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Isaías 66

BLIVRE · Chapter 66/66

1Assim diz o SENHOR: Os céus são meu trono, e a terra o escabelo dos meus pés. Qual seria a casa que vós edificaríeis para mim? E qual seria o lugar de meu descanso?

2Pois minha mão fez todas estas coisas, e todas estas coisas passaram a existir,diz o SENHOR; mas para tal eu olharei: aquele que é pobre e abatido de espírito, e treme por minha palavra.

3Quem mata boi fere de morte a um homem; quem sacrifica cordeiro degola a um cão; quem apresenta oferta, [oferece] sangue de proco; quem oferece incenso adora a um ídolo; também estes escolhem seus [próprios] caminhos, e sua alma tem prazer em suas abominações.

4Eu, então, escolherei a punição para eles, e farei vir sobre eles os seus temores; pois clamei, mas ninguém respondeu; falei, mas não escutaram; ao invés disso fizeram o que era mal aos meus olhos, e escolheram aquilo que não me agrada.

5Ouvi a palavra do SENHOR, vós que tremeis por sua palavra; vossos irmãos, que vos odeiam, e vos expulsaram para longe por causa do meu nome, dizem: Que o SENHOR seja glorificado, para que vejamos vossa alegria; eles, porém, serão envergonhados.

6Haverá uma voz de grande ruído, uma voz do Templo: é a voz do SENHOR, que dá pagamento a seus inimigos.

7Antes que estivesse em trabalho de parto, ela já deu à luz; antes que viessem as dores, ela já fez sair de si um filho macho.

8Quem [jamais] ouviu tal coisa? Quem viu coisa semelhante? Poderia uma terra gerar filho em um só dia? Nasceria uma nação de uma só vez? Mas logo que Sião esteve de parto, já teve o nascimento de seus filhos.

9Por acaso não iniciaria eu o nascimento e não geraria?,diz o SENHOR, Geraria eu, e fecharia [o ventre materno] ?, diz o teu Deus.

10Alegrai-vos com Jerusalém, e enchei-vos de alegria por causa dela, todos vós que a amais; alegrai-vos muito com ela, todos vós que chorastes por ela;

11Para que mameis e vos sacieis dos consoladores seios dela; para que sugueis e vos deleiteis com a abundância de sua glória.

12Porque assim diz o SENHOR: Eis que estenderei sobre ela a paz como um rio, e a glória das nações como um ribeiro que transborda; então mamareis; sereis levados ao colo, e sobre os joelhos vos afagarão.

13Tal como alguém a quem sua mãe consola, assim também eu vos consolarei; e em Jerusalém sereis consolados.

14E vereis; então vossos corações se alegrarão, e vossos ossos se avivarão como a erva que brota. E a mão do do SENHOR será conhecida pelos seu servos, e se enfurecerá contra seus inimigos.

15Porque eis que o SENHOR virá com fogo, e suas carruagens como um redemoinho de vento; para transformar sua ira em furor, e sua repreensão em chamas de fogo.

16Porque com fogo e com sua espada o SENHOR julgará toda carne; e os mortos pelo SENHOR serão muitos.

17Os que se consagram e se purificam nos jardins para seguirem aquele que está no meio [deles] ; os que comem carne de porco, abominações, e ratos, juntamente serão consumidos, diz o SENHOR.

18Porque eu [conheço] suas obras e seus pensamentos. [O tempo] vem, em que juntarei todas as nações e línguas; e elas virão, e verão minha glória.

19E porei nelas um sinal; e a uns que delas sobreviverem enviarei às nações: [a] Társis, Pul e Lude; [aos] flecheiros, [a] Tubal e Javã; até as terras costeiras [mais] distantes, que não ouviram minha fama, nem viram minha glória; e anunciarão minha glória entre as nações.

20E trarão a todos os vossos irmãos dentre todas as nações [como] oferta ao SENHOR, sobre cavalos, e em carruagens, liteiras, mulas e dromedários, ao meu santo monte, [a] Jerusalém, diz o SENHOR, tal como os filhos de Israel trazem ofertas em vasos limpos à casa do SENHOR.

21E também tomarei a alguns deles para [serem] sacerdotes [e] para Levitas,diz o SENHOR.

22Porque assim como os novos céus e a nova terra, que farei, estarão perante mim,diz o SENHOR, assim também estará vossa descendência e vosso nome.

23E será que, desde uma lua nova até a outra, e desde um sábado até o outro, todos virão para adorar perante mim,diz o SENHOR.

24E sairão, e verão os cadáveres dos homens que se rebelaram contra mim; porque o verme deles nunca morrerá, nem seu fogo se apagará; e serão horríveis a todos.

📖 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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