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 YHWH is upon me, because he 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 an opening of the eyes to the blind;
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 YHWH's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
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 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 YHWH, that he may be glorified.
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.
They shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
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.
Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen 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.
But you shall be named the priests of YHWH; men will call you the ministers of our God: you will eat the wealth of the nations, and you will boast 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 you shall have double; and instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be to 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, YHWH, love justice, and I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with 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.
Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the offspring which 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 will greatly rejoice in YHWH, my soul shall 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.
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 its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so YHWH will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
