you who forsake the Lord,
who forget y my holy mountain,
who z set a table for Fortune
and z fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,
 12 I will destine you to the sword,
and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
a because, when I called, you did not answer;
when I spoke, you did not listen,
b but you did what was evil in my eyes
and chose what I did not delight in."

13 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
"Behold, c my 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, d my 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 e my chosen f for a curse,
and the Lord God will put you to death,
but his servants g he will call by another name.
 16 So that he who h blesses himself in the land
shall bless himself by h the God of truth,
and he who takes an oath in the land
shall swear by i the God of truth;
j because the former troubles are forgotten
and are hidden from my eyes.

  1. Cross References
    Romans 10:20
    Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, "I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.
    Ephesians 2:12 - 13
    Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
  2. Cross References
    Isaiah 2:2 - 3
    It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it.
    Isaiah 18:7
    At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord of hosts from a people tall and smooth, from a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide, to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of hosts.
    Isaiah 19:19
    In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border.
    Isaiah 19:25
    Whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.
    Zechariah 14:16
    Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths.
  3. Cross References
    Romans 10:21
    But of Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:29
    For they shall be ashamed of the oaks that you desired; and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen.
    Isaiah 66:17
    Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.
    Isaiah 57:3 - 6
    But you, draw near, sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
  5. Cross References
    Isaiah 66:17
    Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.
  6. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:31
    And the strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark, and both of them shall burn together, with none to quench them.
    Isaiah 9:18
    For wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns; it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
  7. Cross References
    Jeremiah 2:22
    Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord God.
    Jeremiah 17:1
    The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars.
  8. Cross References
    Psalms 50:3
    Our God comes; he does not keep silence; before him is a devouring fire, around him a mighty tempest.
  9. Cross References
    Psalms 79:12
    Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
    Jeremiah 16:18
    But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.
  10. Cross References
    Exodus 20:5
    You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me.
    Matthew 23:35
    So that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
  11. Cross References
    Ezekiel 20:27 - 28
    Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God : In this also your fathers blasphemed me, by dealing treacherously with me.
  12. Cross References
    Ezekiel 20:27 - 28
    Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God : In this also your fathers blasphemed me, by dealing treacherously with me.
  13. Cross References
    Isaiah 17:6
    Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten - two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree, declares the Lord God of Israel.
  14. Cross References
    Isaiah 2:21
    To enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.
  15. Cross References
    Isaiah 27:6
    In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit.
    Isaiah 37:31
    And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
  16. Cross References
    Isaiah 33:9
    The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away; Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
    Isaiah 35:2
    It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.
  17. Cross References
    Hosea 2:15
    And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
    Joshua 7:26
    And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.
  18. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:1
    Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord : look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.
  19. Cross References
    Joshua 24:20
    If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.
  20. Cross References
    Isaiah 65:25
    The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain," says the Lord.
    Joel 3:17
    So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it.
  21. Cross References
    Ezekiel 23:41
    You sat on a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil.
    1 Corinthians 10:21
    You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
  22. Cross References
    Ezekiel 23:41
    You sat on a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil.
    1 Corinthians 10:21
    You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
  23. Cross References
    Isaiah 66:4
    I also will choose harsh treatment for them and bring their fears upon them, because when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes and chose that in which I did not delight.
    Proverbs 1:24
    Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded.
    Jeremiah 7:13
    And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer.
  24. Cross References
    Isaiah 66:4
    I also will choose harsh treatment for them and bring their fears upon them, because when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes and chose that in which I did not delight.
  25. Cross References
    Isaiah 55:1
    Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
    Psalms 22:26
    The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever!
  26. Cross References
    Psalms 5:11
    But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.
  27. Cross References
    Isaiah 65:9
    I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah possessors of my mountains; my chosen shall possess it, and my servants shall dwell there.
  28. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:37
    And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you away.
    Jeremiah 29:22
    Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: "The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire.
    Zechariah 8:13
    And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.
  29. Cross References
    Isaiah 62:2
    The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give.
  30. Cross References
    Jeremiah 4:2
    And if you swear, 'As the Lord lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
  31. Cross References
    Jeremiah 4:2
    And if you swear, 'As the Lord lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
  32. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:4
    The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.
  33. Cross References
    Isaiah 43:18 - 19
    Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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