| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1"I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; I appeared to those who did not look for me. I said, 'Here I am! Here I am!' to a nation that did not invoke my name. | 1The 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. |
| 2I spread out my hands all day long to my rebellious people, who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable, and who did what they desired. | 2All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people. But they follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes. |
| 3These people continually and blatantly offend me as they sacrifice in their sacred orchards and burn incense on brick altars. | 3All day long they insult me to my face by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens. They burn incense on pagan altars. |
| 4They sit among the tombs and keep watch all night long. They eat pork, and broth from unclean sacrificial meat is in their pans. | 4At night they go out among the graves, worshiping the dead. They eat the flesh of pigs and make stews with other forbidden foods. |
| 5They say, 'Keep to yourself! Don't get near me, for I am holier than you!' These people are like smoke in my nostrils, like a fire that keeps burning all day long. | 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. |
| 6Look, I have decreed: I will not keep silent, but will pay them back; I will pay them back exactly what they deserve, | 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— |
| 7for your sins and your ancestors' sins," says the LORD. "Because they burned incense on the mountains and offended me on the hills, I will punish them in full measure." | 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! |
| 8This is what the LORD says: "When juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes, someone says, 'Don't destroy it, for it contains juice.' So I will do for the sake of my servants--I will not destroy everyone. | 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. |
| 9I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains. My chosen ones will take possession of the land; my servants will live there. | 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. |
| 10Sharon will become a pasture for sheep, and the Valley of Achor a place where cattle graze; they will belong to my people, who seek me. | 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. |
| 11But as for you who abandon the LORD and forget about worshiping at my holy mountain, who prepare a feast for the god called 'Fortune,' and fill up wine jugs for the god called 'Destiny'-- | 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, |
| 12I predestine you to die by the sword, all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, because I called to you, and you did not respond, I spoke and you did not listen. You did evil before me; you chose to do what displeases me." | 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.” |
| 13So this is what the sovereign LORD says: "Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry! Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty! Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated! | 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. |
| 14Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts! But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts; you will wail because your spirits will be crushed. | 14My servants will sing for joy, but you will cry in sorrow and despair. |
| 15Your names will live on in the curse formulas of my chosen ones. The sovereign LORD will kill you, but he will give his servants another name. | 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. |
| 16Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth will do so in the name of the faithful God; whoever makes an oath in the earth will do so in the name of the faithful God. For past problems will be forgotten; I will no longer think about them. | 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. |
| 17For look, I am ready to create new heavens and a new earth! The former ones will not be remembered; no one will think about them anymore. | 17“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. |
| 18But be happy and rejoice forevermore over what I am about to create! For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem to be a source of joy, and her people to be a source of happiness. | 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. |
| 19Jerusalem will bring me joy, and my people will bring me happiness. The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow will never be heard in her again. | 19I will rejoice over Jerusalem and delight in my people. And the sound of weeping and crying will be heard in it no more. |
| 20Never again will one of her infants live just a few days or an old man die before his time. Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred, anyone who fails to reach the age of a hundred will be considered cursed. | 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! |
| 21They will build houses and live in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. | 21In those days people will live in the houses they build and eat the fruit of their own vineyards. |
| 22No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, for my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. | 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. |
| 23They will not work in vain, or give birth to children that will experience disaster. For the LORD will bless their children and their descendants. | 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. |
| 24Before they even call out, I will respond; while they are still speaking, I will hear. | 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! |
| 25A wolf and a lamb will graze together; a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, and a snake's food will be dirt. They will no longer injure or destroy on my entire royal mountain," says the LORD. | 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!” |
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