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The Fifth Servant Song
The Spirit Anoints Him[a]

61 

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to preach good news to the afflicted.
He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release for those who are bound,
    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance for our God,
    to comfort all who mourn,
    to provide for those who mourn in Zion,
    to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
    the oil of joy instead of mourning,
    a cloak of praise instead of a faint spirit,
    so that they will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord to display his beauty.

The Result of the Servant’s Work

Then they will rebuild ancient ruins.
They will raise up what was formerly devastated,
and they will renew ruined cities,
    which have been devastated for generations.
Strangers will stand and shepherd your flock,
and foreigners will be your farmers and vinedressers.
You will be called the Lord’s priests.
You will be named ministers of our God.
You will eat the wealth of nations,
and you will boast about their riches.
In place of your shame, you will receive a double portion.
Instead of dishonor, they will rejoice in their share of the land.
In fact, in their land they will inherit a double portion.
Everlasting joy will be theirs.
Yes, I am the Lord. I love justice.
I hate robbery in a burnt offering.[b]
I will repay them in faithfulness,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Their offspring will be known among the nations,
and their descendants in the midst of the peoples.
All who see them will recognize
    that they are offspring whom the Lord has blessed.
10 I will rejoice greatly in the Lord.
My soul will celebrate because of my God,
for he has clothed me in garments of salvation.
With a robe of righteousness he covered me,
like a bridegroom who wears a beautiful headdress like a priest,
and like a bride who adorns herself with her jewelry.

11 For as the earth produces its growth,
and as a garden causes what has been sown to sprout up,
so God the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up
    in the presence of all the nations.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 61:1 This song does not contain the title servant, but it is part of the same set of descriptions of the Messiah as the earlier Servant Songs.
  2. Isaiah 61:8 The translation follows the reading of most Hebrew manuscripts. A variant found in some Hebrew manuscripts and supported by the ancient versions reads with wrongdoing.

The Year of Yahweh’s Favor

61 The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me,
    because Yahweh has anointed me,
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
    to bind up the brokenhearted,[a]
to proclaim[b] release to the captives
    and liberation to those who are bound,
to proclaim[c] the year of Yahweh’s favor,
    and our God’s day of vengeance,
to comfort all those in mourning,
    to give[d] for those in mourning in Zion,
to give them a head wrap instead of ashes,
    the oil of joy instead of mourning,
    a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit.
And they will be called[e] oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of Yahweh, to show his glory.
And they shall build the ancient ruins,
    they shall erect the former deserted places.
And they shall restore the devastated cities,[f]
    the deserted places of many generations.[g]
And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,[h]
    and foreigners[i] shall be your farmers and vinedressers.
But[j] you shall be called the priests of Yahweh,
    you will be called[k] servers of our God.
You shall eat the wealth of the nations,
    and you shall boast in their riches.
Instead of your shame, a double portion,
    and instead of insult, they will rejoice over their portion.
Therefore they will take a double portion in their land;
    they shall possess everlasting joy.[l]
For I, Yahweh, love justice,
    hate robbery and[m] injustice,
and I will faithfully[n] give their reward,
    and I will make[o] an everlasting covenant with[p] them.
And their descendants[q] will be known among the nations,
    and their offspring in the midst of the peoples.
All those who see them shall recognize them,
    that they are descendants[r] whom Yahweh has blessed.
10 I will rejoice greatly in Yahweh;
    my being shall shout in exultation in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation,
    he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns himself with a head wrap like a priest,
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewelry.
11 For as the earth produces[s] its sprout,
    and as a garden makes its plants sprout,
so the Lord Yahweh will make righteousness sprout,
    and praise before all the nations.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 61:1 Literally “those broken of heart”
  2. Isaiah 61:1 Literally “call”
  3. Isaiah 61:2 Literally “call”
  4. Isaiah 61:3 Literally “place”
  5. Isaiah 61:3 Literally “it will be called to them”
  6. Isaiah 61:4 Literally “cities of devastation”
  7. Isaiah 61:4 Literally “generation and generation”
  8. Isaiah 61:5 Hebrew “flock”
  9. Isaiah 61:5 Literally “sons of a foreign country”
  10. Isaiah 61:6 Or “And”
  11. Isaiah 61:6 Literally “it shall be said of you”
  12. Isaiah 61:7 Literally “possession of joy everlasting shall be for them”
  13. Isaiah 61:8 Or “in”
  14. Isaiah 61:8 Literally “in the faithfulness”
  15. Isaiah 61:8 Literally “cut”
  16. Isaiah 61:8 Literally “to”
  17. Isaiah 61:9 Hebrew “descendant”
  18. Isaiah 61:9 Hebrew “descendant”
  19. Isaiah 61:11 Literally “brings out”