Isaías 66

ARC · Chapter 66/66

1Assim diz o Senhor: Os céus são o meu throno, e a terra o escabello dos meus pés: qual seria a casa que vós me edificarieis? e qual seria o logar do meu descanço?

2Porque a minha mão fez todas estas coisas, e assim todas estas coisas foram feitas, diz o Senhor; mas para esse olharei, para o pobre e abatido de espirito, e que treme da minha palavra.

3Quem mata um boi é como o que fere um homem; quem sacrifica um cordeiro é como o que degola um cão; quem offerece uma oblação é como o que offerece sangue de porco; quem offerece incenso memorativo é como o que bemdiz a um idolo: tambem estes escolhem os seus proprios caminhos, e a sua alma toma prazer nas suas abominações;

4Tambem eu escolherei seus escarneos, farei vir sobre elles os seus temores; porquanto clamei e ninguem respondeu, fallei, e não escutaram; mas fizeram o que parece mal aos meus olhos, e escolheram aquillo em que não tinha prazer.

5Ouvi a palavra do Senhor, os que tremeis da sua palavra. Vossos irmãos, que vos aborrecem e longe de si vos separam por amor do meu nome, dizem: Glorifique-se o Senhor; porém apparecerá para a vossa alegria, e elles serão confundidos.

6Uma voz de grande rumor haverá da cidade, uma voz do templo, a voz do Senhor, que dá o pago aos seus inimigos.

7Antes que estivesse de parto, pariu; antes que lhe viessem as dores, deu á luz um filho macho.

8Quem jámais ouviu tal coisa? quem viu coisas similhantes? poder-se-hia fazer parir uma terra n'um só dia? nasceria uma nação de uma só vez? mas já Sião esteve de parto e já pariu seus filhos.

9Abriria eu a madre, e não geraria? diz o Senhor: geraria eu, e fechar-me-hia? diz o teu Deus.

10Gozae-vos com Jerusalem, e alegrae-vos d'ella, vós todos os que a amaes: alegrae-vos com ella de alegria, todos os que pranteastes por ella;

11Para que mameis, e vos farteis dos peitos das suas consolações: para que chupeis, e vos deleiteis com o resplandor da sua gloria.

12Porque assim diz o Senhor: Eis que estenderei sobre ella a paz como um rio, e a gloria das nações como um ribeiro que trasborda; então mamareis, ao colo vos trarão, e sobre os joelhos vos afagarão.

13Como alguem a quem consola sua mãe, assim eu vos consolarei; e em Jerusalem vós sereis consolados.

14E o vereis e alegrar-se-ha o vosso coração, e os vossos ossos reverdecerão como a herva tenra: então a mão do Senhor será notoria aos seus servos, e elle se indignará contra os seus inimigos.

15Porque, eis que o Senhor virá em fogo; e os seus carros como um torvelinho; para tornar a sua ira em furor, e a sua reprehensão em chammas de fogo.

16Porque com fogo e com a sua espada entrará o Senhor em juizo com toda a carne; e os mortos do Senhor serão multiplicados.

17Os que se sanctificam, e se purificam nos jardins uns após os outros, no meio d'elles: os que comem carne de porco, e a abominação, e o rato: juntamente serão consumidos, diz o Senhor.

18Porque conheço as suas obras e os seus pensamentos! o tempo vem em que ajuntarei todas as nações e linguas; e virão, e verão a minha gloria.

19E porei entre elles um signal, e os que d'elles escaparem enviarei ás nações, a Tarsis, Pul, e Lud, frecheiros a Tubal e Javan, até ás ilhas de mais longe, que não ouviram a minha fama, nem viram a minha gloria; e annunciarão a minha gloria entre as nações

20E trarão a todos os vossos irmãos, d'entre todas as nações, de presente ao Senhor, sobre cavallos, e em carros, e em liteiras, e sobre mulas, e sobre dromedarios, ao meu sancto monte, a Jerusalem, diz o Senhor: como quando os filhos de Israel trazem os seus presentes em vasos limpos á casa do Senhor:

21E tambem d'elles tomarei a alguns para sacerdotes e para levitas, diz o Senhor.

22Porque, como os céus novos, e a terra nova, que hei de fazer, estarão diante da minha face, diz o Senhor, assim tambem ha de estar a vossa semente e o vosso nome.

23E será que desde uma lua nova até á outra, e desde um sabbado até ao outro, virá toda a carne a adorar perante mim, diz o Senhor.

24E sairão, e verão os corpos mortos dos homens que prevaricaram contra mim; porque o seu bicho nunca morrerá, nem o seu fogo se apagará; e serão em horror a toda a carne.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The book closes with God declaring that the heavens are his throne and the earth his footstool, valuing a humble heart above ritual sacrifices. He promises a sudden, miraculous restoration of Zion, gathering all nations to worship him, with a final warning about the eternal fate of the rebellious.

Explanation

The final chapter returns to the theme that God does not need temples or sacrifices as though he depended on them ("where is the house that ye build unto me?"), but values above all the one who is "poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word" — a summary of the whole book's message that genuine humility outweighs empty ritual. The image of a nation "born" in a single day is a powerful metaphor of instant, miraculous restoration, contrasting with the normally slow historical processes of national rebuilding. The end of the book broadens the vision to include "all nations and tongues" gathered to see God's glory, closing, however, with a solemn warning about those who rebel, whose "worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched" — an image quoted by Jesus in the New Testament (Mark 9:48) to describe eternal judgment. The book's final practical application is that true worship lies in a humble, obedient heart, and that God's promise of restoration, while it includes serious judgment on persistent rebellion, is ultimately a message of universal invitation into his glory.

Fun facts

  • The closing phrase about "their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched" is quoted directly by Jesus in Mark 9:48 to describe warnings about eternal judgment, making it one of the most frequently used images in Christian tradition on this subject.
  • The Great Isaiah Scroll found at Qumran (the Dead Sea Scrolls) preserves this final chapter almost identical to the Hebrew text used in modern translations, demonstrating remarkable fidelity in the transmission of the text over more than two thousand years.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaías 66:1Heaven as a throne and earth as a footstool answers a question never actually asked. No temple built by human hands can truly contain God, however magnificent it may be.
  2. Isaías 66:2After asking what temple could contain God, the text answers with a different standard of value: not the building, but whoever is poor, humble, and trembles at God’s word is who really matters.
  3. Isaías 66:3Comparing permitted animal sacrifices to abominable acts, like offering pig’s blood or blessing an idol, is an extreme criticism: even the correct ritual loses its meaning when performed by someone who chooses their own way instead of obeying.
  4. Isaías 66:4“I also will choose their delusions” and “will bring their fears upon them” describe a retribution that mirrors the rejection: just as the people chose to ignore God’s call, He chooses to let them face exactly what they feared.
  5. Isaías 66:5Brothers who hate and exclude others “for my name’s sake” describe religious persecution within the people itself, and the promise that these persecutors will be put to shame comforts those who suffer this rejection.
  6. Isaías 66:6“A voice of noise” coming from the city and the temple describes God’s action as a loud, public sound, the moment of retribution against His enemies announced audibly, not silently.
  7. Isaías 66:7A birth without the labor pains that would normally come first describes the nation’s restoration as something sudden. It’s a way of saying this change will happen without the prolonged suffering that usually accompanies this kind of turnaround.
  8. Isaías 66:8The question whether a land can “bring forth in one day” or a nation be “born at once” sets up the image of an instant, unprecedented birth, used to describe Zion’s sudden restoration.
  9. Isaías 66:9“Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth?” guarantees that God will not interrupt a process He Himself started, answering the birth image of the previous verse with a promise of certain completion.
  10. Isaías 66:10Calling all who love and wept for Jerusalem to now rejoice with her marks the chapter’s shift in tone: from collective lament to collective celebration over the same city.
  11. Isaías 66:11Nursing and being satisfied with “the breasts of her consolations” extends the image of Jerusalem as mother used in other chapters, here applied to the experience of finally enjoying the city’s restoration.
  12. Isaías 66:12The image of nursing and being carried on the hip continues the comparison of Jerusalem to a mother, caring for the people like a small child. It’s another way of describing the care that follows so much time of exile and abandonment.
  13. Isaías 66:13Comparing God’s comfort to that of a mother comforting her child is one of the book’s most direct and tender images, applied once again to Jerusalem itself as the place where this comfort will happen.
  14. Isaías 66:14“Your bones shall flourish like an herb” describes physical, vital renewal, and the same event that brings joy to God’s servants brings indignation against His enemies — two sides of the same occurrence.
  15. Isaías 66:15God arriving “with fire,” with chariots “like a whirlwind,” shifts the tone from comfort to judgment, an image of violent storm reserved for the second half of the chapter.
  16. Isaías 66:16“By fire and by his sword” as instruments of judgment “with all flesh” extend the reach of judgment beyond Israel, including any nation or person under this final scrutiny.
  17. Isaías 66:17The list of condemned practices, purification in gardens, pig’s flesh, mice, repeats religious criticisms already made in other chapters against rituals of pagan origin, gathered here as grounds for total destruction.
  18. Isaías 66:18“I will gather all nations and tongues” expands the reach of God’s revelation far beyond Israel, going against any expectation that the final glory would be only for the people themselves.
  19. Isaías 66:19Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Tubal, and Javan are names of peoples and distant regions known in that era’s geography, from the Mediterranean to Anatolia; sending survivors to these places describes a mission to announce God’s glory globally.
  20. Isaías 66:20Bringing the “brethren” back on horses, chariots, litters, and camels, like an offering in clean vessels to the temple, turns the very return of the exiles into a kind of ceremonial offering to God.
  21. Isaías 66:21Taking some from among the foreign nations to serve as “priests and for Levites” is a startling opening: a role once restricted to a specific lineage of Israel now comes to include people from outside.
  22. Isaías 66:22New heavens and a new earth reappear here, echoing the same promise from chapter 65, now used to guarantee that the people’s descendants and name will last as long as this new creation.
  23. Isaías 66:23Worshiping “from one new moon to another” and “from one sabbath to another” describes continuous, regular worship without interruption, practiced by “all flesh,” including the nations once left outside.
  24. Isaías 66:24The bodies of those who rebelled against God, left outside the city and consumed by worm and fire that never stop, close the book as a scene of final judgment. It’s an image that echoes in later biblical texts about definitive punishment, but here without spelling out any afterlife doctrine.

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