Final Judgment and Joyous Restoration
1 This is what theLordsays:
Heavenis My throne,
and earth is My footstool.
What house could you possibly build for Me?
And what place could be My home?
2 My hand made all these things,
and so they all came into being.
This is theLord’s declaration.
I will look favorably on this kind of person:
one who is humble,submissivein spirit,
and trembles at My word.
3 One slaughters an ox, one kills a man;
one sacrifices a lamb, one breaks a dog’s neck;
one offers a grain offering, one offers pig’s blood;
one offers incense, one praises an idol —
all these have chosen their ways
and delight in their detestable practices.
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 didn’t hear;
they did what was evil in My sight
and chose what I didn’t delight in.
5 You who tremble at His word,
hear the word of theLord:
“Your brothers who hate and exclude you
because of Me have said,
‘Let theLordbe glorified
so that we can see your joy! ’
But they will be put to shame.”
6 A sound of uproar from the city!
A voice from the temple —
the voice of theLord,
paying back His enemies what they deserve!
7 Before Zion was in labor, she gave birth;
before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.
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.
9 “Will I bring a baby to the point of birth
and not deliver it? ”
says theLord;
“or will I who deliver, close the womb? ”
says your God.
10 Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her,
all who love her.
Rejoice greatly with her,
all who mourn over her —
11 so that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her comforting breast
and drink deeply and delight yourselves
from her glorious breasts.
12 For this is what theLordsays:
I will make peace flow to her like a river,
and the wealthof nations like a flood;
you will nurse and be carried on her hip
and bounced on her lap.
13 As a mother comforts her son,
so I will comfort you,
and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 You will see, you will rejoice,
and youwill flourish like grass;
then theLord’s power will be revealed to His servants,
but He will show His wrath against His enemies.
15 Look, theLordwill come with fire—
His chariots are like the whirlwind—
to execute His anger with fury
and His rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For theLordwill execute judgment
on all fleshwith His fiery sword,
and many will be slain by theLord.
17 “Those who dedicate and purify themselves to enter the grovesfollowing their leader,eating meat from pigs, vermin, and rats, will perish together.”
This is theLord’s declaration.
18 “Knowingtheir works and their thoughts, I have come to gather all nations and languages;they will come and see My glory.
19 I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations — to Tarshish, Put,Lud (who are archers), Tubal, Javan,and the islands far away — who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. And they will proclaim My glory among the nations.
20 They will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to theLordon horses and chariots, in litters, and on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,”says theLord, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of theLord.
21 I will also take some of them as priests and Levites,”says theLord.
22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth,
which I will make,
will endure before Me” —
this is theLord’s declaration —
“so your offspring and your name will endure.
23 All mankind will come to worship Me
from one New Moon to another
and from one Sabbath to another,”
says theLord.
24 “As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against Me;for their wormwill never die, their fire will never go out,and they will be a horror to all mankind.”
—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/ISA/66-bad35699051276c60deb1896de3de144.mp3?version_id=72—