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Isaiah 66 :: Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Final Judgment and Joyous Restoration
Isa 66:1

This is what the LORD says:

Heaven is my throne,

and earth is my footstool.

Where could you possibly build a house for me?

And where would my resting place be?

Isa 66:2

My hand made all these things,

and so they all came into being.

This is the LORD’s declaration.

I will look favorably on this kind of person:

one who is humble, submissive[fn] in spirit,

and trembles at my word.

Isa 66:3

One person slaughters an ox, another kills a person;

one person sacrifices a lamb, another breaks a dog’s neck;

one person offers a grain offering, another offers pig’s blood;

one person offers incense, another praises an idol —

all these have chosen their ways

and delight in their abhorrent practices.

Isa 66:4

So I will choose their punishment,

and I will bring on them what they dread

because I called and no one answered;

I spoke and they did not listen;

they did what was evil in my sight

and chose what I did not delight in.

Isa 66:5

You who tremble at his word,

hear the word of the LORD:

“Your brothers who hate and exclude you

for my name’s sake have said,

‘Let the LORD be glorified

so that we can see your joy! ’

But they will be put to shame.”

Isa 66:6

A sound of uproar from the city!

A voice from the temple —

the voice of the LORD,

paying back his enemies what they deserve!

Isa 66:7

Before Zion was in labor, she gave birth;

before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.

Isa 66:8

Who has heard of such a thing?

Who has seen such things?

Can a land be born in one day

or a nation be delivered in an instant?

Yet as soon as Zion was in labor,

she gave birth to her sons.

Isa 66:9

“Will I bring a baby to the point of birth

and not deliver it? ”

says the LORD;

“or will I who deliver, close the womb? ”

says your God.

Isa 66:10

Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her,

all who love her.

Rejoice greatly with her,

all who mourn over her —

Isa 66:11

so that you may nurse and be satisfied

from her comforting breast

and drink deeply and delight yourselves

from her glorious breasts.

Isa 66:12

For this is what the LORD says:

I will make peace flow to her like a river,

and the wealth[fn] of nations like a flood;

you will nurse and be carried on her hip

and bounced on her lap.

Isa 66:13

As a mother comforts her son,

so I will comfort you,

and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.

Isa 66:14

You will see, you will rejoice,

and you[fn] will flourish like grass;

then the LORD’s power will be revealed to his servants,

but he will show his wrath against his enemies.

Isa 66:15

Look, the LORD will come with fire —

his chariots are like the whirlwind —

to execute his anger with fury

and his rebuke with flames of fire.

Isa 66:16

For the LORD will execute judgment

on all humanity with his fiery sword,

and many will be slain by the LORD.

Isa 66:17

“Those who dedicate and purify themselves to enter the groves following their leader,[fn] eating meat from pigs, vermin,[fn] and rats, will perish together.”

This is the LORD’s declaration.

Isa 66:18

“Knowing[fn] their works and their thoughts, I have come to gather all nations and languages; they will come and see my glory.

Isa 66:19

“I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations ​— ​to Tarshish, Put,[fn] Lud (who are archers), Tubal, Javan, and the coasts and islands far away ​— ​who have not heard about me or seen my glory. And they will proclaim my glory among the nations.

Isa 66:20

“They will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots, in litters, and on mules and camels, to my holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.

Isa 66:21

“I will also take some of them as priests and Levites,” says the LORD.

Isa 66:22

“For just as the new heavens and the new earth,

which I will make,

will remain before me” —

this is the LORD’s declaration —

“so your offspring and your name will remain.

Isa 66:23

“All humanity will come to worship me

from one New Moon to another

and from one Sabbath to another,”

says the LORD.

Isa 66:24

“As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never go out, and they will be a horror to all humanity.”

CSB Footnotes
Lit broken
Or glory
Lit your bones
Hb obscure
Lit abhorrent things
LXX, Syr; MT omits Knowing
LXX; MT reads Pul
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Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017, 2020 by Holman Bible Publishers.

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Isaiah Chapter 66 — Additional Translations: