2. Post-Exile: The Blessing & Judgment Cycles ( 40:1 - 66:24 ) - 701-681 B.C., Israel

(These 8 groups of prophecies alternate between blessings on Israel and judgment on God's enemies.)

H. Cycle 8 (63:7 - 66:24)

1. Blessing On Israel (63:7 - 66:14)

b. The Lord's Answer (65:1 - 66:14)

1). Part of Israel Will be Saved (65:1-16)

¹ I am sought of them that asked not for me;
I am found of them that sought me not:
I said,
Behold me,
behold me,
unto a nation that was not called by my name.
² I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people,
which walketh in a way that was not good,
after their own thoughts;
³ A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face;
that sacrificeth in gardens,
and burneth incense upon altars of brick;
⁴ Which remain among the graves,
and lodge in the monuments,
which eat swine's flesh,
and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
⁵ Which say,
Stand by thyself,
come not near [approach not] to me;
for I am holier than thou.
These are a smoke in my nose,
a fire that burneth all the day.
⁶ Behold,
it is written before me:
I will not keep silence,
but will recompense,
even recompense into their bosom,
⁷ Your iniquities,
and the iniquities of your fathers together,
saith the LORD,
which have burned incense upon the mountains,
and blasphemed me upon the hills:
therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom.

⁸ Thus saith the LORD,
As the new wine is found in the cluster,
and one saith,
Destroy it not;
for a blessing is in it:
so will I do for my servants' sakes,
that I may not destroy them all.
⁹ And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob,
and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains:
and mine elect shall inherit it,
and my servants shall dwell there.
¹⁰ And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks,
and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in,
for my people that have sought me.
¹¹ But ye are they that forsake the LORD,
that forget [this] my holy mountain,
that prepare a table for that troop,
and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.
¹² Therefore will I number you to the sword,
and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter:
because when I called,
ye did not answer;
when I spake,
ye did not hear;
but did evil before mine eyes,
and did choose that wherein I delighted not.

¹³ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD,
Behold,
my servants shall eat,
but ye shall be hungry:
behold,
my servants shall drink,
but ye shall be thirsty:
behold,
my servants shall rejoice,
but ye shall be ashamed:
¹⁴ Behold,
my servants shall sing for joy of heart,
but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart,
and shall howl for vexation of spirit.
¹⁵ And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen:
for the Lord GOD shall slay thee,
and call his servants by another name:
¹⁶ That he who blesseth himself in the earth
shall bless himself in the God of truth;
and he that sweareth in the earth
shall swear by the God of truth;
because the former troubles are forgotten,
and because they are hid from mine eyes.

2). A New Heavens & a New Earth Will be Created (65:17-25)

¹⁷ For, behold,
I create new heavens and a new earth:
and the former shall not be remembered,
nor come into mind.
¹⁸ But be ye glad and rejoice for ever [unto perpetuity]
in that which I create:
for, behold,
I create [this] Jerusalem a rejoicing,
and her people a joy.
¹⁹ And I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and joy in my people:
and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her,
nor the voice of crying.
²⁰ There shall be no more thence an infant of days,
nor an old man that hath not filled [this] his days:
for the child shall die an hundred years old;
but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
²¹ And they shall build houses,
and inhabit them;
and they shall plant vineyards,
and eat the fruit of them.
²² They shall not build,
and another inhabit;
they shall not plant,
and another eat:
for as the days of a tree are the days of my people,
and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
²³ They shall not labour in vain,
nor bring forth for trouble;
for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD,
and their offspring with them.
²⁴ And it shall come to pass,
that before they call,
I will answer;
and while they are yet speaking,
I will hear.
²⁵ The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock:
and dust shall be the serpent's meat.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,
saith the LORD.