Isaiah 66
All 24 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.
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- 1This is what the LORD says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house could you possibly build for me? Where would I go to rest?
- 2My own hand made all of these things — that's how everything came to be," declares the LORD. "But here is the person I pay attention to: the one who is humble, broken in spirit, and trembles at my word."
- 3He who kills an ox is like one who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog's neck; he who offers a grain offering is like one who offers pig's blood; he who burns incense is like one who blesses an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations.
- 4I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them, because when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they did not hear. But they did evil before my eyes, and chose that in which I did not delight.
- 5Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at his word: Your brothers who hated you and cast you out for my name's sake said, "Let the LORD be glorified." But he will appear to your joy, and they will be ashamed.
- 6Listen! An uproar from the city! A voice from the temple! It is the voice of the LORD, paying back his enemies exactly what they deserve.
- 7"Before she even went into labor, she gave birth. Before the pain hit her, she delivered a son.
- 8Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen anything like it? Can a country be born in a single day? Can a nation spring to life all at once? Yet the moment Zion went into labor, she gave birth to her children.
- 9Would I bring a baby to the point of birth and then not deliver it?" says the LORD. "Would I, the one who brings life, close the womb?" says your God.
- 10"Celebrate with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her! Share deeply in her joy, all you who have mourned over her.
- 11You will nurse and be satisfied from her comforting breasts. You will drink deeply and be delighted by the overflow of her glory."
- 12The LORD says, "Look! I will send peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. You will nurse, be carried on her hip, and be bounced on her knees."
- 13Like a mother comforts her child, that's how I will comfort you — and you will find that comfort in Jerusalem."
- 14When you see this, your heart will rejoice, and your bones will flourish like an herb. The hand of the LORD will be known to his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.
- 15Look — the LORD is coming with fire! His chariots will come like a whirlwind. He will deliver his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire.
- 16For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh, and many will be slain by the LORD.
- 17"Those who perform rituals to make themselves 'holy' and 'pure' in their sacred gardens, following the one in the center, eating pig meat, disgusting things, and mice — they will all be destroyed together," declares the LORD.
- 18"I know everything they do and everything they think. The time is coming when I will gather every nation and every language together, and they will come and witness my glory.
- 19I will set a sign among them and send survivors to the nations — to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud (the archers), to Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have never heard of me or seen my glory. They will announce my glory among the Gentiles.
- 20They will bring all your scattered brothers and sisters from every nation as an offering to the LORD — on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels — to my holy mountain Jerusalem," says the LORD. "It will be just like when the people of Israel bring their offerings in clean vessels to the LORD's house.
- 21And from among them I will even choose some to serve as priests and Levites," says the LORD.
- 22"Just as the new heavens and the new earth that I create will endure before me," declares the LORD, "so will your descendants and your name endure.
- 23From one New Moon to the next, and from one Sabbath to the next, all of humanity will come and worship before me," says the LORD.
- 24"They will go out and look at the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me. The worms feeding on them will never die, and the fire burning them will never go out. They will be an object of horror to all of humanity."