Isaiah 61
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
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 our God’s vengeance, 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 console the mourners in Zion— to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks 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 ancient ruins; they will restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities, the desolations of 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, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.
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 priests of the LORD; they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will feed on the wealth of nations, and you will boast in their riches.
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 shame, My people will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation, they will rejoice in their share; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.
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; in My faithfulness I will give them their recompense and 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 descendants will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people 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 rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, 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 brings forth its growth, and as a garden enables seed 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.
