1I was sought by people who did not ask for me; I was found by people who did not look for me. I said, "Here I am, here I am," to a nation that was not called by my name.
2All day long I have spread out my hands to a rebellious people. They walk in a way that is not good, following their own thoughts.
3They are a people who make me angry all the time, right to my face. They offer sacrifices in gardens, and burn incense on altars of brick.
4They stay among the graves, and spend the night in the monuments. They eat pig's flesh, and broth made of disgusting things is in their pots.
5They say, "Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am holier than you." These people are smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all day long.
6Look, it is written down before me. I will not keep silent, but I will pay them back, pay it back into their lap:
7your own sins and the sins of your fathers together, says the LORD. They burned incense on the mountains, and insulted me on the hills. So I will measure out into their lap the payment for what they did before.
8This is what the LORD says: "When new wine is found in a bunch of grapes, someone says, 'Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it.' So I will do for the sake of my servants, and not destroy them all."
9"I will bring out descendants from Jacob, and from Judah one to inherit my mountains. My chosen ones will inherit it, and my servants will live there."
10"Sharon will be a pasture for flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down, for my people who have sought me."
11"But you are the ones who forsake the LORD, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for that troop, and fill the drink offering for that number."
12"So I will count you out for the sword, and you will all bow down to be slaughtered. For when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen. You did evil in my sight, and chose what did not please me."
13Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry. Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be ashamed."
14"Look, my servants will sing because their hearts are glad, but you will cry out because your hearts are sad, and you will wail because your spirit is broken."
15"You will leave your name behind as a curse for my chosen ones, for the Lord GOD will kill you, and will call his servants by another name."
16"So whoever asks a blessing on himself in the land will ask it by the God of truth, and whoever takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the old troubles are forgotten, and they are hidden from my eyes."
17"For look, I am making new heavens and a new earth. The old ones will not be remembered, and will not come to mind."
18"But be glad and rejoice for ever in what I make. For look, I make Jerusalem a delight, and her people a joy."
19"I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be glad in my people. The sound of weeping will no longer be heard in her, nor the sound of crying."
20"No more will there be in her an infant who lives only a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years. For the child will die a hundred years old, but the sinner who is a hundred years old will be cursed."
21"They will build houses and live in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit."
22"They will not build for someone else to live there; they will not plant for someone else to eat. For my people will live as long as a tree lives, and my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands."
23"They will not work for nothing, nor bear children for trouble. For they are the offspring of those the LORD has blessed, and their children are with them."
24"Before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear."
25"The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent's food. They will not hurt or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain," says the LORD.