Isaiah 66:4-6

66:4 So I will choose severe punishment ¹  for them;

I will bring on them what they dread,

because I called, and no one responded,

I spoke and they did not listen.

They did evil before me; ² 

they chose to do what displeases me.”

66:5 Hear the word of the Lord,

you who respect what he has to say! ³ 

Your countrymen, ⁴  who hate you

and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name,

say, “May the Lord be glorified,

then we will witness your joy.” ⁵ 

But they will be put to shame.

66:6 The sound of battle comes from the city;

the sound comes from the temple!

It is the sound of the Lord paying back his enemies.

Isaiah 66:24

66:24 “They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die, ⁶  and the fire that consumes them will not die out. ⁷  All people will find the sight abhorrent.” ⁸ 

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¹ tn The precise meaning of the noun is uncertain. It occurs only here and in 3:4 (but see the note there). It appears to be derived from the verbal root עָלַל (’alal), which can carry the nuance “deal severely.”

² tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

³ tn Heb “who tremble at his word.”

⁴ tn Heb “brothers” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “Your own people”; NLT “Your close relatives.”

⁵ tn Or “so that we might witness your joy.” The point of this statement is unclear.

⁶ tn Heb “for their worm will not die.”

⁷ tn Heb “and their fire will not be extinguished.”

⁸ tn Heb “and they will be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

sn This verse depicts a huge mass burial site where the seemingly endless pile of maggot-infested corpses are being burned.