Chapter 66
True and False Worship
1 Thus says the Lord:
The heavens are my throne
and the earth is my footstool.
What house could you build for me?
What is to be my resting place?
2 All these things were made by me,
and so all these things are mine,
says the Lord.
The one for whom I have regard
is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.
3 Whoever slaughters an ox
is like one who kills a man;
whoever sacrifices a lamb
is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever presents an offering of grain
is like one who offers a swine’s blood;
whoever burns incense as a memorial
is like one who blesses an idol.
These people have chosen their own ways,
and they delight in their loathsome abominations.
4 I in turn will choose to punish them harshly
and bring upon them what they fear
because, when I called, no one answered,
and when I spoke, they refused to listen.
Rather, they did what was evil in my sight
and chose what displeased me.
5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you who tremble at his word.
Your brethren who hate you
and reject you because of my name, have said,
“Let the Lord be glorified
so that we may witness your joy”;
however, they themselves will be put to shame.
6 Listen! There is an uproar from the city,
a voice from the temple.
Such is the sound of the Lord
bringing retribution to his enemies.
Mother Zion
7 Before she entered into labor,
she gave birth.
Before she experienced the birth pains,
she delivered a son.
8 Who ever heard of such a thing?
Who has ever seen anything like this?
Can a country be born in a single day?
Can a nation be delivered in a single moment?
Yet Zion was scarcely in labor
when she brought forth her children.
9 Shall I open the womb and not deliver?
says the Lord.
Shall I close the womb at the moment of delivery?
says your God.
10 Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
all you who love her.
Be joyful as you rejoice with her,
all you who mourned over her,
11 so that you may suck fully and be satisfied
from her consoling breast,
as you drink deeply with delight
at her abundant bosom.
12 For thus says the Lord:
I will make prosperity flow over her like a river,
and the wealth of the nations
like a turbulent overflowing stream.
You will be nursed and carried in her arms
and fondled in her lap.
13 As a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you;
in Jerusalem you will find your comfort.
14 When you behold this, your heart will rejoice,
and your bodies will flourish like grass in spring.
The Lord will make his power known to his servants
but reveal his wrath to his enemies.
15 Behold the Lord as he comes in fire,
his chariots like the whirlwind,
to enact retribution with his furious anger
and his rebukes with fiery flames.
16 For the Lord will execute his judgment
on all mankind with fire and sword,
and many will be those slain by the Lord.
17 Those who sanctify and purify themselves to enter the groves and follow the one in the center, consuming the flesh of pigs, vermin, and rats—they will all perish together, says the Lord, along with their deeds and their thoughts.[a]
18 Glory among the Nations. I am coming to gather every nation and every language. They will come forth to behold my glory. 19 I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of their survivors to the nations: to Tarshish,[b] Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant coasts and islands that have never heard of me or seen my glory.
They will proclaim my glory among the nations, 20 and from all the nations they will bring all your kindred as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots, in carts and on mules and camels, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites themselves bring their grain offerings in clean vessels to the house of the Lord. 21 Some of these I will appoint as priests and Levites, says the Lord.
Eternal Reward and Punishment
22 As the new heavens and the new earth
that I am making
will endure before me, says the Lord,
so will your descendants and your name endure.
23 From new moon to new moon
and from one Sabbath to another,
all mankind will come to worship before me,
says the Lord.
24 And as they go out,
they will see the corpses
of those who rebelled against me.
For their worm will never die,
nor will their fire be quenched,
and they will be abhorrent to all humanity.[c]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 66:17 A condemnation of pagan mystery cults.
- Isaiah 66:19 Tarshish: a large island in the western Mediterranean or simply a faraway place.
- Isaiah 66:24 A reference to the Valley of Ben-hinnom (Gehenna) outside the walls of ancient Jerusalem. In Mk 9:48, the images of the worm and the fire are used to signify an eternal punishment.