| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 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. | 1“I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. To a nation that did not call My name, I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ |
| 2All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people. But they follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes. | 2All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations, |
| 3All day long they insult me to my face by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens. They burn incense on pagan altars. | 3to a people who continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in the gardens and burning incense on altars of brick, |
| 4At night they go out among the graves, worshiping the dead. They eat the flesh of pigs and make stews with other forbidden foods. | 4sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs and polluted broth from their bowls. |
| 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. | 5They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long. |
| 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— | 6Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will pay it back into their laps, |
| 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! | 7both for your iniquities and for those of your fathers,” says the LORD. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their former deeds.” |
| 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. | 8This is what the LORD says: “As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes, and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’ so I will act on behalf of My servants; I will not destroy them all. |
| 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. | 9And I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and heirs from Judah; My elect will possess My mountains, and My servants will dwell there. |
| 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. | 10Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for My people who seek Me. |
| 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, | 11But you who forsake the LORD, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny, |
| 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.” | 12I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.” |
| 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. | 13Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; My servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame. |
| 14My servants will sing for joy, but you will cry in sorrow and despair. | 14My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart, but you will cry out with a heavy heart and wail with a broken spirit. |
| 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. | 15You will leave behind your name as a curse for My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you; but to His servants He will give another name. |
| 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. | 16Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of truth, and whoever takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the former troubles will be forgotten and hidden from My sight. |
| 17“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. | 17For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. |
| 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. | 18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. |
| 19I will rejoice over Jerusalem and delight in my people. And the sound of weeping and crying will be heard in it no more. | 19I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her. |
| 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! | 20No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. |
| 21In those days people will live in the houses they build and eat the fruit of their own vineyards. | 21They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. |
| 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. | 22No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit, nor plant for others to eat. For as is the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands. |
| 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. | 23They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—they and their descendants with them. |
| 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! | 24Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear. |
| 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!” | 25The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the food of the serpent will be dust. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain,” says the LORD. |
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