1  ^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.

1  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.”⁵

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.