Isaiah 66 - Easy To Read Version

¹ This is what the Lord says,\par “The skies are my throne.\par The earth is my footstool.\par So do you think you can build\par a house for me?\par No! You can’t!\par Can you give me a place to rest?\par No! You can’t!\par

² I myself made all things.\par All things are here because I made them.”\par The Lord himself said these things.\par “Tell me, what people do I care for?\par I care for the poor people.\par I care for the people that are very sad.\par I care for people that obey my words.\par

³ Some people kill bulls \{as a sacrifice\},\par but they also beat people.\par Those people kill sheep as a sacrifice,\par but they also break the necks of dogs!\par Those people offer up grain offerings,\par but they also offer the blood of pigs! {\cf2\super [475]} \par Those people burn incense, {\cf2\super [476]} \par but they also love their worthless idols. {\cf2\super [477]} \par Those people choose their own ways.\par And they also love their terrible idols.\par

⁴ So I decided to use their own tricks!\par \{I mean that\} I will punish them\par using the things they are most afraid of.\par I called to those people,\par but they did not listen.\par I spoke to them,\par but they did not hear me.\par So I will do the same thing to them.\par Those people did things I said are evil.\par They chose to do things I did not like.”\par

⁵ You people that obey the Lord’s commands\par should listen to the things\par the Lord says,\par “Your brothers hated you.\par They turned against you\par because you followed me.\par Your brothers said,\par ‘We will come back to you\par when the Lord is honored.\par Then we will be happy with you.’\par Those bad people will be punished.\par

^6-7-8 Listen! There is a loud noise coming from the city and the temple. {\cf2\super [478]} That noise is the Lord punishing his enemies. The Lord is giving them the punishment they should have.

⁹ \{In the same way,\} I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born.”

¹⁰ Jerusalem, be happy!\par All you people who love Jerusalem,\par be happy!\par Sad things happened to Jerusalem,\par so some of you people are sad.\par But now you people should be happy.\par

¹¹ Why? Because you will receive mercy\par like milk coming from her breast.\par That “milk” will truly satisfy you!\par You people will drink the milk,\par and you will truly enjoy\par the glory of Jerusalem.\par

¹² The Lord says,\par “Look, I will give you peace.\par This peace will come flowing to you\par like a great river.\par Wealth from all the nations on earth\par will come flowing to you.\par That wealth will come like a flood.\par \{You will be like little babies\}.\par You will drink that ‘milk’ (wealth)\par I will pick you up,\par hold you in my arms,\par and bounce you on my knees.\par

¹³ I will comfort you like a mother\par comforts her child.\par And you will be in Jerusalem when\par I comfort you!”\par

¹⁴ You will see the things that you truly enjoy.\par You will be free and grow like grass.\par The Lord’s servants will see his power,\par but the Lord’s enemies will see his anger.\par

¹⁵ Look, the Lord is coming with fire. The Lord’s armies are coming with clouds of dust. The Lord will punish those people with his anger. The Lord will use flames of fire to punish those people while he is angry.

¹⁶ The Lord will judge the people. Then the Lord will destroy the people with fire and with his sword. The Lord will destroy many people.

¹⁷ Those people wash themselves to make themselves pure for worshiping in their special gardens. {\cf2\super [479]} These people follow each other into their special gardens. Then they worship their idols. But, the Lord will destroy all those people.

¹⁸ “Those people have evil thoughts and do evil things. So I am coming to punish them. I will gather all nations and all people. All people will come together and see my power.

¹⁹ I will put a mark on some of the people—\{I will save them\}. I will send some of these saved people to the nations Tarshish, {\cf2\super [480]} Libya, {\cf2\super [481]} Lud {\cf2\super [482]} (the land of archers {\cf2\super [483]}), Tubal, {\cf2\super [484]} Greece, and all the faraway lands. Those people have never heard my teachings. Those people have never seen my Glory. {\cf2\super [485]} So the saved people will tell the nations about my glory.

²⁰ And they will bring all your brothers and sisters from all nations. They will bring your brothers and sisters to my holy mountain, {\cf2\super [486]} Jerusalem. Your brothers and sisters will come on horses, donkeys, camels, and in chariots and wagons. Your brothers and sisters will be like the gifts that the people of Israel bring on clean plates to the Lord’s temple. {\cf2\super [487]}

²¹ I will also choose some of these people to be priests and Levites. {\cf2\super [488]} ” The Lord himself said these things.

²² “I will make a new world—and the new heavens and the new earth \{will last forever\}. In the same way, your names and your children will always be with me.

²³ All people will come to worship me on every worship day; they will come every Sabbath {\cf2\super [489]} and every first day of the month. {\cf2\super [490]}

²⁴ “\{These people will be in my holy city.\} And if they go out \{of the city\} they will see the dead bodies of the people that sinned against me. \{There will be worms in those bodies\}—and the worms will never die. \{Fires will burn those bodies\}—and the fires will never stop.”