Isaiah 61

1 The Lord GOD’s Spirit is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to those who are bound,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the meek, so as to heal the contrite of heart, to preach leniency to captives and release to the confined,

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,

and so to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vindication of our God: to console all who are mourning,

3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

to take up the mourners of Zion and to give them a crown in place of ashes, an oil of joy in place of mourning, a cloak of praise in place of a spirit of grief. And there, they shall be called the strong ones of justice, the planting of the Lord, unto glorification.

4 They will rebuild the old ruins. They will raise up the former devastated places. They will repair the ruined cities that have been devastated for many generations.

And they will rebuild the deserted places of past ages, and they will raise up the ruins of antiquity, and they will repair the desolate cities, which had been dissipated for generation after generation.

5 Strangers will stand and feed your flocks. Foreigners will work your fields and your vineyards.

And foreigners will stand up and will pasture your flocks. And the sons of sojourners will be your farmers and the workers of your vineyards.

6 But you will be called the LORD’s priests. Men will call you the servants of our God. You will eat the wealth of the nations. You will boast in their glory.

But you yourselves will be called the priests of the Lord. It will be said to you, “You are the ministers of our God.” You will eat from the strength of the Gentiles, and you will pride yourself on their glory.

7 Instead of your shame you will have double. Instead of dishonor, they will rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they will possess double. Everlasting joy will be to them.

Instead of your double confusion and shame, they will praise their portion. Because of this, they will possess double in their land. Everlasting joy will be for them.

8 “For I, the LORD, love justice. I hate robbery and iniquity. I will give them their reward in truth and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

For I am the Lord, who loves judgment and who holds hatred for robbery within a burnt offering. And I will turn their work into truth, and I will forge a perpetual covenant with them.

9 Their offspring will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge them, that they are the offspring which the LORD has blessed.”

And they will know their offspring among the nations, and their progeny in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them: that these are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed.

10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD! My soul will be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, and my soul will exult in my God. For he has clothed me with the vestments of salvation, and he has wrapped me in the clothing of justice, like a groom arrayed with a crown, and like a bride adorned with her jewels.

11 For as the earth produces its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

For as the earth brings forth its seedlings and the garden produces its seeds, so will the Lord God bring forth justice and praise in the sight of all the nations.