Isaiah 65:6-9

Context

65:6 Look, I have decreed:¹

I will not keep silent, but will pay them back;

I will pay them back exactly what they deserve,²

65:7 for your sins and your ancestors’ sins,”³ says the Lord.

“Because they burned incense on the mountains

and offended⁴ me on the hills,

I will punish them in full measure.”⁵

65:8 This is what the Lord says:

“When⁶ juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes,

someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’⁷

So I will do for the sake of my servants –

I will not destroy everyone.⁸

65:9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,

and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains.

My chosen ones will take possession of the land;⁹

my servants will live there.

Isaiah 65:18

Context

65:18 But be happy and rejoice forevermore

over what I am about to create!

For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem¹⁰ to be a source of joy,¹¹

and her people to be a source of happiness.¹²

[65:6] ¹tn Heb “Look, it is written before me.”

[65:6] ²tn Heb “I will pay back into their lap.”

[65:7] ³tn Heb “the iniquities of your fathers.”

[65:7] ⁴tn Or perhaps, “taunted”; KJV “blasphemed”; NAB “disgraced”; NASB “scorned”; NIV “defied”; NRSV “reviled.”

[65:7] ⁵tn Heb “I will measure out their pay [from the] beginning into their lap,” i.e., he will give them everything they have earned.

[65:8] ⁶tn Heb “just as.” In the Hebrew text the statement is one long sentence, “Just as…, so I will do….”

[65:8] ⁷tn Heb “for a blessing is in it.”

[65:8] ⁸tn Heb “by not destroying everyone.”

[65:9] ⁹tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to the land which contains the aforementioned mountains.

[65:18] ¹¹tn Heb “Jerusalem, joy.” The next verse suggests the meaning: The Lord will create Jerusalem to be a source of joy to himself.

[65:18] ¹²tn Heb “her people, happiness.” See the preceding note.