The Year of the Lord’s Favor

61 The Spirit(A) of the Sovereign Lord(B) is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed(C) me
    to proclaim good news(D) to the poor.(E)
He has sent me to bind up(F) the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom(G) for the captives(H)
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor(I)
    and the day of vengeance(J) of our God,
to comfort(K) all who mourn,(L)
    and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown(M) of beauty
    instead of ashes,(N)
the oil(O) of joy
    instead of mourning,(P)
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting(Q) of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.(R)

They will rebuild the ancient ruins(S)
    and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
    that have been devastated for generations.
Strangers(T) will shepherd your flocks;
    foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
And you will be called priests(U) of the Lord,
    you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth(V) of nations,
    and in their riches you will boast.

Instead of your shame(W)
    you will receive a double(X) portion,
and instead of disgrace
    you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit(Y) a double portion in your land,
    and everlasting joy(Z) will be yours.

“For I, the Lord, love justice;(AA)
    I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
    and make an everlasting covenant(AB) with them.
Their descendants(AC) will be known among the nations
    and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
    that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”(AD)

10 I delight greatly in the Lord;
    my soul rejoices(AE) in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
    and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,(AF)
as a bridegroom adorns his head(AG) like a priest,
    and as a bride(AH) adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
    and a garden(AI) causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness(AJ)
    and praise spring up before all nations.

Zion’s New Name

62 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,(AK)
    for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,
till her vindication(AL) shines out like the dawn,(AM)
    her salvation(AN) like a blazing torch.
The nations(AO) will see your vindication,
    and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name(AP)
    that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
You will be a crown(AQ) of splendor in the Lord’s hand,
    a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
No longer will they call you Deserted,(AR)
    or name your land Desolate.(AS)
But you will be called Hephzibah,[b](AT)
    and your land Beulah[c];
for the Lord will take delight(AU) in you,
    and your land will be married.(AV)
As a young man marries a young woman,
    so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom(AW) rejoices over his bride,
    so will your God rejoice(AX) over you.

I have posted watchmen(AY) on your walls, Jerusalem;
    they will never be silent day or night.
You who call on the Lord,
    give yourselves no rest,(AZ)
and give him no rest(BA) till he establishes Jerusalem
    and makes her the praise(BB) of the earth.

The Lord has sworn(BC) by his right hand
    and by his mighty arm:
“Never again will I give your grain(BD)
    as food for your enemies,
and never again will foreigners drink the new wine
    for which you have toiled;
but those who harvest it will eat(BE) it
    and praise the Lord,(BF)
and those who gather the grapes will drink it
    in the courts of my sanctuary.”(BG)

10 Pass through, pass through the gates!(BH)
    Prepare the way for the people.
Build up, build up the highway!(BI)
    Remove the stones.
Raise a banner(BJ) for the nations.

11 The Lord has made proclamation
    to the ends of the earth:(BK)
“Say to Daughter Zion,(BL)
    ‘See, your Savior comes!(BM)
See, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense accompanies him.’”(BN)
12 They will be called(BO) the Holy People,(BP)
    the Redeemed(BQ) of the Lord;
and you will be called Sought After,
    the City No Longer Deserted.(BR)

God’s Day of Vengeance and Redemption

63 Who is this coming from Edom,(BS)
    from Bozrah,(BT) with his garments stained crimson?(BU)
Who is this, robed in splendor,
    striding forward in the greatness of his strength?(BV)

“It is I, proclaiming victory,
    mighty to save.”(BW)

Why are your garments red,
    like those of one treading the winepress?(BX)

“I have trodden the winepress(BY) alone;
    from the nations no one was with me.
I trampled(BZ) them in my anger
    and trod them down in my wrath;(CA)
their blood spattered my garments,(CB)
    and I stained all my clothing.
It was for me the day of vengeance;(CC)
    the year for me to redeem had come.
I looked, but there was no one(CD) to help,
    I was appalled that no one gave support;
so my own arm(CE) achieved salvation for me,
    and my own wrath sustained me.(CF)
I trampled(CG) the nations in my anger;
    in my wrath I made them drunk(CH)
    and poured their blood(CI) on the ground.”

Praise and Prayer

I will tell of the kindnesses(CJ) of the Lord,
    the deeds for which he is to be praised,
    according to all the Lord has done for us—
yes, the many good things(CK)
    he has done for Israel,
    according to his compassion(CL) and many kindnesses.
He said, “Surely they are my people,(CM)
    children who will be true to me”;
    and so he became their Savior.(CN)
In all their distress he too was distressed,
    and the angel(CO) of his presence(CP) saved them.[d]
In his love and mercy he redeemed(CQ) them;
    he lifted them up and carried(CR) them
    all the days of old.(CS)
10 Yet they rebelled(CT)
    and grieved his Holy Spirit.(CU)
So he turned and became their enemy(CV)
    and he himself fought(CW) against them.

11 Then his people recalled[e] the days of old,
    the days of Moses and his people—
where is he who brought them through the sea,(CX)
    with the shepherd of his flock?(CY)
Where is he who set
    his Holy Spirit(CZ) among them,
12 who sent his glorious arm(DA) of power
    to be at Moses’ right hand,
who divided the waters(DB) before them,
    to gain for himself everlasting renown,(DC)
13 who led(DD) them through the depths?(DE)
Like a horse in open country,
    they did not stumble;(DF)
14 like cattle that go down to the plain,
    they were given rest(DG) by the Spirit of the Lord.
This is how you guided your people
    to make for yourself a glorious name.

15 Look down from heaven(DH) and see,
    from your lofty throne,(DI) holy and glorious.
Where are your zeal(DJ) and your might?
    Your tenderness and compassion(DK) are withheld(DL) from us.
16 But you are our Father,(DM)
    though Abraham does not know us
    or Israel acknowledge(DN) us;
you, Lord, are our Father,
    our Redeemer(DO) from of old is your name.
17 Why, Lord, do you make us wander(DP) from your ways
    and harden our hearts(DQ) so we do not revere(DR) you?
Return(DS) for the sake of your servants,
    the tribes that are your inheritance.(DT)
18 For a little while(DU) your people possessed your holy place,
    but now our enemies have trampled(DV) down your sanctuary.(DW)
19 We are yours from of old;
    but you have not ruled over them,
    they have not been called[f] by your name.(DX)

64 [g]Oh, that you would rend the heavens(DY) and come down,(DZ)
    that the mountains(EA) would tremble before you!
As when fire sets twigs ablaze
    and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name(EB) known to your enemies
    and cause the nations to quake(EC) before you!
For when you did awesome(ED) things that we did not expect,
    you came down, and the mountains trembled(EE) before you.
Since ancient times no one has heard,
    no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,(EF)
    who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.(EG)
You come to the help of those who gladly do right,(EH)
    who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
    you were angry.(EI)
    How then can we be saved?
All of us have become like one who is unclean,(EJ)
    and all our righteous(EK) acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,(EL)
    and like the wind our sins sweep us away.(EM)
No one(EN) calls on your name(EO)
    or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden(EP) your face from us
    and have given us over(EQ) to[h] our sins.

Yet you, Lord, are our Father.(ER)
    We are the clay, you are the potter;(ES)
    we are all the work of your hand.(ET)
Do not be angry(EU) beyond measure, Lord;
    do not remember our sins(EV) forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
    for we are all your people.(EW)
10 Your sacred cities(EX) have become a wasteland;
    even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.(EY)
11 Our holy and glorious temple,(EZ) where our ancestors praised you,
    has been burned with fire,
    and all that we treasured(FA) lies in ruins.
12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?(FB)
    Will you keep silent(FC) and punish us beyond measure?

Judgment and Salvation

65 “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
    I was found by those who did not seek me.(FD)
To a nation(FE) that did not call on my name,(FF)
    I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
All day long I have held out my hands
    to an obstinate people,(FG)
who walk in ways not good,
    pursuing their own imaginations(FH)
a people who continually provoke me
    to my very face,(FI)
offering sacrifices in gardens(FJ)
    and burning incense(FK) on altars of brick;
who sit among the graves(FL)
    and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,(FM)
    and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
    for I am too sacred(FN) for you!’
Such people are smoke(FO) in my nostrils,
    a fire that keeps burning all day.

“See, it stands written before me:
    I will not keep silent(FP) but will pay back(FQ) in full;
    I will pay it back into their laps(FR)
both your sins(FS) and the sins of your ancestors,”(FT)
    says the Lord.
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
    and defied me on the hills,(FU)
I will measure into their laps
    the full payment(FV) for their former deeds.”

This is what the Lord says:

“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes(FW)
    and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
    there is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;(FX)
    I will not destroy them all.
I will bring forth descendants(FY) from Jacob,
    and from Judah those who will possess(FZ) my mountains;
my chosen(GA) people will inherit them,
    and there will my servants live.(GB)
10 Sharon(GC) will become a pasture for flocks,(GD)
    and the Valley of Achor(GE) a resting place for herds,
    for my people who seek(GF) me.

11 “But as for you who forsake(GG) the Lord
    and forget my holy mountain,(GH)
who spread a table for Fortune
    and fill bowls of mixed wine(GI) for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,(GJ)
    and all of you will fall in the slaughter;(GK)
for I called but you did not answer,(GL)
    I spoke but you did not listen.(GM)
You did evil in my sight
    and chose what displeases me.”(GN)

13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“My servants will eat,(GO)
    but you will go hungry;(GP)
my servants will drink,(GQ)
    but you will go thirsty;(GR)
my servants will rejoice,(GS)
    but you will be put to shame.(GT)
14 My servants will sing(GU)
    out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out(GV)
    from anguish of heart
    and wail in brokenness of spirit.
15 You will leave your name
    for my chosen ones to use in their curses;(GW)
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,
    but to his servants he will give another name.(GX)
16 Whoever invokes a blessing(GY) in the land
    will do so by the one true God;(GZ)
whoever takes an oath in the land
    will swear(HA) by the one true God.
For the past troubles(HB) will be forgotten
    and hidden from my eyes.

New Heavens and a New Earth

17 “See, I will create
    new heavens and a new earth.(HC)
The former things will not be remembered,(HD)
    nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice(HE) forever
    in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem(HF) to be a delight
    and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice(HG) over Jerusalem
    and take delight(HH) in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying(HI)
    will be heard in it no more.

20 “Never again will there be in it
    an infant(HJ) who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not live out his years;(HK)
the one who dies at a hundred
    will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[i] a hundred
    will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses(HL) and dwell in them;
    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.(HM)
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,(HN)
    or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,(HO)
    so will be the days(HP) of my people;
my chosen(HQ) ones will long enjoy
    the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,(HR)
    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;(HS)
for they will be a people blessed(HT) by the Lord,
    they and their descendants(HU) with them.
24 Before they call(HV) I will answer;(HW)
    while they are still speaking(HX) I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb(HY) will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,(HZ)
    and dust will be the serpent’s(IA) food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,”(IB)
says the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 61:1 Hebrew; Septuagint the blind
  2. Isaiah 62:4 Hephzibah means my delight is in her.
  3. Isaiah 62:4 Beulah means married.
  4. Isaiah 63:9 Or Savior in their distress. / It was no envoy or angel / but his own presence that saved them
  5. Isaiah 63:11 Or But may he recall
  6. Isaiah 63:19 Or We are like those you have never ruled, / like those never called
  7. Isaiah 64:1 In Hebrew texts 64:1 is numbered 63:19b, and 64:2-12 is numbered 64:1-11.
  8. Isaiah 64:7 Septuagint, Syriac and Targum; Hebrew have made us melt because of
  9. Isaiah 65:20 Or the sinner who reaches

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