Isaiah 65:17–25
Bible verses · Also called: Isaiah 65:17-25, Isa 65:17-25, New Heavens and a New Earth (Isaiah 65)
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17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 And 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.
20 There 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.
21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
22 They 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.
23 They 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.
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 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.
The text is the New Korean Revised Version (1998), shown under a licence from the Korean Bible Society. Wording may differ slightly from the Korean Revised Version and the Revised New Korean Standard Version. Read in the Korean Revised Version
A passage in the Book of Isaiah in which God promises to create "new heavens and a new earth," a world where weeping ceases and even the animals live in peace. It is frequently cited in discussions of the hope of new creation, and because verse 20 mentions death, it is a key text in debates over millennial interpretation.
Context
Isaiah 65 is read as God's response to the people's prayer of lament that runs from 63:7 through the end of chapter 64. Verses 1–16 of chapter 65 contrast the fate of the rebellious with the fate of God's "servants" who seek him. Beginning in verse 17, God declares that he will create "new heavens and a new earth" and then describes the features of that world in turn:
- Long life
- Living in houses one has built and eating the fruit of one's own vineyards
- Labor that is not in vain
- Peace among the animals
Verse 25 repeats, in abbreviated form, the depiction of peace in Isaiah 11:6–9. The expression "dust shall be the serpent's meat" recalls Genesis 3:14. Modern critical scholarship often reads chapters 56–66 in the setting of the period after the return from exile. Traditional conservative scholarship regards them as the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah.
Interpretation
- Historically focused reading: The passage is understood as a promise of restoration and prosperity to the community that had returned to a ruined Jerusalem.
- Premillennial and dispensationalist reading: Because verse 20 still mentions death, the passage is taken to describe not the eternal state but the earthly millennial kingdom to be established after the Second Coming.
- Amillennial reading: Widely held in the Reformed tradition, this view treats the passage as a poetic depiction of the consummation of the new creation, expressed in language Old Testament readers could understand, and holds that it refers to the same reality as the final state described in Revelation 21.
- Postmillennial reading: Some read it as a description of an age of peace and prosperity that will come before the Second Coming as the gospel spreads.
Debates and Issues
- The mention of death: Revelation 21:4 says, "there shall be no more death," yet death remains in verse 20 of this passage. How to account for this difference is a central issue dividing interpretations in eschatology.
- The translation of verse 20: A single Hebrew word can be read either as "sinner" or as "one who falls short (of a given age)." As a result, English Bible versions differ in their renderings. The Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok Hangeul) follows the latter sense.
- The nature of the new heavens and new earth: Views differ on whether the present world will be renewed or an entirely new world will be created.
- Citation out of context: Verse 24 is frequently cited as a promise that God will answer individual prayer. Some observe, however, that it originally speaks of the intimacy with God that the new-creation community will enjoy.
In the Korean Church
The expression "new heavens and a new earth" is used, together with Revelation 21, in sermons on the end times and the hope of heaven, as well as in funeral services. Verse 24 is also cited in contexts that encourage prayer.
Related Passages
- Isaiah 11:6–9
- Isaiah 66:22
- 2 Peter 3:13
- Revelation 21:5
- Romans 8:19–23
See also 8
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