What Kind of Life Are You Building? – Isaiah 66:1-24
66 This is what Jehovah says, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Therefore, what kind of house will you build for me, and where will be my resting place? (2) My hand has made all these things, so it was that all these things came into being, declares Jehovah. But this is the man I will regard, namely, he who is humble and who has a contrite spirit, he who trembles at my word. (3) Whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a man; and whoever offers a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck. Whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers swine’s blood; whoever burns frankincense is like one who blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations; (4) so I will choose their afflictions and I will bring upon them the things they dread—because when I called, none of them answered; when I spoke, they did not listen. On the contrary, they did what was evil in my sight, and chose those things in which I have no delight.
(5) Hear the word of Jehovah, you who tremble at his word: Your brothers who hate you, who thrust you away because of my name, they have said, May Jehovah be glorified, so that we may see your joy! But they are the ones who shall be put to shame. (6) Hear the sound of an uproar in the city, a noise from the temple—it is the sound of Jehovah repaying his enemies what they deserve. (7) Before she went into labor, she gave birth; before the birth pains came upon her, she delivered a son. (8) Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a country be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet as soon as Zion went into labor she gave birth to her children. (9) Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause the child to be delivered? asks Jehovah. When I bring an infant to the point of delivery, do I shut the womb? asks your God.
(10) Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her. (11) Be glad for her, so that you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, so that you may suck out and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. (12) This is what Jehovah says, I will extend peace to her like a river, and bestow upon her the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream. You will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip, and you will be dandled upon the knees. (13) I will comfort you as a mother comforts her child; indeed, you will be comforted in Jerusalem. (14) When you see this, your heart will rejoice and your bones will flourish like the grass of springtime. The hand of Jehovah will be made known to his servants; but he will exhibit indignation against his enemies.
(15) See, Jehovah will come with fire, and his chariots will be like the whirlwind; he will come to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire. (16) With fire and with sword Jehovah will execute judgment upon all mankind, and those slain by Jehovah will be many. (17) Those who consecrate and purify themselves in order to go into the gardens, following the instructions of the priest who stands among them, eating swine’s flesh and other abominable things, including rats—they will all come to an end together, declares Jehovah. (18) Because of their works and their thoughts I will come to gather all nations and languages; and they will come, and they will see my glory. (19) But I will work a miracle among them, and those who are delivered from my judgment I will send to the nations—to Tarshish, to Put, and to the famous archers of Lud, to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have neither heard of my fame nor seen my glory. Those who have been delivered shall proclaim my glory to the nations. (20) And these messengers will bring all your brothers from out of all the nations as an offering to Jehovah, conveying them on horses and in chariots and in wagons and upon mules and upon camels to Jerusalem my holy mountain, declares Jehovah, just as the children of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of Jehovah. (21) And I will also select some of them to be priests and Levites, declares Jehovah.
(22) Just as the new heavens and the new earth, that I will make, shall always remain before me, declares Jehovah, so shall your descendants and your name perpetually endure. (23) And it shall be that from one new moon to the next, and from one Sabbath to the next, all mankind will come to bow down before me, declares Jehovah. (24) And they will go out and view the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me; the worm that feeds upon their corpses shall not die, neither shall the fire that consumes their corpses be quenched—they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.
Now proceed to the next section of this study, entitled, Exploring the Passage.
