Study Desk

"I was sought by those who did not ask;^[a] I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said: Here I am, here I am, to a nation that was not called by^[b] My name.^(a)

I spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people^(b) who walk in the wrong path, following their own thoughts.

These people continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in gardens,^(c) burning incense on bricks,

sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs,^(d) and putting polluted broth in their bowls.^[c]

They say, ‘Keep to yourself, don't come near me, for I am too holy for you!' These practices are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.

It is written before Me: I will not keep silent,^(e) but I will repay;^(f) I will repay them fully^[d]

for your iniquities and the iniquities^(g) of your^[e] fathers together," says the Lord . "Because they burned incense on the mountains and reproached Me on the hills,^(h) I will reward them fully^[f] for their former deeds."

The Lord says this: As the new wine is found in a bunch of grapes, and one says, ‘Don't destroy it, for there's some good^[g] in it,' so I will act because of My servants and not destroy them all.

I will produce descendants from Jacob,⁽ⁱ⁾ and heirs to My mountains from Judah; My chosen^(j) ones will possess it, and My servants will dwell there.^(k)

Sharon will be a pasture for flocks,^(l) and the Valley of Achor a place for cattle to lie down,^(m) for My people who have sought Me.⁽ⁿ⁾

But you who abandon the Lord , who forget My holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,^[h]

I will destine you for the sword, and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear; you did what was evil in My sight and chose what I did not delight in.^(o)

Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: My servants will eat, but you will be hungry; My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.

My servants will shout for joy from a glad heart, but you will cry out from an anguished heart, and you will lament out of a broken spirit.

You will leave your name behind as a curse for My chosen ones,^(p) and the Lord God will kill you; but He will give His servants another name.^(q)

Whoever is blessed in the land will be blessed by the God of truth,^(r) and whoever swears in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the former troubles will be forgotten and hidden from My sight.

"For I will create a new heaven and a new earth;^(s) the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.

Then be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight.

I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people. The sound of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her.^(t)

In her, a nursing infant will no longer live only a few days,^[i] or an old man not live out his days. Indeed, the youth will die at a hundred years, and the one who misses a hundred years will be cursed.^(u)

People will build houses and live in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.^(v)

They will not build and others live in them; they will not plant and others eat. For My people's lives will be like the lifetime of a tree.^(w) My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands.

They will not labor without success^(x) or bear children destined for disaster, for they will be a people blessed by the Lord along with their descendants.^(y)

Even before they call, I will answer;^(z) while they are still speaking, I will hear.

The wolf and the lamb will feed together,^[j] and the lion will eat straw like the ox,^(aa) but the serpent's food will be dust!^(ab) They will not do what is evil or destroy on My entire holy mountain,"^(ac) says the Lord .