Isaiah 65-66; Jeremiah 1

1“I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. To a nation that did not call My name, I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

2All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations,

3to a people who continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in the gardens and burning incense on altars of brick,

4sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs and polluted broth from their bowls.

5They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.

6Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will pay it back into their laps,

7both for your iniquities and for those of your fathers,” says the LORD. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their former deeds.”

8This is what the LORD says: “As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes, and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’ so I will act on behalf of My servants; I will not destroy them all.

9And I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and heirs from Judah; My elect will possess My mountains, and My servants will dwell there.

10Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for My people who seek Me.

11But you who forsake the LORD, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,

12I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”

13Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; My servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.

14My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart, but you will cry out with a heavy heart and wail with a broken spirit.

15You will leave behind your name as a curse for My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you; but to His servants He will give another name.

16Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of truth, and whoever takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the former troubles will be forgotten and hidden from My sight.

17For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight.

19I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her.

20No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.

21They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit, nor plant for others to eat. For as is the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands.

23They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD— they and their descendants with them.

24Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

25The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the food of the serpent will be dust. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.

1This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?

2Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.

3Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways and delighted in their abominations.

4So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”

5You who tremble at His word, hear the word of the LORD: “Your brothers who hate you and exclude you because of My name have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified that we may see your joy!’ But they will be put to shame.”

6Hear the uproar from the city; listen to the voice from the temple! It is the voice of the LORD, repaying His enemies what they deserve!

7“Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.

8Who has heard of such as this? Who has seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be delivered in an instant? Yet as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.

9Shall I bring a baby to the point of birth and not deliver it?” says the LORD. “Or will I who deliver close the womb?” says your God.

10Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her, all who love her. Rejoice greatly with her, all who mourn over her,

11so that you may nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you may drink deeply and delight yourselves in her glorious abundance.

12For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm, and bounced upon her knees.

13As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”

14When you see, you will rejoice, and you will flourish like grass; then the hand of the LORD will be revealed to His servants, but His wrath will be shown to His enemies.

15For behold, the LORD will come with fire— His chariots are like a whirlwind— to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.

16For by fire and by His sword, the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the LORD.

17“Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves—to follow one in the center of those who eat the flesh of swine and vermin and rats—will perish together,” declares the LORD.

18“And I, knowing their deeds and thoughts, am coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see My glory.

19I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. So they will proclaim My glory among the nations.

20And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots and wagons, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.”

21“And I will select some of them as priests and Levites,” says the LORD.

22“For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will endure before Me,” declares the LORD, “so your descendants and your name will endure.

23From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.

24“As they go forth, they will see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never be quenched, and they will be a horror to all mankind.”

1These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.

2The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah,

3and through the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, until the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.

4The word of the LORD came to me, saying:

5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

6“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!”

7But the LORD told me: “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ For to everyone I send you, you must go, and all that I command you, you must speak.

8Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.

9Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.

10See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”

11And the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” “I see a branch of an almond tree,” I replied.

12“You have observed correctly,” said the LORD, “for I am watching over My word to accomplish it.”

13Again the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “What do you see?” “I see a boiling pot,” I replied, “and it is tilting toward us from the north.”

14Then the LORD said to me, “Disaster from the north will be poured out on all who live in the land.

15For I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north,” declares the LORD. “Their kings will come and set up their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all her surrounding walls and all the other cities of Judah.

16I will pronounce My judgments against them for all their wickedness, because they have forsaken Me, and they have burned incense to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.

17Get yourself ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them, or I will terrify you before them.

18Now behold, this day I have made you like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.

19They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.