Major Prophets · Chapter 65 of 66
Isaiah 65
God says He was found by a people who did not seek Him while His rebellious people provoked Him with idolatry. He will judge those who forsook Him, yet preserve a remnant of servants. He announces a stunning future: new heavens and a new earth where former troubles are forgotten, weeping ceases, life flourishes in peace, and the wolf and lamb feed together on His holy mountain.
What happens in Isaiah 65
God declares He was sought by those who did not ask for Him and found by those who did not seek Him, while He spread out His hands all day to a rebellious people. They provoke Him with idolatrous sacrifices in gardens and among graves, yet claim to be holier than others. God will not keep silent but will repay their iniquities. Still, He promises not to destroy them all: as a blessing is found in a cluster of grapes, He will preserve His servants.
But those who forsook Him He appoints to the sword. His servants will eat and sing, while the others hunger and cry in shame. Then God unveils the climax: He creates new heavens and a new earth, and former things will not be remembered. He makes Jerusalem a rejoicing, ending the sound of weeping. Life flourishes; before they call, God will answer, and the wolf and the lamb will feed together on His holy mountain.
Isaiah 65 in context
Near the close of Isaiah, this chapter answers the anguished lament of chapters 63 and 64. God responds to the plea for mercy by distinguishing between rebels who will be judged and faithful servants who will be preserved and blessed. The idolatrous practices described reflect the syncretism Isaiah repeatedly condemned.
The chapter's crowning vision of new heavens and a new earth introduces a hope that reshapes biblical eschatology, later expanded in Revelation. The renewed creation, with harmony between predator and prey, echoes the peaceable kingdom pictured earlier in Isaiah.
Main themes of Isaiah 65
Isaiah 65 (KJV)
1I 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. 2I 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; 3A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; 4Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; 5Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. 6Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom, 7Your 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. 8Thus 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. 9And 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. 10And 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. 11But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number. 12Therefore 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. 13Therefore 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: 14Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. 15And 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: 16That 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. 17For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 18But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 19And 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. 20There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. 21And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. 22They 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. 23They 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. 24And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. 25The 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.
Verses to carry from Isaiah 65
“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.”Isaiah 65:1
“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.”Isaiah 65:17
“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.”Isaiah 65:25
New Testament quotation
How Isaiah 65 points to Jesus
Paul quotes this chapter to explain the Gentiles' inclusion in the gospel: I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me (Romans 10:20), citing Isaiah 65:1. God's being found by those who did not seek Him is fulfilled as the nations, who never pursued Israel's God, come to Him through Christ. The chapter's climactic promise of new heavens and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17) is taken up in the New Testament hope: Peter looks for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness, and Revelation sees a new heaven and new earth where God wipes away every tear.
The peaceable image of wolf and lamb points to the restored creation Christ secures. Because the text is directly quoted by Paul, this is a New Testament quotation.
Questions about Isaiah 65
What does God mean by being found by those who did not seek Him?
God opens the chapter marveling, I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not (Isaiah 65:1), contrasting this with His own people who spurned His outstretched hands. God's mercy takes the initiative and reaches beyond those who deserve or even want Him. Paul applies this to the Gentiles, who came to God without having pursued Him. Grace breaks out toward the unlikely and the unasking.
How does the vision of new heavens and new earth answer the people's suffering?
The lament of the previous chapters wept over ruined cities and a burned temple. God answers not merely with local repair but with a promise to create new heavens and a new earth, where former troubles are forgotten and weeping is heard no more (Isaiah 65:17, 19). Life will flourish and even predator and prey be at peace. This reframes present grief against God's intent to make all things new.
Reflection
God holds out His hands all day even to those who do not seek Him, and He promises a world where weeping is heard no more. Whatever ruins you grieve, let this vision lift your eyes: God is not merely patching the old but creating new heavens and a new earth. Live now as one who belongs to that coming joy.
A prayer from Isaiah 65
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