Isaiah65
World English Bible · Public Domain
1“I am inquired of by those who didn’t ask. I am found by those who didn’t seek me. I said, ‘See me, see me,’ to a nation that was not called by my name.
2I have spread out my hands all day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts;
3a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks;
4who sit among the graves, and spend nights in secret places; who eat pig’s meat, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
5who say, ‘Stay by yourself, don’t come near to me, for I am holier than you.’ These are smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all day.
6“Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will repay, yes, I will repay into their bosom
7your own iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together”, says Yahweh, “who have burned incense on the mountains, and blasphemed me on the hills. Therefore I will first measure their work into their bosom.”
8Yahweh says, “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for a blessing is in it:’ so I will do for my servants’ sake, that I may not destroy them all.
9I will bring offspring out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains. My chosen will inherit it, and my servants will dwell there.
10Sharon will be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for my people who have sought me.
11“But you who forsake Yahweh, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny;
12I will destine you to the sword, and you will all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you didn’t answer. When I spoke, you didn’t listen; but you did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn’t delight.”
13Therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry; behold, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, my servants will rejoice, but you will be disappointed.
14Behold, my servants will sing for joy of heart, but you will cry for sorrow of heart, and will wail for anguish of spirit.
15You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen, and the Lord Yahweh will kill you. He will call his servants by another name,
16so that he who blesses himself in the earth will bless himself in the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes.
17“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem to be a delight, and her people a joy.
19I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will be heard in her no more.
20“No more will there be an infant who only lives a few days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child will die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old will be accursed.
21They will build houses and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22They will not build and another inhabit. They will not plant and another eat; for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my chosen will long enjoy the work of their hands.
23They will not labor in vain nor give birth for calamity; for they are the offspring of Yahweh’s blessed and their descendants with them.
24It will happen that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. Dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” says Yahweh.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Isaiah 65.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The calling of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews. (1-7). The Lord would preserve a remnant. (8-10). Judgments upon the wicked. (11-16). The future happy and flourishing state of the church. (17-25).
vv1-7
The Gentiles came to seek God, and find him, because they were first sought and found of him. Often he meets some thoughtless trifler or profligate opposer, and says to him, Behold me; and a speedy change takes place. All the gospel day, Christ waited to be gracious. The Jews were bidden, but would not come. It is not without cause they are rejected of God. They would do what most pleased them. They grieved, they vexed the Holy Spirit. They forsook God's temple, and sacrificed in groves. They cared not for the distinction between clean and unclean meats, before it was taken away by the gospel. Perhaps this is put for all forbidden pleasures, and all that is thought to be gotten by sin, that abominable thing which the Lord hates. Christ denounced many woes against the pride and hypocrisy of the Jews. The proof against them is plain. And let us watch against pride and self-preference, remembering that every sin, and the most secret thoughts of man's heart, are known and will be judged by God.
vv8-10
In the bunch of unripe grapes, at present of no value, the new wine is contained. The Jews have been kept a distinct people, that all may witness the fulfilment of ancient prophecies and promises. God's chosen, the spiritual seed of praying Jacob, shall inherit his mountains of bliss and joy, and be carried safe to them through the vale of tears. All things are for the display of God's glory in the redemption of sinners.
vv11-16
Here the different states of the godly and wicked, of the Jews who believed, and of those who persisted in unbelief, are set against one another. They prepared a table for that troop of deities which the heathen worship, and poured out drink-offerings to that countless number. Their worshippers spared no cost to honour them, which should shame the worshippers of the true God. See the malignity of sin; it is doing by choice what we know will displease God. In every age and nation, the Lord leaves those who persist in doing evil, and despise the call of the gospel. God's servants shall have the bread of life, and shall want nothing good for them. But those who forsake the Lord, shall be ashamed of vain confidence in their own righteousness, and the hopes they built thereon. Wordly people bless themselves in the abundance of this world's goods; but God's servants bless themselves in him. He is their strength and portion. They shall honour him as the God of truth. And it was promised that in him should all the families of the earth be blessed. They shall think themselves happy in having him for their God, who made them forget their troubles.
Key Words
דָּרַשׁ: properly, to tread or frequent; usually to follow (for pursuit or search); by implication, to seek or ask; specifically to worship
לֹא: not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles
שָׁאַל: to inquire; by implication, to request; by extension, to demand
מָצָא: properly, to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist; transitively, to attain, i.e. find or acquire; figuratively, to occur, meet or be present
בָּקַשׁ: to search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer); by implication, to strive after
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
הִנֵּה: lo!
גּוֹי: a foreign nation; hence, a Gentile; also (figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts
קָרָא: to call out to (i.e. properly, address by name, but used in a wide variety of applications)
שֵׁם: an appellation, as amark or memorial of individuality; by implication honor, authority, character
Cross References
Isaiah 65Paul explicitly quotes this verse to apply the calling of the Gentiles and Israel's rejection.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Paul directly applies the spreading out of God's hands to disobedient and gainsaying Israel.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
John's vision of the new heaven and new earth fulfills this Isaianic creation prophecy.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Verbatim verbal echo regarding the wolf, lamb, lion, and not hurting in all my holy mountain.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Israel provoking God to anger with abominations, which directly corresponds to their idolatrous garden sacrifices.
Supported by JFB
Contrasts God's command for altars of unhewn stone with their corrupt, self-willed altars of brick.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Typified by the Pharisee's self-righteous posture: 'Stand by thyself... I am holier than thou.'
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The preservation of the remnant ('destroy it not') matches Paul's remnant according to election.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Describes the original state of the Gentiles who were strangers from the covenants of promise.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The mosaic prohibition of swine's flesh, illustrating the depth of their rebellion.
Supported by JFB
Parallels God's recompense of iniquities directly 'into their bosom' as a measure of judgment.
Supported by JFB
The Valley of Achor, once a place of trouble, is transformed into a place of rest.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The tragic parallel of God calling and speaking, but the people refusing to answer or hear.
Supported by JFB
New testament expectation of a new heaven and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Ultimate fulfillment where God wipes away all tears, and crying is heard no more.
Supported by Matthew Henry