64  Oh that you would rend the heavens and ^pcome down,

that the mountains might quake at your presence—

2  ¹ as when fire kindles brushwood

and the fire causes water to boil—

to make your name known to your adversaries,

and that the nations might tremble at your presence!

3  When you did awesome things that we did not look for,

you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

4  From of old ^qno one has heard

or perceived by the ear,

no eye has seen a God besides you,

who acts for those who wait for him.

5  You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,

those who remember you in your ways.

Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;

in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?²

6  We have all become like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

We all fade like a leaf,

and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

7  There is no one who calls upon your name,

who rouses himself to take hold of you;

for you have ^rhidden your face from us,

and have made us melt in³ the hand of our iniquities.

8  But now, O Lord, you are our ^sFather;

we are the ^tclay, and you are our potter;

we are all the work of your hand.

9  Be not so ^uterribly angry, O Lord,

and ^vremember not iniquity forever.

Behold, please look, we are all your people.

10  Your holy cities have become a wilderness;

Zion has become a wilderness,

Jerusalem a desolation.

11  Our holy and beautiful⁴ house,

where our fathers praised you,

^whas been burned by fire,

and all our pleasant places have become ruins.

12  Will you ^xrestrain yourself at these things, O Lord?

Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

65  ^yI was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me;

I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.

I said, “Here I am, here I am,”

to a nation that was not called by¹ my name.

2  ^zI spread out my hands all the day

to a ^arebellious people,

who walk in a way that is not good,

following their own devices;

3  a people who provoke me

to my face continually,

sacrificing in ^bgardens

and making offerings on bricks;

4  who sit in tombs,

and spend the night in secret places;

who eat ^cpig’s flesh,

and broth of ^dtainted meat is in their vessels;

5  who say, “Keep to yourself,

do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”

These are a smoke in my nostrils,

a fire that burns all the day.

6  Behold, it is written before me:

“I will not ^ekeep silent, but I will repay;

I will indeed repay into their lap

7  both your iniquities and your fathers’ iniquities together,

says the Lord;

because they made offerings ^fon the mountains

and insulted me on the hills,

I will measure into their lap

payment for their former deeds.”²

8  Thus says the Lord:

“As the new wine is found in the cluster,

and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,

for there is a blessing in it,’

so I will do for my servants’ sake,

and not destroy them all.

9  I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,

and from Judah possessors of my mountains;

my chosen shall possess it,

and my servants shall dwell there.

10  Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks,

and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,

for my people who have ^gsought me.

11  But you who ^hforsake the Lord,

who forget my holy mountain,

who set a table for Fortune

and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,

12  I will destine you to the sword,

and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,

because, ⁱwhen I called, you did not answer;

when I spoke, you did not listen,

but you did what was evil in my eyes

and chose what I did not delight in.”

13  Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, my servants shall eat,

but you shall be hungry;

behold, my servants shall drink,

but you shall be thirsty;

behold, my servants shall rejoice,

but you shall be put to shame;

14  behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart,

but you shall cry out for pain of heart

and shall wail for breaking of spirit.

15  You shall leave your name to my chosen ^jfor a curse,

and the Lord God will put you to death,

but his servants ^khe will call by another name,

16  so that he who blesses himself in the land

shall bless himself by the God of truth,

and he who takes an oath in the land

shall swear by the God of truth;

because the former troubles are forgotten

and are hidden from my eyes.

17  “For behold, I create ^lnew heavens

and a new earth,

and ^mthe former things shall not be remembered

ⁿor come into mind.

18  But be glad and rejoice forever

in that which I create;

for behold, I create Jerusalem to be ^oa joy,

and her people to be a gladness.

19  ^pI will rejoice in Jerusalem

and be glad in my people;

^qno more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping

and the cry of distress.

20  No more shall there be in it

an infant who lives but a few days,

or an old man who does not fill out his days,

for the young man shall die a hundred years old,

and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

21  ^rThey shall build houses and inhabit them;

they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22  They shall not ^sbuild and another inhabit;

they shall not plant and another eat;

for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,

and my chosen shall long enjoy³ the work of their hands.

23  They shall not labor in vain

or bear children for calamity,⁴

for they shall be the ^toffspring of the blessed of the Lord,

and their descendants with them.

24  ^uBefore they call I will answer;

^vwhile they are yet speaking I will hear.

25  ^wThe wolf and the lamb shall graze together;

the lion shall eat straw like the ox,

and ^xdust shall be the serpent’s food.

They shall not hurt or destroy

in all ^ymy holy mountain,”

says the Lord.

66  Thus says the Lord:

^z“Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool;

what is the ^ahouse 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 ^bcontrite in spirit

and ^ctrembles at my word.

3  ^d“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 ^epig’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 ^fwhen I called, no one answered,

when I spoke, they did not listen;

but they did what was evil in my eyes

and chose that in which I did not delight.”

5  Hear the word of the Lord,

you who tremble at his word:

“Your brothers who ^ghate 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 shall be put to shame.

6  “The sound of an uproar from the city!

A sound from the temple!

The sound 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 ^hto 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.”¹

12  For thus says the Lord:

“Behold, I will extend ⁱpeace to her like a river,

and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;

and you shall nurse, you shall be ^jcarried upon her hip,

and bounced upon her knees.

13  As one whom his mother comforts,

so ^kI will comfort you;

you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

14  You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;

your bones shall flourish like the grass;

and the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants,

and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.

15  “For behold, the Lord will come in fire,

and his ^lchariots like the whirlwind,

to render his anger in fury,

and his rebuke with flames of fire.

16  For by fire will the Lord ^menter into judgment,

and by his sword, with all flesh;

and those slain by the Lord shall be many.

22  “For as the ^tnew heavens and the new earth

that I make

shall remain before me, says the Lord,

so shall your offspring and your name remain.

23  From new moon to new moon,

and from Sabbath to Sabbath,

all flesh shall come to worship before me,

declares the Lord.

5  ^h“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born I consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;

for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,

and whatever I command you, ^kyou shall speak.

8  ^lDo not be afraid of them,

for I am ^mwith you to deliver you,

declares the Lord.”

“Behold, ^oI have put my words in your mouth.

10  See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,

to ^ppluck up and to break down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant.”

“I remember the devotion of your ^ayouth,

your love ^bas a bride,

how you followed me in the wilderness,

in a land not sown.

3  Israel was ^choly to the Lord,

the firstfruits of his harvest.

^dAll who ate of it incurred guilt;

disaster came upon them,

declares the Lord.”

^e“What wrong did your fathers find in me

that they went far from me,

and ^fwent after ^gworthlessness, and became worthless?

6  They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord

who brought us up from the land of Egypt,

who led us in the ^hwilderness,

in a land of deserts and pits,

in a land of drought and deep darkness,

in a land that none passes through,

where no man dwells?’

7  And I brought you into a plentiful land

to enjoy its fruits and its good things.

But when you came in, you ⁱdefiled my land

and made my heritage an abomination.

8  The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’

Those who handle the law did not ^jknow me;

the ^kshepherds¹ transgressed against me;

the prophets ^lprophesied by Baal

and went after ^mthings that do not profit.

9  “Therefore I still contend with you,

declares the Lord,

and with your children’s children I will contend.

10  For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see,

or send to Kedar and examine with care;

see if there has been such a thing.

11  Has a nation changed its gods,

even though they are ⁿno gods?

But my people have ^ochanged their glory

for that which does not profit.

12  Be appalled, ^pO heavens, at this;

be shocked, be utterly desolate,

declares the Lord,

13  for my people have committed two evils:

they have ^qforsaken me,

the ^rfountain of living waters,

and hewed out cisterns for themselves,

broken cisterns that can hold no water.

14  “Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?

Why then has he become a prey?

15  ^sThe lions have roared against him;

they have roared loudly.

They have made his land a ^twaste;

his cities are in ruins, ^uwithout inhabitant.

16  Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes

have shaved² the crown of your head.

17  Have you not ^vbrought this upon yourself

by forsaking the Lord your God,

when he led you in the way?

18  ^wAnd now what do you gain by going to Egypt

to drink the waters of the Nile?³

Or what do you gain by going to Assyria

to drink the waters of the Euphrates?⁴

19  Your evil will chastise you,

and your apostasy will reprove you.

Know and see that it is evil and ^xbitter

for you to forsake the Lord your God;

the fear of me is not in you,

declares the Lord God of hosts.

20  “For long ago I ^ybroke your yoke

and burst your bonds;

but you said, ‘I will not serve.’

Yes, ^zon every high hill

and under every green tree

you bowed down ^alike a whore.

21  Yet I ^bplanted you a choice ^cvine,

wholly of pure seed.

How then have you turned degenerate

and become a ^dwild vine?

22  Though you wash yourself ^ewith lye

and use much soap,

the stain of your guilt is still before me,

declares the Lord God.

23  How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,

I have not gone after the Baals’?

Look at your way in the valley;

know what you have done—

a restless young camel running here and there,

24  a wild donkey used to the wilderness,

in her heat sniffing the wind!

Who can restrain her lust?

None who seek her need weary themselves;

in her month they will find her.

25  Keep your ^ffeet from going unshod

and your throat from ^gthirst.

But you said, ‘It is hopeless,

for I have loved ^hforeigners,

and after them I will go.’

26  “As a thief is shamed when caught,

so the house of Israel shall be shamed:

they, their ⁱkings, their officials,

their priests, and their prophets,

27  who say to a ^jtree, ‘You are my father,’

and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’

For they have ^kturned their back to me,

and not their face.

But in the time of their trouble they say,

‘Arise and save us!’

28  But ^lwhere are your gods

that you made for yourself?

^mLet them arise, if they can save you,

in your time of trouble;

for ⁿas many as your cities

are your gods, O Judah.

29  “Why do you contend with me?

You have all transgressed against me,

declares the Lord.

30  In vain have I struck your children;

they took no ^ocorrection;

your own sword devoured your ^pprophets

like a ravening lion.

31  And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord.

Have I been a wilderness to Israel,

or a land of thick darkness?

Why then do my people say, ‘We are free,