Isaiah 66:1-24 HCSB This
is what the LORD says: Heaven is 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 the LORD's declaration. I will look
favorably on this kind of person: one who is humble, submissive in spirit, and
who 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 swine's blood; one offers incense, one praises an idol--all these have
chosen their ways and delight in their abominations. 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 is evil in My sight and chose what I didn't
delight in. 5 You
who tremble at His word, hear the word of the LORD: "Your brothers who
hate and exclude you because of Me have said: Let the LORD be 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 the LORD, 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 the LORD; "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 the LORD says: I will make peace flow to her like a river, and the
wealth of 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 you will flourish like grass;
then the LORD's power will be revealed to His servants, but He will show His
wrath against His enemies. 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. 16 For
the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh with His fiery sword, and many will
be slain by the LORD. 17 "Those
who dedicate and purify themselves to enter the groves following their
leader, eating meat from pigs, vermin, and rats, will perish together." This
is the LORD's declaration. 18
"Knowing their 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 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. 21
I will also take some of them as priests and Levites," says
the LORD. 22 "For
just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will endure
before Me"--the LORD's declaration--"so will your offspring and your
name endure. 23 All
mankind will come to worship Me, from one New Moon to another, and from one
Sabbath to another," says the LORD.
24
"As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of the men who have
rebelled against Me; for their maggots will never die, their fire will never go
out, and they will be a horror to all mankind."
Devotionals: Isaiah 66:1-2 God’s
House
Sermons: Isaiah 66:1-4 Conversing
With God
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