Isaiah 65:1-9

Judgment and Salvation 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 on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’

2All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations—

3a people who continually provoke me to my very face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on altars of brick;

4who sit among the graves and spend their nights keeping secret vigil; who eat the flesh of pigs, and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;

5who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me, for I am too sacred for you!’ Such people are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that keeps burning all day.

6“See, it stands written before me: I will not keep silent but will pay back in full; I will pay it back into their laps—

7both your sins and the sins of your ancestors,” says the LORD . “Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains and defied me on the hills, I will measure into their laps the full payment for their former deeds.”

8This is what the LORD says: “As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it, there is still a blessing in it,’ so will I do in behalf of my servants; I will not destroy them all.

9I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah those who will possess my mountains; my chosen people will inherit them, and there will my servants live.