Isaiah 65 - Easy To Read Version

¹ The Lord says, “I helped people that had not come to me for advice. The people that found me were not looking for me. I spoke to a nation that does not wear my name. I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

² “I stood ready to accept people that turned against me. I was waiting for those people to come to me. But they continued living a way that is not good. They did anything their hearts wanted to do.

³ Those people are in front of me always making me angry. Those people offer sacrifices {\cf2\super [466]} and burn incense {\cf2\super [467]} in their special gardens. {\cf2\super [468]}

⁴ Those people sit among the graves. They wait to get messages from dead people. They even live among dead bodies. They eat pig meat. Their forks and knives are dirty with rotten meat.

⁵ “But those people tell other people, ‘Don’t come near me! Don’t touch me until I make you clean.’ Those people are like smoke in my eyes. And their fire burns all the time.”

⁶ “Look, here is a bill that must be paid. \{This bill shows you are guilty for your sins.\} I will not be quiet until I pay this bill, and I will pay the bill by punishing you.

⁷ “Your sins and your fathers’ sins are all the same.” The Lord said this, “Your fathers did these sins when they burned incense {\cf2\super [469]} in the mountains. They shamed me on those hills. And I punished them first. I gave them the punishment they should have.”

⁸ The Lord says, “When there is new wine in the grapes, people squeeze out the wine. But they don’t completely destroy the grapes. They do this because the grapes can still be used. I will do the same thing to my servants. I will not completely destroy them.

⁹ I will keep some of the people of Jacob (Israel). Some of the people of Judah will get my mountain. My servants will live there. I will choose the people that will live there.

¹⁰ Then Sharon Valley {\cf2\super [470]} will be a field for sheep. The Valley of Achor {\cf2\super [471]} will be a place for cattle to rest. All these things will be for my people—the people that look for me.

¹¹ “But you people left the Lord, so you will be punished. You people forgot about my holy mountain. {\cf2\super [472]} You began to worship Luck. You depend on the false god Fate. {\cf2\super [473]}

¹² \{But I decide your future.\} And I decided that you will be killed with a sword. You will all be killed. Why? Because I called to you, and you refused to answer me! I spoke to you, and you would not listen. You did the things that I say are evil. You decided to do the things that I don’t like.”

¹³ So the Lord my Master said these things.\par “My servants will eat,\par but you evil people will be hungry.\par My servants will drink,\par but you evil people will be thirsty.\par My servants will be happy,\par but you evil people will be shamed.\par

¹⁴ My servants will be happy with joy,\par but you evil people will cry with sadness. {\cf2\super [474]} \par Your spirits will be broken,\par and you will be very sad.\par

¹⁵ Your names will be like bad words\par to my servants.”\par

¹⁶ People now ask blessings from the earth.\par \{But in the future,\} they will ask blessings\par from the faithful God.\par People now trust in the power of the earth\par when they make a promise.\par \{But in the future,\} they will trust\par in the faithful God.\par Why? Because the troubles in the past\par will all be forgotten.\par My people will never again\par remember those troubles.\par

¹⁷ “I will make a new heaven and a new earth.\par People will not remember the past.\par They won’t remember any of those things.\par

¹⁸ My people will be happy.\par They will rejoice forever and ever.\par Why? Because of what I will make.\par I will make a Jerusalem that is full of joy,\par and I will make them a happy people.\par

¹⁹ “Then I will be happy with Jerusalem.\par I will be happy with my people.\par There will never again be crying\par and sadness in that city.\par

²⁰ There will never be a child from that city,\par that is born and lives only a few days.\par No person from that city will die\par after only a short life.\par Every child will live a long life,\par and every older person will live\par for a long, long time.\par A person that lives 100 years\par will be called young.\par And people will think a person was cursed\par if he does not live to be 100 years old.\par

²¹ “In that city, if a person builds a house,\par that person will live there.\par If a person plants a garden of grapes,\par that person will eat the grapes\par from that garden.\par

²² Never again will\par one person build a house\par and another person live there.\par Never again will\par one person plant a garden\par and another person eat the fruit from it.\par

²³ Women will never again suffer childbirth\par \{only to have the baby die\}.\par Women will never again be afraid\par of what might happen during childbirth.\par All my people and their children\par will be blessed by the Lord.\par

²⁴ I will know what they need\par before they ask.\par And I will help them—\par even before they finish asking.\par

²⁵ Wolves and little lambs will eat together.\par Lions will eat with cattle.\par A snake on the ground will not scare or hurt\par any person on my holy mountain.”\par The Lord said all those things.\par