Isaiah 65:15-25 My Chosen ones will use as a curse the name you leave behind: May the Lord Yahweh strike you dead. But my servants are to be given a new name. Whoever asks to be blessed on Earth will ask to be blessed by the God of Truth, and whoever takes oath on Earth will take oath by the God of Truth, for past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes. For now I create new Heavens and a new Earth, and the past will not be remembered, and will come no more to men's minds. Be glad and rejoice forever and ever for what I am creating, because I now create Jerusalem 'Joy' and her people 'Gladness'. I shall rejoice over Jerusalem and exult in my people. No more will the sound of weeping or the sounds of cries be heard in her; in her no more will be found the infant living a few days only, or the old man not living to the end of his days. To dye at the age of 100 will be dying young; not to live to a 100 will be the sign of a curse. They will build houses and inhabit them, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build for others to live in, or plant so that others can eat. For my people shall live as long as trees, and my chosen ones wear out what their hands have made. They will not toil in vain nor beget children to their own ruin, for they will be a race blessed by Yahweh, and their children with them. Long before they call I shall answer; before they stop speaking I shall have heard. The wolf and the young lamb will feed together, the lion eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no hurt nor harm on all my hold mountain, says Yahweh.
Thank you so very much, Mary's Child! My favorite part of the passage is: For now I create new Heavens and a new Earth, and the past will not be remembered, and will come no more to men's minds. Be glad and rejoice forever and ever for what I am creating, because I now create Jerusalem 'Joy' and her people 'Gladness'. I shall rejoice over Jerusalem and exult in my people. Since we are already the tabernacles of the Lord, let us be sure to rejoice and exult today as well! Alleluia! Safe in the Flames of the Sacred Heart!
This passage reminds me of today's gospel, which is so mysterios and speaks of, 'The day of the Lord'. Luke 17 The Coming of the Kingdom of God 20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”[c] 22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day[d] will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” [36] [e] 37 “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
The word used for "vultures" can also be translated as "eagles", another carrion eating bird. The fact that the standard of the Roman army bore an eagle was not lost on early scripture commentators when reflecting on the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. I wonder if the eagle as a symbol of the USA is related.
