Isaiah 61:3-11

English Standard Version

³to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    ^(A)to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
^(B)the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
^(C)that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, ^(D)that he may be glorified.^[a]
⁴^(E)They shall build up the ancient ruins;
    they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
    the devastations of many generations.

⁵^(F)Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks;
    foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;
⁶^(G)but you shall be called the priests of the Lord;
    they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;
^(H)you shall eat the wealth of the nations,
    and in their glory you shall boast.
⁷^(I)Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion;
    instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;
therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;
    they shall have everlasting joy.

⁸^(J)For I the Lord love justice;
    I hate robbery and wrong;^[b]
^(K)I will faithfully give them their recompense,
    ^(L)and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
⁹Their offspring shall be known among the nations,
    and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge them,
    that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.

¹⁰^(M)I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
    my soul shall exult in my God,
^(N)for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
    he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself ^(O)like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
    ^(P)and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
    and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord God will cause ^(Q)righteousness and praise
    to sprout up before all the nations.