נִדְרַשְׁתִּי לְלֹוא שָׁאָלוּ נִמְצֵאתִי לְלֹא בִקְשֻׁנִי אָמַרְתִּי הִנֵּנִי הִנֵּנִי אֶל־גֹּוי לֹא־קֹרָא בִשְׁמִי׃   65:1

Isai. 65:1   “I cared for he who did not ask;

                            I was present to he who did not seek Me.

                    I said, ‘Behold Me, behold Me!’

                            to a nation not calling in My name.”

פֵּרַשְׂתִּי יָדַי כָּל־הַיֹּום אֶל־עַם סֹורֵר הַהֹלְכִים הַדֶּרֶךְ לֹא־טֹוב אַחַר מַחְשְׁבֹתֵיהֶם׃   65:2

Isai. 65:2   “I stretched forth My ‘hand’ all day to a rebellious people,

                           who were walking the way of no good

                    after their own thoughts,

הָעָם הַמַּכְעִיסִים אֹותִי עַל־פָּנַי תָּמִיד זֹבְחִים בַּגַּנֹּות וּמְקַטְּרִים עַל־הַלְּבֵנִים׃   65:3

Isai. 65:3   the people who were provoking Me to My ‘face’ continually,

                           sacrificing in gardens,

                    and burning incense on the bricks,

הַיֹּשְׁבִים בַּקְּבָרִים וּבַנְּצוּרִים יָלִינוּ הָאֹכְלִים בְּשַׂר הַחֲזִיר (וּפְרַק) [וּמְרַק] פִּגֻּלִים כְּלֵיהֶם׃   65:4

Isai. 65:4   who were sitting among graves,

                            and would abide in vaults,

                    who were eating the flesh of swine,

                            and their vessels a broth of abominable things,

The word in parentheses appears to be incorrect.  As spelled (with the peh) it has no meanings that make sense in this context.  The sages changed the spelling so the word means broth or fragment.  The latter spelling, with a mem, appears in the brackets.

הָאֹמְרִים קְרַב אֵלֶיךָ אַל־תִּגַּשׁ־בִּי כִּי קְדַשְׁתִּיךָ אֵלֶּה עָשָׁן בְּאַפִּי אֵשׁ יֹקֶדֶת כָּל־הַיֹּום׃   65:5

Isai. 65:5   who were saying, ‘Off with you!

                             You may not come near me,

                     for I am holier than you.’

                             These were smoke in My ‘nose,’

                     a flame burning all day.”

הִנֵּה כְתוּבָה לְפָנָי לֹא אֶחֱשֶׂה כִּי אִם־שִׁלַּמְתִּי וְשִׁלַּמְתִּי אֶל־חֵיקָם׃   65:6

Isai. 65:6   “Behold, it is written before Me.

                              I will not be still

                    until I have made restitution,

                             and I will repay to their bosom.

עֲוֹנֹתֵיכֶם וַעֲוֹנֹת אֲבֹותֵיכֶם יַחְדָּו אָמַר יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר קִטְּרוּ עַל־הֶהָרִים וְעַל־הַגְּבָעֹות חֵרְפוּנִי וּמַדֹּתִי   65:7 פְעֻלָּתָם רִאשֹׁנָה (עַל־) [אֶל־]חֵיקָם׃

Isai. 65:7   Your own iniquities

                            and the iniquities of your fathers alike,”

                    says the Lord,

                            “who offered on the mountains,

                    and on the hills blasphemed Me,

                            so I will mete their past wage to their bosom.”

The word in parentheses is considered to be in error.  However, I’m not sure.  There is something strange about this traditional correction.  Where the Hebrew is provided in some Christian sources, the next-to-last word in v. 65:6 is shown as עַל instead of אֶל.   But in Jewish bibles I have consulted, the word is shown as above in the preceding verse.  Compare the last two words in v. 65:6 with the corrected last two words here.  They are identical, and are translated as identical.  Oddly, the Christian sources also identify the Hebrew word in this verse as an error.

כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה כַּאֲשֶׁר יִמָּצֵא הַתִּירֹושׁ בָּאֶשְׁכֹּול וְאָמַר אַל־תַּשְׁחִיתֵהוּ כִּי בְרָכָה בֹּו כֵּן אֶעֱשֶׂה לְמַעַן   65:8

   עֲבָדַי לְבִלְתִּי הַשְׁחִית הַכֹּל׃

Isai. 65:8   Thus says the Lord:

                             “As one finds the sweet wine in a cluster,

                    he then says, ‘Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it,’

                             such will I do for the sake of My servants,

                     to not destroy everyone.”

וְהֹוצֵאתִי מִיַּעֲקֹב זֶרַע וּמִיהוּדָה יֹורֵשׁ הָרָי וִירֵשׁוּהָ בְחִירַי וַעֲבָדַי יִשְׁכְּנוּ־שָׁמָּה׃   65:9

Isai. 65:9   So I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob,

                             and out of Judah,

                    an inheritor of My mountains,

                             and My chosen ones shall inherit it,

                    and My servants shall dwell there.”

וְהָיָה הַשָּׁרֹון לִנְוֵה־צֹאן וְעֵמֶק עָכֹור לְרֵבֶץ בָּקָר לְעַמִּי אֲשֶׁר דְּרָשׁוּנִי׃   65:10

Isai. 65:10   “Then shall Sharon be for a fold of flocks,

                              and the valley of Achor for a resting place of herds,

                      for My people who have sought Me.”

There’s a bit of history and pathos in this verse.  The valley of Achor is mentioned in Josh. 7:24, 25 as the place where Achan son of Zerah was punished for his transgression. It is also one of the places that delineated the border of Judah (Josh. 15:7).  Ironically, the word Achor means trouble or disturbance, but here we are told it will signify a place of rest.

וְאַתֶּם עֹזְבֵי יְהוָה הַשְּׁכֵחִים אֶת־הַר קָדְשִׁי הַעֹרְכִים לַגַּד שֻׁלְחָן וְהַמְמַלְאִים לַמְנִי מִמְסָךְ׃   65:11

Isai. 65:11   “But you forsakers of the Lord,

                               forgetting My holy mountain,

                      preparing a table for fortune,

                               and replenishing mixed wine for fate!”

The next-to-last Hebrew word, לַמְנִי, translated as for fate, also means for fortune.  I imagine Isaiah could have used the word לַגַּד, which he used for fortune in the ninth word of this verse, but the Lord’s quote includes an extra bit of ironic poetry.  The Hebrew word מְנִי is also the name of the god of fate that the Jews worshiped in Babylon.

וּמָנִיתִי אֶתְכֶם לַחֶרֶב וְכֻלְּכֶם לַטֶּבַח תִּכְרָעוּ יַעַן קָרָאתִי וְלֹא עֲנִיתֶם דִּבַּרְתִּי וְלֹא שְׁמַעְתֶּם וַתַּעֲשׂוּ   65:12 הָרַע בְּעֵינַי וּבַאֲשֶׁר לֹא־חָפַצְתִּי בְּחַרְתֶּם׃

Isai. 65:12   “Then I will appoint you to the sword,

                               and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,

                       because I called and you did not answer,

                                I spoke and you did not hear,

                       and you did what is evil in My ‘eyes’

                               and you chose in what I do not delight.”

לָכֵן כֹּה־אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה הִנֵּה עֲבָדַי יֹאכֵלוּ וְאַתֶּם תִּרְעָבוּ הִנֵּה עֲבָדַי יִשְׁתּוּ וְאַתֶּם תִּצְמָאוּ הִנֵּה   65:13    עֲבָדַי יִשְׂמָחוּ וְאַתֶּם תֵּבֹשׁוּ׃

Isai. 65:13   Therefore thus says my Master, the Lord:

                              “Behold, My servants shall eat,

                       but you shall be hungry.

                              Behold, My servants shall drink,

                       but you shall be thirsty.

                              Behold, My servants shall rejoice,

                       but you shall be disconcerted.”

הִנֵּה עֲבָדַי יָרֹנּוּ מִטּוּב לֵב וְאַתֶּם תִּצְעֲקוּ מִכְּאֵב לֵב וּמִשֵּׁבֶר רוּחַ תְּיֵלִילוּ׃   65:14

Isai. 65:14   “Behold, My servants shall sing out of joy of heart,

                              but you shall cry out of sorrow of heart,

                      and you shall wail out of affliction of spirit.”

וְהִנַּחְתֶּם שִׁמְכֶם לִשְׁבוּעָה לִבְחִירַי וֶהֱמִיתְךָ אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה וְלַעֲבָדָיו יִקְרָא שֵׁם אַחֵר׃   65:15

Isai. 65:15   “And you shall leave your name as a curse to My elect:

                               'Now may my Master, the Lord, slay you.'”

                      But to His servants He shall give another name.

אֲשֶׁר הַמִּתְבָּרֵךְ בָּאָרֶץ יִתְבָּרֵךְ בֵּאלֹהֵי אָמֵן וְהַנִּשְׁבָּע בָּאָרֶץ יִשָּׁבַע בֵּאלֹהֵי אָמֵן כִּי נִשְׁכְּחוּ הַצָּרֹות   65:16   הָרִאשֹׁנֹות וְכִי נִסְתְּרוּ מֵעֵינָי׃

Isai. 65:16   “Who blesses himself on the earth

                               shall bless himself by the God of truth,

                      and who swears on the earth

                               shall swear by the God of truth,

                      for the former troubles have been forgotten,

                               and because they are hidden from My ‘eyes.’”

כִּי־הִנְנִי בֹורֵא שָׁמַיִם חֲדָשִׁים וָאָרֶץ חֲדָשָׁה וְלֹא תִזָּכַרְנָה הָרִאשֹׁנֹות וְלֹא תַעֲלֶינָה עַל־לֵב׃   65:17

Isai. 65:17   “For behold, I am the Creator

                               of a new heaven and a new earth,

                      and the former things shall not be remembered,

                               and shall not come to mind.”

כִּי־אִם־שִׂישׂוּ וְגִילוּ עֲדֵי־עַד אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי בֹורֵא כִּי הִנְנִי בֹורֵא אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלִַם גִּילָה וְעַמָּהּ מָשֹׂושׂ׃   65:18

Isai. 65:18   “But be glad and rejoice forever

                              that I am the Creator,

                      for behold, I am creating Jerusalem a rejoicing,

                              and her people a joy.”

וְגַלְתִּי בִירוּשָׁלִַם וְשַׂשְׂתִּי בְעַמִּי וְלֹא־יִשָּׁמַע בָּהּ עֹוד קֹול בְּכִי וְקֹול זְעָקָה׃   65:19

Isai. 65:19   “And I will rejoice in Jerusalem

                              and I will rejoice in My people,

                      and the sound of weeping or the sound of crying

                              will be heard in her no more.”

לֹא־יִהְיֶה מִשָּׁם עֹוד עוּל יָמִים וְזָקֵן אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יְמַלֵּא אֶת־יָמָיו כִּי הַנַּעַר בֶּן־מֵאָה שָׁנָה יָמוּת וְהַחֹוטֶא   65:20 בֶּן־מֵאָה שָׁנָה יְקֻלָּל׃

Isai. 65:20   “There shall not be from there

                              an infant of days old

                      or an old man

                             who will not fill his days any more,

                      for the youth might die one hundred years of age,

                             but the sinner one hundred years of age shall be accursed.

וּבָנוּ בָתִּים וְיָשָׁבוּ וְנָטְעוּ כְרָמִים וְאָכְלוּ פִּרְיָם׃   65:21

Isai. 65:21   “And they shall build houses and dwell,

                             and they shall plant vineyards and consume their fruit.”

לֹא יִבְנוּ וְאַחֵר יֵשֵׁב לֹא יִטְּעוּ וְאַחֵר יֹאכֵל כִּי־כִימֵי הָעֵץ יְמֵי עַמִּי וּמַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵיהֶם יְבַלּוּ בְחִירָי׃   65:22

Isai. 65:22   “They shall not build and another inhabit;

                              they shall not plant that another would consume;

                      because the days of My people

                              shall be as the days of a tree,

                      and the work of their hands

                             My chosen ones shall long enjoy.”

לֹא יִיגְעוּ לָרִיק וְלֹא יֵלְדוּ לַבֶּהָלָה כִּי זֶרַע בְּרוּכֵי יְהוָה הֵמָּה וְצֶאֱצָאֵיהֶם אִתָּם׃   65:23

Isai. 65:23   “They shall not labor in vain,

                             and they shall not bear young in terror,

                      for the posterity of the blessings of the Lord are they,

                             and their offspring with them.”

וְהָיָה טֶרֶם־יִקְרָאוּ וַאֲנִי אֶעֱנֶה עֹוד הֵם מְדַבְּרִים וַאֲנִי אֶשְׁמָע׃   65:24

Isai. 65:24   “And it shall happen,

                             that I shall answer before they will call,

                      that I shall hear while they are speaking.”

זְאֵב וְטָלֶה יִרְעוּ כְאֶחָד וְאַרְיֵה כַּבָּקָר יֹאכַל־תֶּבֶן וְנָחָשׁ עָפָר לַחְמֹו לֹא־יָרֵעוּ וְלֹא־יַשְׁחִיתוּ   65:25         בְּכָל־הַר  קָדְשִׁי אָמַר יְהוָה׃

Isai. 65:25   “The wolf and the lamb shall feed as one,

                             and the lion shall eat straw like the ox,

                      and the serpent -- dust shall be his food.

                            They shall not injure and they shall not kill

                      in all My holy mountain,” says the Lord.

It is now rather obvious that these latter verses, from 65:17 to here, refer to end times.

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