Isaiah 65, Isaiah 66, Proverbs 5, Psalm 115, Psalm 116 - ESV Online

ISAIAH 65

« Isaiah 64 | Isaiah 65 | Isaiah 66 »

Judgment and Salvation

65:1

I 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 by my name. 2

I spread out my hands all the day

to a rebellious 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 gardens

and making offerings on bricks; 4

who sit in tombs,

and spend the night in secret places;

who eat pig’s flesh,

and broth of tainted 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 keep 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 on the mountains

and insulted me on the hills,

I will measure into their lap

payment for their former deeds.”
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 sought me. 11

But you who forsake 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, when 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 for a curse,

and the Lord God will put you to death,

but his servants he 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. New Heavens and a New Earth

“For behold, I create new heavens

and a new earth,

and the former things shall not be remembered

or come into mind. 18

But be glad and rejoice forever

in that which I create;

for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,

and her people to be a gladness. 19

I will rejoice in Jerusalem

and be glad in my people;

no 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

They shall build houses and inhabit them;

they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22

They shall not build 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 enjoy the work of their hands. 23

They shall not labor in vain

or bear children for calamity,

for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,

and their descendants with them. 24

Before they call I will answer;

while they are yet speaking I will hear. 25

The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;

the lion shall eat straw like the ox,

and dust shall be the serpent’s food.

They shall not hurt or destroy

in all my holy mountain,”

says the Lord.

ISAIAH 66

« Isaiah 65 | Isaiah 66 | Jeremiah 1 »

The Humble and Contrite in Spirit

66:1

Thus says the Lord:

“Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool;

what is the house 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 contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word.
3

“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 pig’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 when 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 hate 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! Rejoice with Jerusalem

“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 to 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.”
12

For thus says the Lord:

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

and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;

and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,

and bounced upon her knees. 13

As one whom his mother comforts,

so I 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. Final Judgment and Glory of the Lord

“For behold, the Lord will come in fire,

and his chariots like the whirlwind,

to render his anger in fury,

and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16

For by fire will the Lord enter into judgment,

and by his sword, with all flesh;

and those slain by the Lord shall be many.
17 “Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig’s flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.
18 “For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, 19 and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. 20 And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.
22

“For as the new 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.
24 “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

PROVERBS 5

« Proverbs 4 | Proverbs 5 | Proverbs 6 »

Warning Against Adultery

5:1

My son, be attentive to my wisdom;

incline your ear to my understanding, 2

that you may keep discretion,

and your lips may guard knowledge. 3

For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,

and her speech is smoother than oil, 4

but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

sharp as a two-edged sword. 5

Her feet go down to death;

her steps follow the path to Sheol; 6

she does not ponder the path of life;

her ways wander, and she does not know it.
7

And now, O sons, listen to me,

and do not depart from the words of my mouth. 8

Keep your way far from her,

and do not go near the door of her house, 9

lest you give your honor to others

and your years to the merciless, 10

lest strangers take their fill of your strength,

and your labors go to the house of a foreigner, 11

and at the end of your life you groan,

when your flesh and body are consumed, 12

and you say, “How I hated discipline,

and my heart despised reproof! 13

I did not listen to the voice of my teachers

or incline my ear to my instructors. 14

I am at the brink of utter ruin

in the assembled congregation.”
15

Drink water from your own cistern,

flowing water from your own well. 16

Should your springs be scattered abroad,

streams of water in the streets? 17

Let them be for yourself alone,

and not for strangers with you. 18

Let your fountain be blessed,

and rejoice in the wife of your youth, 19

a lovely deer, a graceful doe.

Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;

be intoxicated always in her love. 20

Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman

and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? 21

For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord,

and he ponders all his paths. 22

The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,

and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. 23

He dies for lack of discipline,

and because of his great folly he is led astray.

PSALM 115

« Psalm 114 | Psalm 115 | Psalm 116 »

To Your Name Give Glory

115:1

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,

for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
2

Why should the nations say,

“Where is their God?” 3

Our God is in the heavens;

he does all that he pleases.
4

Their idols are silver and gold,

the work of human hands. 5

They have mouths, but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see. 6

They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell. 7

They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

and they do not make a sound in their throat. 8

Those who make them become like them;

so do all who trust in them.
9

O Israel, trust in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield. 10

O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield. 11

You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield.
12

The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us;

he will bless the house of Israel;

he will bless the house of Aaron; 13

he will bless those who fear the Lord,

both the small and the great.
14

May the Lord give you increase,

you and your children! 15

May you be blessed by the Lord,

who made heaven and earth!
16

The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,

but the earth he has given to the children of man. 17

The dead do not praise the Lord,

nor do any who go down into silence. 18

But we will bless the Lord

from this time forth and forevermore.

Praise the Lord!

PSALM 116

« Psalm 115 | Psalm 116 | Psalm 117 »

I Love the Lord

116:1

I love the Lord, because he has heard

my voice and my pleas for mercy. 2

Because he inclined his ear to me,

therefore I will call on him as long as I live. 3

The snares of death encompassed me;

the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;

I suffered distress and anguish. 4

Then I called on the name of the Lord:

“O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
5

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;

our God is merciful. 6

The Lord preserves the simple;

when I was brought low, he saved me. 7

Return, O my soul, to your rest;

for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8

For you have delivered my soul from death,

my eyes from tears,

my feet from stumbling; 9

I will walk before the Lord

in the land of the living.
10

I believed, even when I spoke:

“I am greatly afflicted”; 11

I said in my alarm,

“All mankind are liars.”
12

What shall I render to the Lord

for all his benefits to me? 13

I will lift up the cup of salvation

and call on the name of the Lord, 14

I will pay my vows to the Lord

in the presence of all his people.
15

Precious in the sight of the Lord

is the death of his saints. 16

O Lord, I am your servant;

I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.

You have loosed my bonds. 17

I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving

and call on the name of the Lord. 18

I will pay my vows to the Lord

in the presence of all his people, 19

in the courts of the house of the Lord,

in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!