Isaiah 61
New English Translation
The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People
61 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has chosen[a] me.[b]
He has commissioned[c] me to encourage[d] the poor,
to help[e] the brokenhearted,
to decree the release of captives,
and the freeing of prisoners,
2 to announce the year when the Lord will show his favor,
the day when our God will seek vengeance,[f]
to console all who mourn,
3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,
by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,
oil symbolizing joy,[g] instead of mourning,
a garment symbolizing praise,[h] instead of discouragement.[i]
They will be called oaks of righteousness,[j]
trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor.[k]
4 They will rebuild the perpetual ruins
and restore the places that were desolate;[l]
they will reestablish the ruined cities,
the places that have been desolate since ancient times.
5 [m] “Foreigners will take care of[n] your sheep;
foreigners will work in your fields and vineyards.
6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests,
servants of our God.’[o]
You will enjoy[p] the wealth of nations
and boast about[q] the riches you receive from them.[r]
7 Instead of shame, you will get a double portion;[s]
instead of humiliation, they will rejoice over the land they receive.[t]
Yes,[u] they will possess a double portion in their land
and experience lasting joy.
8 For I, the Lord, love justice
and hate robbery and sin.
I will repay them because of my faithfulness;[v]
I will make a permanent covenant with them.
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations,
their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will recognize that
the Lord has blessed them.”[w]
10 I[x] will greatly rejoice[y] in the Lord;
I will be overjoyed because of my God.[z]
For he clothes me in garments of deliverance;
he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication.[aa]
I look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest would;
I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry.[ab]
11 For just as the ground produces its crops
and a garden yields its produce,
so the Sovereign Lord will cause deliverance[ac] to grow,
and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations.[ad]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 61:1 tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.
- Isaiah 61:1 sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).
- Isaiah 61:1 tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”
- Isaiah 61:1 tn Or “proclaim good news to.”
- Isaiah 61:1 tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”
- Isaiah 61:2 tn Heb “to announce the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance.
- Isaiah 61:3 tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”
- Isaiah 61:3 tn Heb “garment of praise.”
- Isaiah 61:3 tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”
- Isaiah 61:3 tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”
- Isaiah 61:3 tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”
- Isaiah 61:4 tn Heb “and the formerly desolate places they will raise up.”
- Isaiah 61:5 sn The Lord speaks in vv. 7-8 (and possibly v. 9). It is not clear where the servant’s speech (see vv. 1-3a) ends and the Lord’s begins. Perhaps the direct address to the people signals the beginning of the Lord’s speech.
- Isaiah 61:5 tn Heb “will stand [in position] and shepherd.”
- Isaiah 61:6 tn The Hebrew text adds, “it will be said concerning you.”
- Isaiah 61:6 tn Heb “eat” (KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “feed on”; NLT “be fed with.”
- Isaiah 61:6 tc The form in the Hebrew text probably needs to be emended to יִתְאַמְּרוּ (yitʾammeru), a Hitpael from אָמַר (ʾamar), meaning “boast about” (see HALOT 67 s.v. II אמר, HALOT 416 s.v. ימר, and BDB 56 s.v. אָמַר).
- Isaiah 61:6 tn Heb “their glory” (i.e., riches).
- Isaiah 61:7 tn Heb “instead of your shame, a double portion.”
- Isaiah 61:7 tn Heb “and [instead of] humiliation they will rejoice [over] their portion.” The term תַחַת (takhat, “instead of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
- Isaiah 61:7 tn Heb “therefore” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “and so.”
- Isaiah 61:8 tn Heb “in faithfulness”; NASB, NRSV, NLT “faithfully.”
- Isaiah 61:9 tn Heb “all who see them will recognize them, that they [are] descendants [whom] the Lord has blessed.”
- Isaiah 61:10 sn The speaker in vv. 10-11 is not identified, but it is likely that the personified nation (or perhaps Zion) responds here to the Lord’s promise of restoration.
- Isaiah 61:10 tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.
- Isaiah 61:10 tn Heb “my being is happy in my God”; NAB “in my God is the joy of my soul.”
- Isaiah 61:10 tn Heb “robe of vindication”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “robe of righteousness.”
- Isaiah 61:10 tn Heb “like a bridegroom [who] acts like a priest [by wearing] a turban, and like a bride [who] wears her jewelry.” The words “I look” are supplied for stylistic reasons and clarification.
- Isaiah 61:11 tn Or perhaps, “righteousness,” but the context seems to emphasize deliverance and restoration (see v. 10 and 62:1).
- Isaiah 61:11 tn Heb “and praise before all the nations.”
Isaiah 61
World English Bible
61 The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me,
because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble.
He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to those who are bound,[a]
2 to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 to provide for 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 Yahweh,
that he may be glorified.
4 They will rebuild the old ruins.
They will raise up the former devastated places.
They will repair the ruined cities
that have been devastated for many generations.
5 Strangers will stand and feed your flocks.
Foreigners will work your fields and your vineyards.
6 But you will be called Yahweh’s priests.
Men will call you the servants of our God.
You will eat the wealth of the nations.
You will boast in their glory.
7 Instead of your shame you will have double.
Instead of dishonor, they will rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they will possess double.
Everlasting joy will be to them.
8 “For I, Yahweh, love justice.
I hate robbery and iniquity.
I will give them their reward in truth
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their offspring will be known among the nations,
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge them,
that they are the offspring which Yahweh has blessed.”
10 I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh!
My soul will 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 produces its bud,
and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
Footnotes
- 61:1 LXX and DSS add: recovery of sight to the blind
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