Isaías 66

VBL · Chapter 66/66

1Esto es lo que dice el Señor: El cielo es mi trono, y la tierra es donde pongo mis pies. Entonces, ¿dónde estará esa casa que vas a construir para mí? ¿Dónde me acostaré para descansar?

2Yo lo hice todo; así llegó todo a la existencia, dice el Señor. Los que miro con buenos ojos son humildes y arrepentidos, y tiemblan cuando hablo.

3Cuando alguien sacrifica un toro, es como un sacrificio humano, y cuando alguien sacrifica un cordero, es como romperle el cuello a un perro. Cuando presentan una ofrenda de grano es como presentar sangre de cerdo, y cuando queman incienso es como adorar a un ídolo. Ya que han elegido actuar así y amar esas cosas repugnantes,

4también elegiré castigarlos severamente y aterrorizarlos, porque los llamé pero nadie respondió; les hablé, pero nadie escuchó. En cambio, hicieron lo que es malo a mis ojos, eligiendo hacer lo que yo odio.

5Escuchen lo que el Señor tiene que decir, los que tiemblan cuando él habla. Esto es lo que han dicho algunos de los que te odian y te echan: “Que el Señor sea glorificado, para que veamos lo feliz que eres!” pero son ellos los que van a ser humillados.

6¡Oigan todos los gritos de la ciudad! ¡Oigan todo el ruido del Templo! Es el sonido del Señor devolviendo a sus enemigos lo que merecen.

7Ella dio a luz antes de ponerse de parto, dio a luz a un niño antes de que llegaran los dolores.

8¿Quién ha oído hablar de algo así? ¿Quién ha visto algo así antes? ¿Puede un país dar a luz en un día, puede una nación nacer en un momento? Sin embargo, tan pronto como Sión se puso de parto, dio a luz a sus hijos.

9¿Acaso llevaría yo a un bebé al punto de nacer y luego no lo daría a luz? pregunta el Señor. ¿Yo, que he dado a luz, impediría que naciera?

10Celebren con Jerusalén y alégrense por ella, todos los que la aman; celebren con ella y canten de alegría, todos los que se lamentan por ella.

11Como un niño, puedes amamantar a sus pechos, que te reconfortan, bebiendo profundamente y saciándote de todo lo que tiene que dar.

12Esto es lo que dice el Señor: ¡Mira! Voy a darle paz y prosperidad como un río que fluye, la riqueza de las naciones como un arroyo que se desborda. Te amamantará y te llevará en su cadera y jugará contigo en sus rodillas.

13Como una madre que consuela a su hijo, yo te consolaré a ti. Serás consolado en Jerusalén.

14Cuando veas que esto sucede, te alegrarás en tu interior y prosperarás como la hierba que crece. El poder del Señor será reconocido por bendecir a sus siervos y maldecir a sus enemigos.

15¡Mira! El Señor viene rodeado de fuego, con sus carros girando como el viento, para expresar su ira con furia, para dar su reprimenda en llamas de fuego.

16El Señor ejecutará el juicio sobre todos con fuego y con su espada. Habrá muchos muertos por el Señor.

17Los que se dedican y se hacen puros para entrar en los jardines sagrados, para adorar al ídolo colocado en el centro, y para comer cerdo y alimañas y ratas y otras cosas repugnantes: todos ellos morirán juntos, dice el Señor.

18Yo sé lo que hacen y lo que piensan. Pronto vendré a reunir a todas las naciones y pueblos de diferentes lenguas. Vendrán y verán mi gloria.

19Les daré una señal, y enviaré a las naciones a algunos que sobrevivan. Irán a Tarsis, a los libios y a los lidios (que son famosos como arqueros), a Tubal y a Grecia, y a las tierras lejanas que no han oído hablar de mí ni han visto mi gloria. Ellos anunciarán mi gloria entre las naciones.

20Traerán a todo tu pueblo de todas las naciones a mi monte santo en Jerusalén como ofrenda al Señor. Vendrán en caballos, en carros y carretas, y en mulos y camellos, dice el Señor. Los traerán de la misma manera que los israelitas traen sus ofrendas de grano al Templo del Señor, usando recipientes ceremonialmente limpios.

21Elegiré a algunos de ellos como sacerdotes y levitas, dice el Señor.

22Así como los cielos nuevos y la tierra nueva que yo haré durarán para siempre, también tu descendencia y tu nombre durarán para siempre, dice el Señor.

23Todos vendrán a adorarme, de una Luna Nueva a otra, y de un sábado a otro, dice el Señor.

24Saldrán a ver los cadáveres de los que se rebelaron contra mí. Los gusanos que los comen no morirán, el fuego que los quema no se apagará, y todo el que los vea se horrorizará.

📖 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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