Chapter 65
65:1 They have sought me that before asked not for me, they have found me that sought me not. I said: behold me, behold me, to a nation that did not call upon my name.
65:2 I have spread forth my hands all the day to an unbelieving people, who walk in a way that is not good after their own thoughts.
65:3 A people that continually provoke me to anger before my face, that immolate in gardens, and sacrifice upon bricks.
65:4 That dwell in sepulchers, and sleep in the temples of idols: that eat swine’s flesh, and profane broth is in their vessels.
65:5 That say: depart from me, come not near me, because you are unclean: these shall be smoke in my anger, a fire burning all the day.
65:6 Behold it is written before me: I will not be silent, but I will render and repay into their bosom.
65:7 Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, says the Lord, who have sacrificed upon the mountains, and have reproached me upon the hills; and I will measure back their first work in their bosom.
65:8 Thus says the Lord: as if a grain be found in a cluster, and it be said: destroy it not, because it is a blessing: so will I do for the sake of my servants, that I may not destroy the whole.
65:9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah a possessor of my mountains: and my elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
65:10 And the plains shall be turned to folds of flocks, and the valley of Achor into a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.
65:11 And you, that have forsaken the Lord, that have forgotten my holy mount, that set a table for fortune, and offer libations upon it,
65:12 I will number you in the sword, and you shall all fall by slaughter: because I called and you did not answer: I spoke, and you did not hear: and you did evil in my eyes, and you have chosen the things that displease me.
65:13 Therefore thus says the Lord God: behold my servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry: behold my servants shall drink, and you shall be thirsty.
65:14 Behold my servants shall rejoice, and you shall be confounded: behold my servants shall praise for joyfulness of heart, and you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for grief of spirit.
65:15 And you shall leave your name for an oath to my elect: and the Lord God shall slay you, and call his servants by another name.
65:16 In which he that is blessed upon the earth, shall be blessed in God, amen: and he that swears in the earth, shall swear by God, amen: because the former distresses are forgotten, and because they are hid from our eyes.
65:17 For behold I create new heavens, and a new earth: and the former things shall not be in remembrance, and they shall not come upon the heart.
65:18 But you shall be glad and rejoice for ever in these things, which I create: for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and the people thereof joy.
65:19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people, and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her nor the voice of crying.
65:20 There shall no more be an infant of days there, nor an old man that shall not fill up his days: for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.
65:21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruits of them.
65:22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people, and the works of their hands shall grow old.
65:23 My elect shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth in trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their posterity with them.
65:24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will hear; as they are yet speaking, I will hear.
65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion and the ox shall eat straw; and dust shall be the serpent’s food: they shall not hurt nor kill in all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
1122 . They have sought me . Here the judge, namely, God, gives the sentence of the separation of the wicked from the good, in the reception of the promised salvation. And this is divided into two parts:
in the first, he pronounces the sentence of separation;
in the second, he determines the manner of execution: thus says the Lord (ch. 66).
Concerning the first, he does two things.
First, he promises a response, showing the opportunity of responding: they have sought me that before asked not for me , as if to say: thus far, you Jews have not sought after me, but idols; because you ask, I will respond. Mystically, this concerns the conversion of the gentiles: I was found by them that did not seek me (Rom 10:20). And he sets out the promise: I said: behold me, behold me, to a nation , I will respond, namely, to the Jews, or I will be turned to the converted gentiles , I to my beloved, and my beloved to me (Song 6:2).
1123 . Second, he sentences separation: I have spread forth my hands .
And first, he sentences the separation of the wicked from the good, because of sins of transgression;
second, because of sins of omission: and you, that have forsaken (Isa 65:11).
The first of these is divided into two:
in the first, he threatens punishment for the wicked;
in the second, he promises rewards for the good: thus says the Lord (Isa 65:8).
Concerning the first, he does two things:
first, he denounces their fault of transgression;
second, he threatens punishment: these shall be smoke (Isa 65:5).
1124 . He denounces their fault from three things.
First, from their ungratefulness for his benefits: I have spread forth my hands , giving many benefits, all the day , the whole time since I took them to myself; mystically, I have spread forth my hands , on the cross: every one walks (Jer 16:12) in a way that is not good.
Second, from the continuity of their sinning: a people that continually provoke me to anger before my face , for all things are naked and open to his eyes (Heb 4:13), or because they placed idols in the temple: they have provoked me with that which was no god (Deut 32:21).
Third, from the variety or seriousness of their sins, as to four things.
1125 . First, as to the worship of idols: that immolate , to idols, in gardens , for they worshipped idols in places of pleasure, upon bricks , upon altars constructed from bricks, so that they could sustain the fire of sacrifice, above: they shall be confounded for their idols (Isa 1:29).
Second, as to their enthusiasm for divinations: that dwell in sepulchers , that they might have answers from the dead; in the temples ( delubris ), temples of idols so called from diluendo (“washing”), for they thought all things were washed away there; or because of the fonts, which were there for washing the victims and priests; and sleep , upon the hides of the victims for the purpose of divination: your temples shall be destroyed (Ezek 6:6).
Third, as to the uncleanness of their food: that eat swine’s flesh, and profane broth , from pork, below: they that did eat swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse (Isa 66:17).
Fourth, as to their contempt for the just: that say , namely, to those who do not adore idols: he is grievous unto us (Wis 2:15); or that say , to God: who say to God: depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of your ways (Job 21:14).
1126 . These shall be smoke . Here he threatens punishment.
And first, the length of the punishment: smoke , that is, like smoke is consumed by fire, so shall they be burned by my anger: a fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest hell (Deut 32:22).
Second, the certainty of punishment: behold it is written , for their sin is firmly in memory, and their punishment in preordination; I will not be silent , overlooking their sins: the sin of Judah is written (Jer 17:1), above: I have held my peace, always I have kept silence (Isa 42:14).
Third, the multitude of the punishments, because they are for all the sins of their fathers: but I will render : I am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children (Exod 20:5). Who have reproached me , by adoring idols in the high places; and also for the sins of their youth: and I will measure back their first work , as if to say, I will make the punishment commensurate to the fault, above: she has received of the hand of the Lord double (Isa 40:2).
1127 . Thus says the Lord . Here he promises rewards to the good.
And first, as to their preservation from evils: as if a grain , of a grape; it is a blessing , that is, it pleases God for it to be reserved for a blessing; for the sake of my servants , your fathers; that I may not destroy the whole , people of the Jews, above: it shall be as when one gathers (Isa 17:5) clusters in the vintage.
Second, as to their advancement in good things.
And first, as to the multiplication of their seed: and I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob , above: except the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we had been as Sodom (Isa 1:9).
Second, as to the restoration of the inheritance of their fathers: and my elect shall inherit it : they shall possess you for their inheritance: and you shall be their inheritance (Ezek 36:12).
Third, as to the fertility of their pastures: and the plains, and the valley of Achor , so called, because they stoned Achan there (Josh 7:24–26); I will give them the valley of Achor for an opening of hope (Hos 2:15).
1128 . And you, that have forsaken . Here he separates the wicked from the consolation of the good, because of their sins of omission.
And first, he threatens punishment for the wicked;
second, he promises rewards for the good: because the former distresses are forgotten (Isa 65:16).
Concerning the first, he does two things.
First, he threatens them because they have abandoned God, and he sets out their fault: and you , Jews; that set for fortune , a god of the Egyptians, a table : he touches upon a ritual in which this god was worshipped, for, at the end of the year, a table was prepared for him, crammed with every food: they forsook God who made them, and departed from God their savior (Deut 32:15). And he sets out the punishment: I will number you in the sword , as if to say: so that none remain who will not be crushed: they shall fall by the sword, and by the famine (Jer 44:12).
1129 . Second, because they did not obey when they were called back, and he sets out the fault: because I called and you did not answer : I called, and you refused (Prov 1:24).
And he threatens the punishment of separation.
First, in satisfaction of the body: therefore thus says the Lord God: behold my servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry : the rich have wanted, and have suffered hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good (Ps 33:11[34:10]).
Second, in joy of heart: behold my servants shall rejoice, and you shall be confounded : repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit (Wis 5:3).
Third, in difference of name, and first, he sets out the sort of name the impious shall have: and you shall leave your name for an oath to my elect , that they might confirm their words thus: if it is not so, so shall it happen to me as happened to them: by the sword, and by the famine shall they die: and they shall be for an oath , and for a wonder, and for a curse, and for a reproach (Jer 44:12). And next he sets out the sort of name the good shall have: and call his servants; in which , namely, in which name, the name is Jesus; amen , faithfully, above: you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name (Isa 62:2).
1130 . Because the former distresses are forgotten . Here he promises rewards seen.
And first, in general, as to the removal of evils: because the former distresses are forgotten , not because of lack of knowledge, but because they have been succeeded by good things, above: you shall forget the shame of your youth (Isa 54:4). And as to the restoration of goods: for behold I create new heavens , new help from heaven, and a new earth , new benefits from the earth; or this refers to the day of judgment, when the world will be renewed to the glory of the saints: the former things are passed away (Rev 21:4).
1131 . Second, in particular: for behold I create Jerusalem .
And first, as to cheerfulness of heart: Jerusalem , earthly Jerusalem, but more, the heavenly Jerusalem; < a rejoicing , that is,> rejoicing, emphatically, so that all things are absorbed in joy, above: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away (Isa 35:10).
1132 . Second, as to length of life: there shall no more be an infant of days there, nor an old man that shall not fill up his days , dying before his time, but the child shall die a hundred years old , that is, when he will have reached such an age; and , if he be a sinner , although he will have lived to such an age, he shall be subject to a curse: Abraham died in a good old age (Gen 25:8). Mystically, in the heavenly Jerusalem, all will fill up their days, for none will die; the child shall die a hundred years old , that is, he who lived to old age childishly shall die, in eternal death: for venerable old age is not that of long time, nor counted by the number of years (Wis 4:8).
1133 . Third, as to prosperity of goods, both as to security of their possessions: and they shall build : and they shall build houses (Ezek 28:26); they shall plant vineyards (Amos 9:14); and he assigns the reason: for as the days of a tree , that is, because they will live a long time just as the wood of a tree lasts a long time, the works of their hands shall grow old , that is, they shall remain in their use until old age: he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters (Ps 1:3). And as to the peace of their children: nor bring forth in trouble , as though bringing forth children into servitude to their enemies: good things continue with their seed (Sir 44:11).
1134 . Fourth, as to the hearing of their prayers: and it shall come to pass, that before they call , with their mouth, above: at the voice of your cry, as soon as he shall hear, he will answer you (Isa 30:19).
1135 . Fifth, as to the tranquility of peace: the wolf and the lamb , for those who formerly were tyrants and evildoers will abide peacefully with others, above (Isa 11:6) has the same.