217 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
217 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
Judgment and Final Salvation
|
|
|
|
# Chapter 65
|
|
1. The LORD says,
|
|
"I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help.
|
|
|
|
I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me.
|
|
|
|
I said, 'Here I am, here I am!'
|
|
to a nation that did not call on my name.
|
|
|
|
2. All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people.
|
|
|
|
But they follow their own evil paths
|
|
|
|
and their own crooked schemes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
3. All day long they insult me to my face
|
|
|
|
by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens.
|
|
|
|
They burn incense on pagan altars.
|
|
|
|
|
|
4. At night they go out among the graves,
|
|
|
|
worshiping the dead.
|
|
|
|
They eat the flesh of pigs
|
|
|
|
and make stews with other forbidden foods.
|
|
|
|
|
|
5. Yet they say to each other,
|
|
|
|
'Don't come too close or you will defile me!
|
|
|
|
I am holier than you!'
|
|
These people are a stench in my nostrils,
|
|
|
|
an acrid smell that never goes away.
|
|
|
|
|
|
6. "Look, my decree is written out in front of me:
|
|
|
|
I will not stand silent;
|
|
I will repay them in full!
|
|
|
|
Yes, I will repay them--
|
|
|
|
7. both for their own sins
|
|
|
|
and for those of their ancestors,"
|
|
says the LORD.
|
|
|
|
"For they also burned incense on the mountains
|
|
|
|
and insulted me on the hills.
|
|
|
|
I will pay them back in full!
|
|
|
|
|
|
8. "But I will not destroy them all,"
|
|
says the LORD.
|
|
|
|
"For just as good grapes are found among a cluster of bad ones
|
|
|
|
(and someone will say, 'Don't throw them all away--
|
|
|
|
some of those grapes are good!'),
|
|
so I will not destroy all Israel.
|
|
|
|
For I still have true servants there.
|
|
|
|
|
|
9. I will preserve a remnant of the people of Israel
|
|
|
|
and of Judah to possess my land.
|
|
|
|
Those I choose will inherit it,
|
|
|
|
and my servants will live there.
|
|
|
|
|
|
10. The plain of Sharon will again be filled with flocks
|
|
|
|
for my people who have searched for me,
|
|
|
|
and the valley of Achor will be a place to pasture herds.
|
|
|
|
|
|
11. "But because the rest of you have forsaken the LORD
|
|
|
|
and have forgotten his Temple,
|
|
and because you have prepared feasts to honor the god of Fate
|
|
|
|
and have offered mixed wine to the god of Destiny,
|
|
|
|
|
|
12. now I will 'destine' you for the sword.
|
|
|
|
All of you will bow down before the executioner.
|
|
|
|
For when I called, you did not answer.
|
|
|
|
When I spoke, you did not listen.
|
|
You deliberately sinned--before my very eyes--
|
|
|
|
and chose to do what you know I despise."
|
|
|
|
|
|
13. Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
|
|
"My servants will eat,
|
|
|
|
but you will starve.
|
|
|
|
My servants will drink,
|
|
|
|
but you will be thirsty.
|
|
|
|
My servants will rejoice,
|
|
|
|
but you will be sad and ashamed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
14. My servants will sing for joy,
|
|
|
|
but you will cry in sorrow and despair.
|
|
|
|
|
|
15. Your name will be a curse word among my people,
|
|
for the Sovereign LORD will destroy you
|
|
|
|
and will call his true servants by another name.
|
|
|
|
|
|
16. All who invoke a blessing or take an oath
|
|
|
|
will do so by the God of truth.
|
|
|
|
For I will put aside my anger
|
|
|
|
and forget the evil of earlier days.
|
|
|
|
|
|
17. "Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,
|
|
|
|
and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
|
|
|
|
|
|
18. Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!
|
|
|
|
And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness.
|
|
|
|
Her people will be a source of joy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
19. I will rejoice over Jerusalem
|
|
|
|
and delight in my people.
|
|
|
|
And the sound of weeping and crying
|
|
|
|
will be heard in it no more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
20. "No longer will babies die when only a few days old.
|
|
|
|
No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life.
|
|
|
|
No longer will people be considered old at one hundred!
|
|
|
|
Only the cursed will die that young!
|
|
|
|
|
|
21. In those days people will live in the houses they build
|
|
|
|
and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.
|
|
|
|
|
|
22. Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses
|
|
|
|
and confiscate their vineyards.
|
|
|
|
For my people will live as long as trees,
|
|
|
|
and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains.
|
|
|
|
|
|
23. They will not work in vain,
|
|
|
|
and their children will not be doomed to misfortune.
|
|
For they are people blessed by the LORD,
|
|
|
|
and their children, too, will be blessed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
24. I will answer them before they even call to me.
|
|
|
|
While they are still talking about their needs,
|
|
|
|
I will go ahead and answer their prayers!
|
|
|
|
|
|
25. The wolf and the lamb will feed together.
|
|
|
|
The lion will eat hay like a cow.
|
|
|
|
But the snakes will eat dust.
|
|
|
|
In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain.
|
|
I, the LORD, have spoken!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|