Isaiah 65:17-23

Context

65:17 For look, I am ready to create

new heavens and a new earth!¹

The former ones² will not be remembered;

no one will think about them anymore.³

65:18 But be happy and rejoice forevermore

over what I am about to create!

For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem⁴ to be a source of joy,⁵

and her people to be a source of happiness.⁶

65:19 Jerusalem will bring me joy,

and my people will bring me happiness.⁷

The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow

will never be heard in her again.

65:20 Never again will one of her infants live just a few days⁸

or an old man die before his time.⁹

Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred,¹⁰

anyone who fails to reach¹¹ the age of a hundred will be considered cursed.

65:21 They will build houses and live in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

65:22 No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it,¹²

or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit,¹³

for my people will live as long as trees,¹⁴

and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced.¹⁵

65:23 They will not work in vain,

or give birth to children that will experience disaster.¹⁶

For the Lord will bless their children

and their descendants.¹⁷

[65:17] ¹sn This hyperbolic statement likens the coming transformation of Jerusalem (see vv. 18-19) to a new creation of the cosmos.

[65:17] ²tn Or perhaps, “the former things” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “The events of the past.”

[65:17] ³tn Heb “and they will not come up on the mind.”

[65:18] ⁴map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[65:18] ⁵tn Heb “Jerusalem, joy.” The next verse suggests the meaning: The Lord will create Jerusalem to be a source of joy to himself.

[65:18] ⁶tn Heb “her people, happiness.” See the preceding note.

[65:19] ⁷tn Heb “and I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be happy in my people.”

[65:20] ⁸tn Heb “and there will not be from there again a nursing infant of days,” i.e., one that lives just a few days.

[65:20] ⁹tn Heb “or an old [man] who does not fill out his days.”

[65:20] ¹⁰tn Heb “for the child as a son of one hundred years will die.” The point seems to be that those who die at the age of a hundred will be considered children, for the average life span will be much longer than that. The category “child” will be redefined in light of the expanded life spans that will characterize this new era.

[65:20] ¹¹tn Heb “the one who misses.” חָטָא (khata’) is used here in its basic sense of “miss the mark.” See HALOT 305 s.v. חטא. Another option is to translate, “and the sinner who reaches the age of a hundred will be cursed.”

[65:22] ¹²tn Heb “they will not build, and another live [in it].”

[65:22] ¹³tn Heb “they will not plant, and another eat.”

[65:22] ¹⁴tn Heb “for like the days of the tree [will be] the days of my people.”

[65:22] ¹⁵tn Heb “the work of their hands” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “their hard-won gains.”

[65:23] ¹⁶tn Heb “and they will not give birth to horror.”

[65:23] ¹⁷tn Heb “for offspring blessed by the Lord they [will be], and their descendants along with them.”