CHAPTER 66
True and False Worship
The heavens are my throne,
the earth, my footstool.
What house can you build for me?
Where is the place of my rest?a
when all of them came to be—oracle of the LORD.
This is the one whom I approve:
the afflicted one, crushed in spirit,
who trembles at my word.b
sacrificing a lamb, breaking a dog’s neck,
Making an offering of pig’s blood,
burning incense, honoring an idol—
These have chosen their own ways,
and taken pleasure in their own abominations.c
and bring upon them what they fear.
Because when I called, no one answered,
when I spoke, no one listened.
Because they did what was evil in my sight,
and things I do not delight in they chose,d
you who tremble at his word!
Your kin who hate you
and cast you out because of my name say,
“May the LORD show his glory,
that we may see your joy”;
but they shall be put to shame.
a voice from the temple;
The voice of the LORD
rendering recompense to his enemies!e
Blessings of Prosperity and Consolation
she gives birth;f
Before her pangs come upon her,
she delivers a male child.
or who ever saw the like?
Can a land be brought forth in one day,
or a nation be born in a single moment?
Yet Zion was scarcely in labor
when she bore her children.
and yet not let her child be born? says the LORD.
Or shall I who bring to birth
yet close her womb? says your God.
all you who love her;
Rejoice with her in her joy,
all you who mourn over her—g
from her consoling breast;
That you may drink with delight
at her abundant breasts!
I will spread prosperity over her like a river,
like an overflowing torrent,
the wealth of nations.
You shall nurse, carried in her arms,
cradled upon her knees;
so I will comfort you;
in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.h
and your bodies shall flourish like the grass;
The LORD’s power shall be revealed to his servants,
but to his enemies, his wrath.
his chariots like the stormwind;
To wreak his anger in burning rage
and his rebuke in fiery flames.
and, with his sword, against all flesh;
Those slain by the LORD shall be many.i
which I am making
Shall endure before me—oracle of the LORD—
so shall your descendants and your name endure.k
and from sabbath to sabbath,
All flesh shall come to worship
before me, says the LORD.l
of the people who rebelled against me;
For their worm shall not die,
their fire shall not be extinguished;
and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.
* [66:1–2] The Lord rejects the abuses associated with Temple worship in order to emphasize his concern for the sincere worshiper.
* [66:3–6] The sacrificial abuses listed will only merit punishment. The true worshipers, the downtrodden, are those who “tremble” (vv. 2, 5) at God’s word. Although they are ridiculed by those who reject them (v. 5), the latter will be afflicted with divine punishment; their “choice” will be met by the Lord’s choice (v. 4).
* [66:7–9] The renewal of Zion is pictured in terms of a miraculous, instantaneous birth, facilitated by God’s intervention.
* [66:10–16] The poet addresses the children born of Jerusalem, their mother. In v. 13 the metaphor switches to the Lord as mother (cf. 49:15), comforting her charges but destroying the enemies.
* [66:17] This verse seems to have some connection with 65:2–3.
* [66:18–21] God summons the neighboring nations to Zion and from among them will send some to far distant lands to proclaim the divine glory. All your kin: Jews in exile. The “gathering of the people and the nations” is an eschatological motif common in the prophetic tradition; cf. 56:8.
* [66:24] God’s enemies lie dead outside the walls of the New Jerusalem; just as in the past, corpses, filth and refuse lay in the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) outside the city; cf. 34:1–4; 2 Kgs 23:10.
a. [66:1] 2 Sm 7:4–7; 1 Kgs 8:27; Acts 7:49; 17:24.
d. [66:4] Is 65:12; Prv 1:24; Jer 7:13.
f. [66:7–9] Is 49:18–21; 54:1.
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