152 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
152 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
The Lord's Response
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# Chapter 65
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1. "I was sought by those who did not ask;
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I was found by those who did not seek me.
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I said, 'Here I am, here I am,'
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to a nation that did not call on my name.
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2. I spread out my hands all day long
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to a rebellious people
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who walk in the path that is not good,
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following their own thoughts.
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3. These people continually anger me
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to my face,
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sacrificing in gardens,
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burning incense on bricks,
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4. sitting among the graves,
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spending nights in secret places,
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eating the meat of pigs,
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and putting polluted broth in their bowls.
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5. They say, 'Keep to yourself,
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don't come near me, for I am too holy for you!'
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These practices are smoke in my nostrils,
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a fire that burns all day long.
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6. Look, it is written in front of me:
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I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
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I will repay them fully
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7. for your iniquities and the iniquities
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of your ancestors together,"
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says the Lord.
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"Because they burned incense on the mountains
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and reproached me on the hills,
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I will reward them fully
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for their former deeds."
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8. The Lord says this:
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"As the new wine is found in a bunch of grapes,
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and one says, 'Don't destroy it,
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for there's some good in it,'
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so I will act because of my servants
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and not destroy them all.
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9. I will produce descendants from Jacob,
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and heirs to my mountains from Judah;
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my chosen ones will possess it,
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and my servants will dwell there.
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10. Sharon will be a pasture for flocks,
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and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
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for my people who have sought me.
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11. But you who abandon the Lord,
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who forget my holy mountain,
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who prepare a table for Fortune
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and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
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12. I will destine you for the sword,
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and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered,
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because I called and you did not answer,
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I spoke and you did not hear;
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you did what was evil in my sight
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and chose what I did not delight in."
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13. Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:
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"Look! My servants will eat,
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but you will be hungry.
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Look!
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My servants will drink,
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but you will be thirsty.
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Look!
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My servants will rejoice,
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but you will be put to shame.
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14. Look! My servants will shout for joy from a glad heart,
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but you will cry out from an anguished heart,
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and you will lament out of a broken spirit.
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15. You will leave your name behind
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as a curse for my chosen ones,
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and the Lord God will kill you;
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but he will give his servants another name.
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16. Whoever asks for a blessing in the land
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will ask for a blessing by the God of truth,
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and whoever swears in the land
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will swear by the God of truth.
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For the former troubles will be forgotten
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and hidden from my sight.
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A New Creation
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17. "For I will create new heavens and a new earth;
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the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.
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18. Then be glad and rejoice forever
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in what I am creating;
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for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy
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and its people to be a delight.
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19. I will rejoice in Jerusalem
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and be glad in my people.
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The sound of weeping and crying
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will no longer be heard in her.
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20. In her, a nursing infant will no longer live
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only a few days,
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or an old man not live out his days.
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Indeed, the one who dies at a hundred years old
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will be mourned as a young man,
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and the one who misses a hundred years
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will be considered cursed.
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21. People will build houses and live in them;
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they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
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22. They will not build and others live in them;
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they will not plant and others eat.
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For my people's lives will be
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like the lifetime of a tree.
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My chosen ones will fully enjoy
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the work of their hands.
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23. They will not labor without success
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or bear children destined for disaster,
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for they will be a people blessed by the Lord
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along with their descendants.
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24. Even before they call, I will answer;
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while they are still speaking, I will hear.
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25. The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
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and the lion will eat straw like cattle,
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but the serpent's food will be dust!
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They will not do what is evil or destroy
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on my entire holy mountain,"
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says the Lord.
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