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A Rebellious People

¹ "I let Myself be sought by ^(C1)those who did not ask for Me;
I let Myself be found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, 'Here am I, here am I,'
To the nation Israel which ^(C2)did not call on My Name. ^(VR1)

² "^(C1)I have spread out My hands all the day long to a ^(C2)rebellious and stubborn people,
Who walk in the way that is not good, following after their own ^(C3)thoughts and intentions,

³ The people who continually ^(C1)provoke Me to My face,
Sacrificing to idols in ^(C2)gardens and ^(C3)making offerings with incense on bricks instead of at the designated altar;

⁴ Who sit among the graves trying to conjure up evil spirits and spend the night in the secret places where spirits are thought to dwell;
Who ^(C1)eat swine's flesh,
And their pots hold the broth of ^(F1)unclean meat;

⁵ Who say, '^(C1)Keep to yourself, do not come near me,
For I ^(F1)am too holy for you and you might defile me!'
These people are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.

⁶ "Indeed, it is written before Me,
I will ^(C1)not keep silent, but I ^(C2)will repay;
I will even repay it directly into their ^(F1)arms,

⁷ Both your own ^(C1)wickedness and the wickedness of your fathers," says the LORD.
"Since they too have ^(C2)made offerings with incense on the mountains
And ^(C3)scorned and taunted Me on the hills,
I therefore will ^(C4)measure punishment for their former work directly into their ^(F1)arms."

⁸ This is what the LORD says,

"As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, 'Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing and benefit in it,'
So I will do for the sake of My servants
In order ^(C1)not to destroy all of them.

⁹ "I will bring forth ^(C1)descendants from Jacob,
And an ^(C2)heir of My mountains from Judah;
^(C3)Even My chosen ones shall inherit it,
And ^(C4)My servants will live there.

¹⁰ "And the plain of ^(C1)Sharon will be a place for flocks to graze,
And the ^(C2)Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
For My people who ^(C3)seek Me who long for Me and require My presence in their lives.

¹¹ "But you who ^(C1)abandon (turn away from) the LORD,
Who forget and ignore My ^(C2)holy mountain (Zion),
Who set a table for Gad the Babylonian god of fortune,
And who fill a jug of mixed wine for Meni the god of fate,

¹² I will destine you for the ^(C1)sword, says the LORD,
And all of you will bow down to the ^(C2)slaughter,
Because when I called, you ^(C3)did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not listen or obey.
But you did what was evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight."

¹³ Therefore, the Lord GOD says this,

"Listen carefully, My servants will ^(C1)eat, but you will be ^(C2)hungry;
Indeed, My servants will ^(C3)drink, but you will be ^(C4)thirsty;
Indeed, My servants will ^(C5)rejoice, but you will be ^(C6)put to shame.

¹⁴ "Indeed, My servants will ^(C1)shout for joy from a happy heart,
But you will ^(C2)cry out with a heavy heart,
And you shall wail and howl from a broken spirit.

¹⁵ "And you will leave your name behind to My chosen ones who will use it as a ^(C1)curse,
And the Lord GOD will put you to death,
But He will call His servants by ^(C2)another name a much greater name, just as the name Israel was greater than the name Jacob. ^(VR1)

¹⁶ "Because he who blesses himself on the earth
Will bless himself by the ^(C1)God of truth and faithfulness;
And he who swears an oath on the earth
Will ^(C2)swear by the God of truth and faithfulness;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My sight. ^(VR1)

New Heavens and a New Earth

¹⁷ "Behold, I am creating ^(C1)new heavens and a new earth;
And the ^(C2)former things of life will not be remembered or come to mind. ^(VR1)

¹⁸ "But be ^(C1)glad and rejoice forever over what I create;
Behold, I am creating Jerusalem to be a source of rejoicing
And her people a joy.

¹⁹ "I will also ^(C1)rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of ^(C2)weeping and the sound of crying.

²⁰ "No longer shall there be ^(F1)in it an infant who lives only a few days,
Or an old man who ^(C1)does not finish his days;
For the youth who dies at the age of a hundred,
And the ^(C2)one who does not reach the age of a hundred
Will be thought of as accursed.

²¹ "They will ^(C1)build houses and live in them;
They will ^(C2)plant vineyards and eat the fruit.

²² "They will not build and ^(C1)another occupy;
They will not plant and another eat the fruit.
For ^(C2)as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,
And My chosen people will ^(C3)fully enjoy and long make use of the work of their hands.

²³ "They will ^(C1)not labor in vain,
Or bear children for disaster;
For they are the ^(C2)descendants of those blessed by the LORD,
And their offspring with them.