The Good News of Salvation

61 “The (A)Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord (B)has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me (C)to [a]heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim (D)liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
(E)To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And (F)the day of vengeance of our God;
(G)To comfort all who mourn,
To [b]console those who mourn in Zion,
(H)To give them beauty 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,
(I)The planting of the Lord, (J)that He may be glorified.”

And they shall (K)rebuild the old ruins,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
(L)Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
And the sons of the foreigner
Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
(M)But you shall be named the priests of the Lord,
They shall call you the servants of our God.
(N)You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
And in their glory you shall boast.
(O)Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,
And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess double;
Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

“For (P)I, the Lord, love justice;
(Q)I hate robbery [c]for burnt offering;
I will direct their work in truth,
(R)And will make with them an everlasting covenant.
Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles,
And their offspring among the people.
All who see them shall acknowledge them,
(S)That they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed.”

10 (T)I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For (U)He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
(V)As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord God will cause (W)righteousness and (X)praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 61:1 Lit. bind up
  2. Isaiah 61:3 Lit. appoint
  3. Isaiah 61:8 Or in

Exaltation of the Afflicted

61 The (A)Spirit of the Lord [a]God is upon me,
Because the Lord anointed me
To (B)bring good news to the (C)humble;
He has sent me to (D)bind up the brokenhearted,
To (E)proclaim [b]release to captives
And [c]freedom to prisoners;
To (F)proclaim the favorable year of the Lord
And the (G)day of vengeance of our God;
To (H)comfort all who mourn,
To (I)grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The (J)oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The cloak of praise instead of a disheartened spirit.
So they will be called [d](K)oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

Then they will (L)rebuild the ancient ruins,
They will raise up the former devastations;
And they will repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
(M)Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks,
And [e]foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.
But you will be called the (N)priests of the Lord;
You will be spoken of as (O)ministers of our God.
You will eat the (P)wealth of nations,
And you will boast in their [f]riches.
Instead of your (Q)shame you will have a (R)double portion,
And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion.
Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land,
(S)Everlasting joy will be theirs.
For I, the Lord, (T)love justice,
I hate robbery [g]in the burnt offering;
And I will faithfully give them their reward,
And make an (U)everlasting covenant with them.
Then their offspring will be known among the nations,
And their descendants in the midst of the peoples.
All who see them will recognize them
Because they are the (V)offspring whom the Lord has blessed.

10 I will (W)rejoice greatly in the Lord,
My soul will be joyful in (X)my God;
For He has (Y)clothed me with garments of salvation,
He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,
As a groom puts on a turban,
And (Z)as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the (AA)earth produces its sprouts,
And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up,
So the Lord [h]God will (AB)cause (AC)righteousness and praise
To spring up before all the nations.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 61:1 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  2. Isaiah 61:1 Or liberty
  3. Isaiah 61:1 Lit opening to those who are bound
  4. Isaiah 61:3 Or terebinths
  5. Isaiah 61:5 Lit sons of the foreigner
  6. Isaiah 61:6 Or glory
  7. Isaiah 61:8 Or with malice
  8. Isaiah 61:11 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord

Exaltation of the Afflicted

61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed and commissioned me
To bring good news to the humble and afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up [the wounds of] the brokenhearted,
To proclaim release [from confinement and condemnation] to the [physical and spiritual] captives
And freedom to prisoners,(A)

To proclaim [a]the favorable year of the Lord,
[b]And the day of vengeance and retribution of our God,
To comfort all who mourn,(B)

To grant to those who mourn in Zion the following:
To give them a [c]turban instead of dust [on their heads, a sign of mourning],
The oil of joy instead of mourning,
The garment [expressive] of praise instead of a disheartened spirit.
So they will be called the trees of righteousness [strong and magnificent, distinguished for integrity, justice, and right standing with God],
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.


Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins,
They will raise up and restore the former desolations;
And they will renew the ruined cities,
The desolations (deserted settlements) of many generations.

Strangers will stand and feed your flocks,
And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.

But you shall be called the priests of the Lord;
People will speak of you as the ministers of our God.
You will eat the wealth of nations,
And you will boast of their riches.(C)

Instead of your [former] shame you will have a [d]double portion;
And instead of humiliation your people will shout for joy over their portion.
Therefore in their land they will possess double [what they had forfeited];
Everlasting joy will be theirs.

For I, the Lord, love justice;
I hate robbery with [e]a burnt offering.
And I will faithfully reward them,
And make an everlasting covenant with them.

Then their offspring will be known among the nations,
And their descendants among the peoples.
All who see them [in their prosperity] will recognize and acknowledge them
That they are the people 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,
He has covered me with a robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom puts on a [f]turban,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 
For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
And as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
So the Lord God will [most certainly] cause righteousness and justice and praise
To spring up before all the nations [through the power of His word].

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 61:2 The same as a day of salvation (49:8), and the year of my redeemed (63:4).
  2. Isaiah 61:2 See note Ezek 34:28.
  3. Isaiah 61:3 In the Hebrew there is a kind of wordplay here as “turban” (Heb pe’er) and dust (epher) have the same consonants and similar vowels.
  4. Isaiah 61:7 I.e. abundant reward.
  5. Isaiah 61:8 Another reading is wrongdoing or malice, but by itself either would hardly be an improvement. Some prefer to read with as “and,” which requires the assumption of a scribal error that is possible though not found in existing manuscripts. It would also raise the question of why robbery is singled out among other kinds of wrongdoing. In the Talmud the verse is taken to refer literally to the theft of an animal which the thief intends to offer as a sacrifice. The point is that the offering is unacceptable even though everything actually belongs to God and the thief arguably is only returning to God what is His.
  6. Isaiah 61:10 Or head wrap.

61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

And 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.

And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.

For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed.

10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.