made them drunk with-g My rage,
And I hurled their glory to the ground.”
7I will recount the kind acts of the LORD,
The praises of the LORD—
For all that the LORD has wrought for us,
The vast bounty to the House of Israel
That He bestowed upon them
According to His mercy and His great kindness.
8He thought: Surely they are My people,
Children who will not play false.
h-So He was their Deliverer.
9In all their troubles He was troubled,
And the angel of His Presence delivered them.-h
In His love and pity
He Himself redeemed them,
Raised them, and exalted them
All the days of old.
10But they rebelled, and grieved
His holy spirit;
Then He became their enemy,
And Himself made war against them.
11Then theyi remembered the ancient days,
j-Him, who pulled His people-j out [of the water]:
“Where is He who brought them up from the Sea
Along with the shepherdk of His flock?
Where is He who put
In their midst His holy spirit,
12Who made His glorious arm
March at the right hand of Moses,
Who divided the waters before them
To make Himself a name for all time,
13Who led them through the deeps
So that they did not stumble—
As a horse in a desert,
14Like a beast descending to the plain?”
’Twas the spirit of the LORD l-gave them rest;-l
Thus did You shepherd Your people
To win for Yourself a glorious name.
15Look down from heaven and see,
From Your holy and glorious height!
Where is Your zeal, Your power?
Your yearning and Your love
Are being withheld from us!m
16Surely You are our Father:
Though Abraham regard us not,
And Israel recognize us not,
You, O LORD, are our Father;
From of old, Your name is “Our Redeemer.”
17Why, LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways,
And turn our hearts away from revering You?
Relent for the sake of Your servants,
The tribes that are Your very own!
18Our foes have trampled Your Sanctuary,
Which Your holy people n-possessed but a little while.-n
19We have become as a people You never ruled,
To which Your name was never attached.
If You would but tear open the heavens and come down,
64 So that mountains would quake before You—
aAs when fire kindles brushwood,
And fire makes water boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries
So that nations will tremble at Your Presence,
2When You did wonders we dared not hope for,
You came down
And mountains quaked before You.
3Such things had never been heard or noted.
No eye has seen [them], O God, but You,
Who act for those who trust in You.b
4Yet you have struck him who would gladly do justice,
And remember You in Your ways.
It is because You are angry that we have sinned;
c-We have been steeped in them from of old,
And can we be saved?-c
5We have all become like an unclean thing,
And all our virtues like a filthy rag.
We are all withering like leaves,
And our iniquities, like a wind, carry us off.
6Yet no one invokes Your name,
Rouses himself to cling to You.
For You have hidden Your face from us,
And d-made us melt because of-d our iniquities.
7But now, O LORD, You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You are the Potter,
We are all the work of Your hands.
8Be not implacably angry, O LORD,
Do not remember iniquity forever.
Oh, look down to Your people, to us all!
9Your holy cities have become a desert:
Zion has become a desert,
Jerusalem a desolation.
10Our holy Temple, our pride,
Where our fathers praised You,
Has been consumed by fire:
And all that was dear to us is ruined.
11At such things will You restrain Yourself, O LORD,
Will You stand idly by and let us suffer so heavily?
65 a-I responded to-a those who did not ask,
I was at hand to those who did not seek Me;
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
To a nation that did not invoke My name.
2I constantly spread out My hands
To a disloyal people,
Who walk the way that is not good,
Following their own designs;
3The people who provoke My anger,
Who continually, to My very face,
Sacrifice in gardens and burn incense on tiles;
4Who sit inside tombs
And pass the night in secret places;
Who eat the flesh of swine,
With broth of unclean things in their bowls;
5Who say, “Keep your distance! Don’t come closer!
b- For I would render you consecrated.”-b
Such things make My anger rage,
Like fire blazing all day long.
6See, this is recorded before Me;
I will not stand idly by, but will repay,
Deliver c- theird sins-c into their bosom,
7And the sins of their fathers as well
—said the LORD—
For they made offerings upon the mountains
And affronted Me upon the hills.
I will count out their recompense in full,e
Into their bosoms.
8Thus said the LORD:
As, when new wine is present in the cluster,
One says, “Don’t destroy it; there’s good in it,”
So will I do for the sake of My servants,
And not destroy everything.
9I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
From Judah heirs to My mountains;
My chosen ones shall take possession,
My servants shall dwell thereon.
10Sharonf shall become a pasture for flocks,
And the Valley of Achor a place for cattle to lie down,
For My people who seek Me.
11But as for you who forsake the LORD,
Who ignore My holy mountain,
Who set a table for Luckg
And fill a mixing bowl for Destiny:g
12I will destine you for the sword,
You will all kneel down, to be slaughtered—
Because, when I called, you did not answer,
When I spoke, you would not listen.
You did what I hold evil,
And chose what I do not want.
13Assuredly, thus said the Lord GOD:
My servants shall eat, and you shall hunger;
My servants shall drink, and you shall thirst;
My servants shall rejoice, and you shall be shamed;
14My servants shall shout in gladness,
And you shall cry out in anguish,
Howling in heartbreak.
15You shall leave behind a name
By which My chosen ones shall curse:
“So may the Lord GOD slay you!”
But His servants shall be given a h-different name.-h
16For whoever blesses himself in the land
Shall bless himself by the true God;
And whoever swears in the land
Shall swear by the true God.
The former troubles shall be forgotten,
Shall be hidden from My eyes.
17For behold! I am creating
A new heaven and a new earth;
The former things shall not be remembered,
They shall never come to mind.
18Be glad, then, and rejoice forever
In what I am creating.
For I shall create Jerusalem as a joy,
And her people as a delight;
19And I will rejoice in Jerusalem
And delight in her people.
Never again shall be heard there
The sounds of weeping and wailing.
20No more shall there be an infant or graybeard
Who does not live out his days.
He who dies at a hundred years
Shall be reckoned a youth,
And he who fails to reach a hundred
Shall be reckoned accursed.
21They shall build houses and dwell in them,
They shall plant vineyards and enjoy their fruit.
22They shall not build for others to dwell in,
Or plant for others to enjoy.
For the days of My people shall be
As long as the days of a tree,
My chosen ones shall outlivei
The work of their hands.
23They shall not toil to no purpose;
They shall not bear children j-for terror,-j
But they shall be a people blessed by the LORD,
And their offspring shall remain with them.
24Before they pray, I will answer;
While they are still speaking, I will respond.
25The wolf and the lamb shall graze together,
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
And the serpent’s food shall be earth.
In all My sacred mountk
Nothing evil or vile shall be done
—said the LORD.
66 Thus said the LORD:
The heaven is My throne
And the earth is My footstool:
Where could you build a house for Me,
What place could serve as My abode?
2All this was made by My hand,
And thus it all came into being
—declares the LORD.
Yet to such a one I look:
To the poor and brokenhearted,
Who is concerned about My word.
3aAs for those who slaughter oxen and slay humans,
Who sacrifice sheep and immolateb dogs,
Who present as oblation the blood of swine,
Who offerc incense and worship false gods—
Just as they have chosen their ways
And take pleasure in their abominations,
4So will I choose to mock them,
To bring on them the very thing they dread.
For I called and none responded,
I spoke and none paid heed.
They did what I deem evil
And chose what I do not want.
5Hear the word of the LORD,
You who are concerned about His word!
Your kinsmen who hate you,
Who spurn you because of Me,d are saying,
“Let the LORD manifest His Presence,
So that we may look upon your joy.”
But theirs shall be the shame.
6Hark, tumult from the city,
Thunder from the Temple!
It is the thunder of the LORD
As He deals retribution to His foes.
7Before she labored, she was delivered;
Before her pangs came, she bore a son.
8Who ever heard the like?
Who ever witnessed such events?
Can a land pass through travail
In a single day?
Or is a nation born
All at once?
Yet Zion travailed
And at once bore her children!
9Shall I who bring on labor not bring about birth?
—says the LORD.
Shall I who cause birth shut the womb?
—said your God.
10Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
All you who love her!
Join in her jubilation,
All you who mourned over her—
11That you may suck from her breast
Consolation to the full,
That you may draw from her bosome
Glory to your delight.
12For thus said the LORD:
I will extend to her
Prosperity like a stream,
The wealth of nations
Like a wadi in flood;
And you shall drink of it.
You shall be carried on shoulders
And dandled upon knees.
13As a mother comforts her son
So I will comfort you;
You shall find comfort in Jerusalem.
14You shall see and your heart shall rejoice,
Your limbs shall flourish like grass.
The power of the LORD shall be revealed
In behalf of His servants;
But He shall rage against His foes.
15See, the LORD is coming with fire—
His chariots are like a whirlwind—
To vent His anger in fury,
His rebuke in flaming fire.
16For with fire will the LORD contend,
With His sword, against all flesh;
And many shall be the slain of the LORD.
17Those who sanctify and purify themselves to enter the groves, f-imitating one in the center,-f eating the flesh of the swine, the reptile, and the mouse, shall one and all come to an end—declares the LORD. 18gFor I [know] their