Isaiah 65:17-25 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 65:17-25 on biblegateway.com
Verse 17For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. Verse 18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. Verse 19I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. Verse 20No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. Verse 21They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Verse 22They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. Verse 23They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord- and their descendants as well. Verse 24Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. Verse 25The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent-its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
Devotion
“Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear,” says the Lord. In this reading from Isaiah, in this vision of new creation filled with joy and peace, God provides the answer to our call and has listened to what we have to say, even before we express it. We plead for our sadness to be removed and for tranquility and calm to find itself in our lives and in our hearts. But how often is this our reality before we voice it? Isaiah offers these words of comfort, that even before we’re able to express our desperate needs, God knows what they are and listens to our cries.
Prayer
O Lord of blessedness, you have heard our cries of distress and answered us with your promise of new creation, joy and delight. For this, we give you thanks. Amen.