65The Lord says, “I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help. I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’ to a nation that did not call on my name.H1875H7592H3808H4672H1245H3808H559H1471H7121H80342All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people. But they follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes.H6566H3027H3117H5637H5971H1980H1870H2896H310H42843All day long they insult me to my face by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens. They burn incense on pagan altars.H5971H3707H8548H6440H2076H1593H6999H38434At night they go out among the graves, worshiping the dead. They eat the flesh of pigs and make stews with other forbidden foods.H3427H6913H3885H5341H398H2386H1320H4839H6564H6292H36275Yet they say to each other, ‘Don’t come too close or you will defile me! I am holier than you!’ These people are a stench in my nostrils, an acrid smell that never goes away.H559H7126H5066H6942H6227H639H784H3344H31176“Look, my decree is written out① in front of me. I will not stand silent; I will repay them in full! Yes, I will repay them—/ ①Or their sins are written out; Hebrew reads it stands writtenH3789H6440H2814H7999H7999H24367both for their own sins and for those of their ancestors,” says the Lord. “For they also burned incense on the mountains and insulted me on the hills. I will pay them back in full!H5771H5771H1H3162H559H3068H6999H2022H2778H1389H4058H7223H6468H24368“But I will not destroy them all,” says the Lord. “For just as good grapes are found among a cluster of bad ones (and someone will say, ‘Don’t throw them all away—some of those grapes are good!’), so I will not destroy all Israel. For I still have true servants there.H559H3068H8492H4672H811H559H7843H1293H6213H5650H78439I will preserve a remnant of the people of Israel and of Judah to possess my land. Those I choose will inherit it, and my servants will live there.H3318H2233H3290H3063H3423H2022H972H3423H5650H793110The plain of Sharon will again be filled with flocks for my people who have searched for me, and the valley of Achor will be a place to pasture herds.H8289H5116H6629H6010H5911H1241H7258H5971H187511“But because the rest of you have forsaken the Lord and have forgotten his Temple, and because you have prepared feasts to honor the god of Fate and have offered mixed wine to the god of Destiny,H5800H3068H7913H6944H2022H6186H7979H1409H1408H4390H4469H450712now I will ‘destine’ you for the sword. All of you will bow down before the executioner. For when I called, you did not answer. When I spoke, you did not listen. You deliberately sinned—before my very eyes—and chose to do what you know I despise.”H4487H2719H3766H2874H7121H6030H1696H8085H6213H7451H5869H977H265413Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says. “My servants will eat, but you will starve. My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. My servants will rejoice, but you will be sad and ashamed.H559H136H3069H5650H398H7456H5650H8354H6770H5650H8055H95414My servants will sing for joy, but you will cry in sorrow and despair.H5650H7442H2898H3820H6817H3511H3820H3213H7667H730715Your name will be a curse word among my people, for the Sovereign Lord will destroy you and will call his true servants by another name.H3240H8034H7621H972H136H3069H4191H7121H5650H312H803416All who invoke a blessing or take an oath will do so by the God of truth. For I will put aside my anger and forget the evil of earlier days.H1288H776H1288H430H543H7650H776H7650H430H543H7223H6869H7911H5641H586917“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.H1254H2319H8064H2319H776H7223H2142H5927H382018Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation! And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness. Her people will be a source of joy.H7797H1523H5703H1254H1254H3389H1525H5971H488519I will rejoice over Jerusalem and delight in my people. And the sound of weeping and crying will be heard in it no more.H1523H3389H7797H5971H6963H1065H8085H6963H220120“No longer will babies die when only a few days old. No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life. No longer will people be considered old at one hundred! Only the cursed will die that young!H5764H3117H2205H4390H3117H5288H4191H3967H8141H1121H2398H3967H8141H1121H704321In those days people will live in the houses they build and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.H1129H1004H3427H5193H3754H398H652922Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses and confiscate their vineyards. For my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains.H1129H312H3427H5193H312H398H3117H6086H3117H5971H972H1086H4639H302723They will not work in vain, and their children will not be doomed to misfortune. For they are people blessed by the Lord, and their children, too, will be blessed.H3021H7385H3205H928H2233H1288H3068H663124I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!H7121H6030H1696H808525The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. But the snakes will eat dust. In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain. I, the Lord, have spoken!”H2061H2924H7462H259H738H398H8401H1241H6083H5175H3899H7489H7843H6944H2022H559H3068
Prayer Tents is a Christian mission organization that serves Christians around the world and their local bodies to make disciples ("evangelize") more effectively in their communities. Prayer Tents provides resources to enable Christians to form discipleship-focused small groups and make their gatherings known so that other "interested" people may participate and experience Christ in their midst. Our Vision is to make disciples in all nations through the local churches so that anyone seeking God can come to know Him through relationships with other Christians near them.
Columbus, OH
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