Judgments and Promises

¹ “I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me;

I was found by those who did not seek Me.

To a nation that did not call My name,

I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

² All day long I have held out^* My hands

to an obstinate^* people

who walk in the wrong path,

who follow their own imaginations,

³ to a people who continually provoke Me to My face,

sacrificing in the gardens

and burning incense on altars of brick,

⁴ sitting among the graves,

spending nights in secret places,^*

eating the meat of pigs

and polluted broth from their bowls.

⁵ They say, ‘Keep to yourself;

do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’^*

Such people are smoke in My nostrils,

a fire that burns all day long.

⁶ Behold, it is written before Me:

I will not keep silent, but I will repay;

I will pay it back into their laps,

⁷ both for your iniquities

and for those of your fathers,”

says the LORD.

“Because they burned incense on the mountains

and scorned Me on the hills,

I will measure^* into their laps

full payment for their former deeds.”

⁸ This is what the LORD says:

“As the new wine^* is found in a cluster of grapes,

and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’

so I will act on behalf of My servants;^*

I will not destroy them all.

⁹ And I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,

and heirs from Judah;

My elect will possess My mountains,

and My servants will dwell there.

¹⁰ Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,

and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,

for My people who seek Me.

¹¹ But you who forsake the LORD,

who forget My holy mountain,

who set a table^* for Fortune

and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,

¹² I will destine^* you for the sword,

and you will all kneel down^* to be slaughtered,

because I called and you did not answer,

I spoke and you did not listen;

you did evil in My sight

and chose that in which I did not delight.”

¹³ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says:

“My servants will eat,

but you will go hungry;

My servants will drink,

but you will go thirsty;

My servants will rejoice,

but you will be put to shame.

¹⁴ My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart,

but you will cry out with a heavy heart

and wail with a broken spirit.

¹⁵ You will leave behind your name

as a curse^* for My chosen ones,

and the Lord GOD will slay you;

but to His servants He will give another name.

¹⁶ Whoever invokes a blessing in the land

will do so by the God of truth,^*

and whoever takes an oath in the land

will swear by the God of truth.^*

For the former troubles will be forgotten

and hidden from My sight.

A New Heaven and a New Earth

¹⁷ For behold, I will create

new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered,

nor will they come to mind.

¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever

in what I create;

for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy

and its people to be a delight.

¹⁹ I will rejoice in Jerusalem

and take delight in My people.

The sounds of weeping and crying

will no longer be heard in her.

²⁰ No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days,

or an old man fail to live out his years.

For the youth will die at a hundred years,

and he who fails to reach a hundred

will be considered accursed.^*

²¹ They will build houses and dwell in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

²² No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit,

nor plant for others to eat.

For as is the lifetime of a tree,

so will be the days of My people,

and My chosen ones will fully enjoy

the work of their hands.

²³ They will not labor in vain

or bear children doomed to disaster;

for they will be a people blessed by the LORD —

they and their descendants with them.

²⁴ Even before they call, I will answer,

and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

²⁵ The wolf and the lamb will feed together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox,

but the food of the serpent will be dust.

They will neither harm nor destroy

on all My holy mountain,”

says the LORD.