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LXX Isaiah

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 66

1 Thus says the Lord, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what kind of a house will you build me? and of what kind is to be the place of my rest?⁠ 2 For all these things my hand has made, and all these things are mine, says the Lord: and to whom will I look, but to the humble and quiet, and the man that trembles at my words?⁠ 3 But the transgressor that sacrifices a calf to me, is as he that kills a dog; and he that offers fine flour, as one that offers swine's blood; he that gives frankincense for a memorial, is as a blasphemer. Yet they have chosen their own ways, and their soul has delighted in their abominations. 4 I also will choose their mockeries, and will repay them for their sins; because I called them, and they did not listen to me; I spoke, and they did not hear: and they did evil before me, and chose the things in which I did not delight. 5 Hear the words of the Lord, you that tremble at his word; speak, our brothers, to those who hate us and abominate us, that the name of the Lord may be glorified, and may appear in their joy; but they shall be ashamed.⁠ 6 A voice of a cry from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord rendering payment to his adversaries. 7 Before she that was in labor brought forth, before the labor-pain came on, she escaped it and brought forth a male. 8 Who has heard such a thing? and who has seen after this manner? Has the earth been in labor in one day? or has even a nation been born at once, that Zion has been in labor, and brought forth her children? 9 But I have raised this expectation, yet you have not remembered me, says the Lord: look, have not I made the bearing and barren woman? says God.⁠ 10 Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all you that love her hold in her a general assembly: rejoice greatly with her, all that now mourn over her: 11 that you may suck, and be satisfied with the breast of her consolation; that you may milk out, and delight yourselves with the influx of her glory. 12 For thus says the Lord, Look, I turn toward them as a river of peace, and as a torrent bringing upon them in a flood the glory of the Gentiles: their children shall be borne upon the shoulders, and comforted on the knees. 13 As if his mother should comfort one, so I will also comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. 14 And you shall see, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall thrive like grass: and the hand of the Lord shall be known to those who worship him, and he shall threaten the disobedient.⁠ 15 For, look, the Lord will come as fire, and his chariots as a storm, to render his vengeance with fierce anger, and his rebuke with a flame of fire. 16 For with the fire of the Lord all the earth shall be judged, and all flesh with his sword: many shall be killed by the Lord. 17 They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the gardens, and eat swine's flesh in the porches, and the abominations, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, says the Lord. 18 And I know their works and their imagination. I am going to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. 19 And I will leave a sign upon them, and I will send forth those who have escaped of them to the nations, to Tarshish, and Put, and Lud, and Meshech, and to Tubal, and to Greece, and to the isles afar off, to those who have not heard my name, nor seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. 20 And they shall bring your brothers out of all nations for a gift to the Lord with horses, and chariots, in litters drawn by mules with awnings, to the holy city Jerusalem, said the Lord, as though the children of Israel should bring their sacrifices to me with psalms into the house of the Lord. 21 And I will take of them priests and Levites, says the Lord. 22 For as the new heaven and the new earth, which I make, remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your seed and your name continue. 23 And it will happen from month to month, and from sabbath to sabbath, that all flesh shall come to worship before me in Jerusalem, says the Lord. 24 And they shall go forth, and see the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Isaiah 66:2 and Acts 7:49

Septuagint · New Testament

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Summary

Acts 7 quotes Isaiah 66, where heaven is God’s throne and earth his footstool, contrasting ritual with humility. Stephen uses this language to stress that the Jerusalem temple is not permanent, likely reflecting views shaped after its destruction.

Passages

LXX Isaiah 66:2

Septuagint
1 Thus says the Lord, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what kind of a house will you build me? and of what kind is to be the place of my rest? 2 For all these things my hand has made, and all these things are mine, says the Lord: and to whom will I look, but to the humble and quiet, and the man that trembles at my words? 3 But the transgressor that sacrifices a calf to me, is as he that kills a dog; and he that offers fine flour, as one that offers swine's blood; he that gives frankincense for a memorial, is as a blasphemer. Yet they have chosen their own ways, and their soul has delighted in their abominations. 4 I also will choose their mockeries, and will repay them for their sins; because I called them, and they did not listen to me; I spoke, and they did not hear: and they did evil before me, and chose the things in which I did not delight.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Isaiah

Acts 7:49

New Testament
47 But Solomon built a house for him. 48 Yet the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands, as the prophet says, 49 ‘Heaven is my throne, and earth is the footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is my resting place? 50 Did my hand not make all these things?’ 51 “You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors did!
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Acts

References

"... Isaiah 66:1-6 ... Ring composition appears again. Three stanzas are presented before being repeated backward. Specific references to the temple appear at the beginning (1) and at the end (6). The man who is 'poor and contrite in spirit,' who 'trembles at my word' (2), is clearly the hero of this prophetic homily. That same person in stanza 5 is identified as hated and cast out 'for my name's sake,' and told that he will be vindicated. A blistering attack on the person who offers sacrifices appears in the climactic center in stanza 3, and in stanza 4 the reason for the attack is given: 'because, when I [God] called, no one answered.' The prophet's anger is triggered by the presence of 'sacrament' without 'word.' The rituals are rejected if, 'when I [God] called, no one answered,' and 'when I spoke they did not listen.' In passing, it is worth noting that this passage is prominent elsewhere in the New Testament. Stanza 1 is quoted in Stephen's speech in Acts 7:49-50 and indirectly referenced in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:34-35. What of the relationship between this prophetic homily and the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector? ..."
Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2008), 306–307.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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LXX Isaiah 66:2 and Acts 7:49

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