Isaiah (Douay: Isaias) 65

¹ “I am inquired of by those who didn’t ask. I am found by those who didn’t seek me. I said, ‘See me, see me,’ to a nation that was not called by my name.

² I have spread out my hands all day 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 broth of abominable things is in their vessels;

⁵ who say, ‘Stay by yourself, don’t come near to me, for I am holier than you.’ These are smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all day.

⁶ “Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will repay, yes, I will repay into their bosom

⁷ your own iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together”, says the LORD, “who have burned incense on the mountains, and blasphemed me on the hills. Therefore I will first measure their work into their bosom.”

⁸ The LORD says, “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for a blessing is in it:’ so I will do for my servants’ sake, that I may not destroy them all.

⁹ I will bring offspring out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor 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 in, 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 to the sword, and you will all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you didn’t answer. When I spoke, you didn’t listen; but you did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn’t delight.”

¹³ Therefore the Lord GOD says, “Behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry; behold, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, my servants will rejoice, but you will be disappointed.

¹⁴ Behold, my servants will sing for joy of heart, but you will cry for sorrow of heart, and will wail for anguish of spirit.

¹⁵ You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen, and the Lord GOD will kill you. He will call his servants by another name,

¹⁶ so that he who blesses himself on the earth will bless himself in the God of truth; and he who swears on the earth will swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes.

¹⁷ “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will 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 a delight, and her people a joy.

¹⁹ I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will be heard in her no more.

²⁰ “No more will there be an infant who only lives a few days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child will die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old will be accursed.

²¹ They will build houses and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

²² They will not build and another inhabit. They will not plant and another 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 give birth for calamity; for they are the offspring of the LORD’s blessed and their descendants with them.

²⁴ It will happen that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

²⁵ The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. Dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.

¹ TThey have sought me that before asked not for me, they have found me that sought me not. I said: Behold me, behold me, to a nation that did not call upon my name.

² I have spread forth my hands all the day to an unbelieving people, who walk in a way that is not good after their own thoughts.

³ A people that continually provoke me to anger before my face, that immolate in gardens, and sacrifice upon bricks.

⁴ That dwell in sepulchres, and sleep in the temple of idols: that eat swine’s flesh, and profane broth is in their vessels.

⁵ That say: Depart from me, come not near me, because thou art unclean: these shall be smoke in my anger, a fire burning all the day.

⁶ Behold it is written before me: I will not be silent, but I will render and repay into their bosom.

⁷ Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, who have sacrificed upon the mountains, and have reproached me upon the hills; and I will measure back their first work in their bosom.

⁸ Thus saith the Lord: As if a grain be found in a cluster, and it be said: Destroy it not, because it is a blessing: so will I do for the sake of my servants, that I may not destroy the whole.

⁹ And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Juda a possessor of my mountains: and my elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.

¹⁰ And the plains shall be turned to folds of flocks, and the valley of Achor into a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.

¹¹ And you, that have forsaken the Lord, that have forgotten my holy mount, that set a table for fortune, and offer libations upon it,

¹² I will number you in the sword, and you shall all fall by slaughter: because I called and you did not answer: I spoke, and you did not hear: and you did evil in my eyes, and you have chosen the things that displease me.

¹³ Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold my servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry: behold my servants shall drink, and you shall be thirsty.

¹⁴ Behold my servants shall rejoice, and you shall be confounded: behold my servants shall praise for joyfulness of heart, and you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for grief of spirit.

¹⁵ And you shall leave your name for an execration to my elect: and the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name.

¹⁶ In which he that is blessed upon the earth, shall be blessed in God, amen: and he that sweareth in the earth, shall swear by God, amen: because the former distresses are forgotten, and because they are hid from my eyes.

¹⁷ For behold I create new heavens, and a new earth: and the former things shall not be in remembrance, and they shall not come upon the heart.

¹⁸ But you shall be glad and rejoice for ever in these things, which I create: for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and the people thereof joy.

¹⁹ And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people, and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.

²⁰ There shall no more be an infant of days there, nor an old man that shall not fill up his days: for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.

²¹ And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruits of them.

²² They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people, and the works of their hands shall be of long continuance.

²³ My elect shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth in trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their posterity with them.

²⁴ And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will hear; as they are yet speaking, I will hear.

²⁵ The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion and the ox shall eat straw; and dust shall be the serpent’s food: they shall not hurt nor kill in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.