Isaiah 61
1 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,
“[The] Spirit of Lord YHWH [is] on Me, Because YHWH anointed Me To proclaim tidings to the humble, He sent Me to bind the broken of heart, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And an opening of bands to [those] bound.
2 and so to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vindication of our God: to console all who are mourning,
To proclaim the year of the favor of YHWH, And the day of vengeance of our God, To comfort all mourners.
3 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.
To appoint to mourners in Zion, To give to them beauty instead of ashes, The oil of joy instead of mourning, A covering of praise for a faded spirit, And He is calling to them, Trees of righteousness, The planting of YHWH—to be beautified.”
4 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.
And they have built the ancient ruins, They raise up the desolations of the ancients, And they have renewed ruined cities, The desolations of generation and generation.
5 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.
And strangers have stood and fed your flock, And the sons of a foreigner [Are] your farmers and your vinedressers.
6 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.
And you are called priests of YHWH, It is said of you [that you are] ministers of our God, You consume the strength of nations, And you boast yourselves in their glory.
7 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.
Instead of your shame—double [honor], And [instead of] confusion, They rejoice in their portion, Therefore they take possession in their land a second time, Continuous joy [is] for them.
8 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.
“For I [am] YHWH, loving judgment, Hating plunder for a burnt-offering, And I have given their wage in truth, And I make a perpetual covenant for them.
9 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.
And their seed has been known among the nations, And their offspring in the midst of the peoples, All their beholders acknowledge them, For they [are] a seed YHWH has blessed.”
10 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.
I greatly rejoice in YHWH, My soul rejoices in my God, For He clothed me with garments of salvation, [And] covered me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom prepares ornaments, And as a bride puts on her jewels.
11 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.
For as the earth brings forth her shoots, And as a garden causes its sown things to shoot up, So Lord YHWH causes righteousness and praise To shoot up before all the nations!
