Judgments and Promises
1 “I was sought by those who did not ask for me.
I was found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’
to a nation that was not called by my name.
2 All day I have opened my arms to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
after their own thoughts,
3 a people who provoke me to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens,
and burning incense on bricks,
4 who sit among the graves,
and spend nights in secret places,
who eat pig’s meat,
and the broth of abominable things is in their bowls,
5 who say, ‘Keep your distance from me,
do not come near to me,
for I am holier than you.’
These people are smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all day.
6 It is written before me:
I will not stand still,
but will repay,
yes, I will repay them in full,
7 your own sins and the sins of your fathers together,” says the Lord,
“who have burned pagan incense on the mountains
and blasphemed me on the hills.
Therefore I will pay them in full measure for their deeds.”
8 The Lord says,
“As the new wine is found in the cluster
and one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it,’
so I will do for my servants’ sake
and not destroy all of them.
9 I will bring offspring out of Jacob
and out of Judah an heir of my mountains.
My chosen will inherit it,
and my servants will dwell there.
10 Sharon will be a fold of flocks
and the valley of Achor,
a place for herds to lie down,
for my people who have sought me.
11 But you who forsake the Lord,
who forget my holy mountain,
who prepare a table for Fortune,
and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny;
12 I will destine you for the sword,
and you will all bow down to be slaughtered,
because when I called, you did not answer.
When I spoke, you did not listen,
but you did that which was evil in my sight,
and made choices which did not please me.”
13 Therefore the Lord God says,
“My servants will eat,
but you will be hungry.
My servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty.
My servants will rejoice,
but you will be disappointed.
14 My servants will sing with a joyful heart,
but you will cry with a sorrowful heart
and will wail with an anguished spirit.
15 Your name will be remembered
as a curse to my chosen,
and the Lord God will kill you.
He will call his servants by another name,
16 so that whoever on earth blesses himself
will bless himself by the God of truth,
and whoever on the earth swears
will swear by the God of truth,
because the former troubles are forgotten
and because they are hidden from my eyes.
17 For I am creating a new heaven and a new earth,
and the former things will not be remembered,
nor come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I am creating,
for I am creating Jerusalem to be a delight
and her people a joy.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and delight in my people,
and the sound of weeping and the sound of crying
will no longer be heard in her.
20 No longer will there be an infant who only lives a few days,
nor an old man who has not fulfilled all his days,
for the child will die 100 years old,
and the sinner, being 100 years old, will be cursed.
21 They will build houses and inhabit them.
They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will not build for another to live in.
They will not plant for another to eat,
for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree,
and my chosen will long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain
nor bear children with troubled destinies,
for they are the offspring of the blessed of the Lord
and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call, I will answer,
and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will eat together.
The lion will eat straw like the ox,
but the serpent’s food will be dust.
No one will be hurt or destroyed
anywhere on my holy mountain,” says the Lord.