Isaiah 66

¹ Thus says the LORD:
"Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?

² All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,"
declares the LORD.
"But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.

³ He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;
he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck;
he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers pig's blood;
he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.
These have chosen their own ways,
and their soul delights in their abominations;

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 what I did not delight in."

⁵ Hear the word of the LORD,
you who tremble at his word:
"Your brothers who hate you
and cast you out for my name's sake
have said, 'Let the LORD be glorified,
that we may see your joy';
but it is they who will be put to shame.

⁶ The sound of an uproar from the city!
A voice from the temple!
The voice of the LORD,
rendering recompense to his enemies.

⁷ Before she was in labor
she gave birth;
before her pain came upon her
she delivered a son.

⁸ Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?
For as soon as Zion was in labor
she brought forth her children.

⁹ Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?"
says the LORD;
"shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?"
says your God.

¹⁰ Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her;

¹¹ that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
from her glorious abundance.

¹² For thus says the LORD:
"Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and you will nurse; you will be carried upon the hip,
and bounced upon the knees.

¹³ As one whom his mother comforts,
so I will comfort you;
you will be comforted in Jerusalem.

¹⁴ You will see, and your heart will rejoice;
and your bones will flourish like the grass;
and the hand of the LORD will be known to his servants,
and he will show his indignation against his enemies.

¹⁵ For behold, the LORD will come in fire,
and his chariots like the whirlwind,
to render his anger in fury,
and his rebuke with flames of fire.

¹⁶ For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment,
and by his sword, with all flesh;
and those slain by the LORD will be many.

¹⁷ "Those who consecrate 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.

¹⁸ "For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they will come and will see my glory.

¹⁹ And I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they will declare my glory among the nations.

²⁰ And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.

²¹ And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.

²² "For as the new heavens and the new earth
that I make will remain before me,"
declares the LORD,
"so will your offspring and your name remain.

²³ From new moon to new moon,
and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh will come to worship before me,"
says the LORD.

²⁴ "And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm will not die, their fire will not be quenched, and they will be an abhorrence to all flesh."