Isaiah 65 - Prayer Tents

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.H1875H7592H3808H4672H1245H3808H559H1471H7121H8034 2All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people. But they follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes.H6566H3027H3117H5637H5971H1980H1870H2896H310H4284 3All day long they insult me to my face by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens. They burn incense on pagan altars.H5971H3707H8548H6440H2076H1593H6999H3843 4At night they go out among the graves, worshiping the dead. They eat the flesh of pigs and make stews with other forbidden foods.H3427H6913H3885H5341H398H2386H1320H4839H6564H6292H3627 5Yet 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.H559H7126H5066H6942H6227H639H784H3344H3117 6“Look, my decree is written out in front of me. I will not stand silent; I will repay them in full! Yes, I will repay them—H3789H6440H2814H7999H7999H2436 7both 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!H5771H5771H1H3162H559H3068H6999H2022H2778H1389H4058H7223H6468H2436 8“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.H559H3068H8492H4672H811H559H7843H1293H6213H5650H7843 9I 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.H3318H2233H3290H3063H3423H2022H972H3423H5650H7931 10The 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.H8289H5116H6629H6010H5911H1241H7258H5971H1875 11“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,H5800H3068H7913H6944H2022H6186H7979H1409H1408H4390H4469H4507 12now 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.”H4487H2719H3766H2874H7121H6030H1696H8085H6213H7451H5869H977H2654 13Therefore, 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.H559H136H3069H5650H398H7456H5650H8354H6770H5650H8055H954 14My servants will sing for joy, but you will cry in sorrow and despair.H5650H7442H2898H3820H6817H3511H3820H3213H7667H7307 15Your 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.H3240H8034H7621H972H136H3069H4191H7121H5650H312H8034 16All 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.H1288H776H1288H430H543H7650H776H7650H430H543H7223H6869H7911H5641H5869 17“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.H1254H2319H8064H2319H776H7223H2142H5927H3820 18Be 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.H7797H1523H5703H1254H1254H3389H1525H5971H4885 19I will rejoice over Jerusalem and delight in my people. And the sound of weeping and crying will be heard in it no more.H1523H3389H7797H5971H6963H1065H8085H6963H2201 20“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!H5764H3117H2205H4390H3117H5288H4191H3967H8141H1121H2398H3967H8141H1121H7043 21In those days people will live in the houses they build and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.H1129H1004H3427H5193H3754H398H6529 22Unlike 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.H1129H312H3427H5193H312H398H3117H6086H3117H5971H972H1086H4639H3027 23They 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.H3021H7385H3205H928H2233H1288H3068H6631 24I 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!H7121H6030H1696H8085 25The 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