Beginning
The Lord accuses his people
59 Listen! The Lord's hand is not too weak to save you.
His ear is not too deaf to hear you.
2 But the wrong things that you have done
have made you separate from your God.
Your sins have caused him to turn away from you,
so that he does not listen to your prayers.
3 Your hands are dirty with the blood of murder.
They are dirty with all the bad things that you do.
Your mouth tells lies,
and it says wicked things about other people.
4 When people accuse somebody in court,
the truth is not important.
They tell lies and they deceive the judge,
so that they will win.
They decide how they can cause trouble,
and then they do wicked things.
5 Their thoughts are like the eggs of a snake.
If anyone eats those eggs, they will die!
When an egg breaks open,
a dangerous snake is born!
They like to catch people,
like a spider that makes a web.[a]
6 Their webs are useless to make clothes.
They cannot cover themselves with them.
The things that they do are useless like that.
They do only wicked things.
They use their strength only to hurt people.
7 They rush to do evil things.
They hurry to kill people who have not done anything wrong.
They think only about sin.
They only want to be cruel and to hurt people.
8 They do not know how to live in peace.
They cannot be honest and fair.
Their way of life is all wrong.
Nobody who lives like that will have peace.
The people agree
9 Because of that, God's justice is far away from us.
He has not come to save us.
We look for light to come to us,
but everything is dark.
We need some light in our lives,
but all we have is darkness.
10 Like blind people,
we touch the wall to find our way.
It seems that we have no eyes to see with.
Even at midday, we trip and we fall down,
as if it was dark.
We are like dead people
who live among strong people.
11 We all make a noise, like hungry bears.
We make sad noises, like doves.
We are waiting for God to bring justice to us,
but nothing is happening.
We look for his salvation,
but it is still far away.
12 Lord, you see all the bad things that we have done.
Our many sins show that we are wrong.
We know about the wrong things that we have done.
We agree that our sins are many.
13 We have turned against the Lord.
We have refused to obey him.
We have chosen to be cruel to other people,
and we have turned against the truth.
We think about the lies that we can tell,
and we use them to deceive people.
14 Judges do not decide in a fair way.
Nobody tries to do what is right.
There is no place for truth on the streets of our towns.
Honest people have to leave.
15 Nobody can speak the truth.
If anyone tries to stop doing evil things,
other people will attack him.
The Lord comes to save his people
The Lord saw how his people were living.
He saw that there was no justice.
It made him very sad.
16 He saw that there was nobody who would help,
and he was very upset.
So he used his own strength to help.
Because he had to do what was right,
he made his people safe.
17 He always does what is right,
like a soldier who always puts on his armour.
His power to save people
is like the helmet that he wears.
He is angry against people who do evil things,
and he works hard to punish them.
That is like the clothes that he wears.
18 He will punish his enemies
for the bad things that they have done.
He will be very angry with them.
He will punish all his enemies,
even those who live in lands far away.
19 Then people who live in the west
will respect the Lord's name.
And people who live in the east
will see how great he is.
The Lord will attack them like a fast river.
He will blow them away with a strong wind.
20 The Lord says,
‘A Redeemer will come to Zion.
He will come to save Jacob's people
who turn away from their sins.’
21 The Lord says, ‘This is the covenant that I make with those people. My Spirit is now with you, and he will not leave you. I have put my words into your mouth, and they will always be with you. They will continue to be in the mouths of your children, and your descendants for ever.’
That is what the Lord says.
Zion's future glory
60 Stand up! Shine brightly!
Now your light has come![b]
The Lord's glory has risen to shine on you.
2 Look! Darkness covers all the earth and its people.
But the Lord shines his light on you,
so that his glory appears over you.
3 People of other nations will come to your light.
Kings will come to see the light of a new day that shines on you.
4 Look all round you!
All your people are coming together to return to you.
Your sons are coming from far away,
and they carry your daughters in their arms.
5 As you see this, your eyes will shine with joy.
Your hearts will beat fast,
and you will be proud to see them.
Traders will bring valuable things to you
from lands across the seas.
The riches of other nations will come to you.
6 Traders will bring things on their camels
so that your roads are full.
Young camels will come from Midian
and from Ephah.
People will come from Sheba.
They will bring gold and incense.
They will sing aloud to praise the Lord.
7 All the sheep and goats in Kedar will come to you.
They will give you sheep from Nebaioth,
and I will accept them as sacrifices on my altar.
I will make my temple great and beautiful.
8 See those ships that sail along like clouds!
They come like doves that are flying to their homes.
9 People from lands across the seas are coming to find me.
Their big ships are leading them.
They are bringing your children from far away,
as well as silver and gold.
They come to give honour to the name of the Lord your God.
He is Israel's Holy God.
They come here because he has shown that you are great.
10 Foreign people will build your walls again.
Their kings will be your servants.
I punished you when I was angry with you.
But now I will show my grace
and I will be kind to you.
11 The gates of your city will always be open.
People will never close them,
during the day or during the night.
Then other nations will bring their riches to you,
and their kings will lead them.
12 Any nation or kingdom that refuses to serve you
will come to an end.
Enemies will completely destroy those nations.
13 The beautiful things of Lebanon will come to you.
They will bring you its pine trees,
its fir trees and its cypress trees.
The wood will make my temple beautiful.
I will cause my home on earth to be great!
14 The descendants of your cruel enemies will come to you.
They will bend down low in front of you.
Everybody who insulted you before
will now give you honour.
They will call you, ‘The City of the Lord,
Zion that is home for Israel's Holy God.’
15 At one time, people kept away from you,
and they hated you.
Nobody travelled through you.
But now I will make you a great city,
so that people will be proud of you for ever.
Your people and their descendants will be very happy.
16 Other nations and their kings
will give you everything that you need.
They will be like mothers
who feed their babies with their milk.
Then you will know that I, the Lord,
have made you safe.
You will know that I am your Redeemer,
the Mighty One of Jacob.
17 I will bring you gold instead of bronze.
I will bring you silver instead of iron.
I will give you bronze to use, instead of wood.
I will give you iron instead of stones.
I will cause peace to be your city's leader.
Righteousness will rule over you.
18 You will not hear the noise of violence in your land any more.
Inside its borders,
nobody will fight wars or destroy things.
You will call your city's walls ‘Salvation’,
and you will call your city's gates ‘Praise’.
19 You will no longer need the sun
to give you light in the day again.
You will not need the moon to shine at night.
Instead, the Lord will be the light
that shines on you for ever.
Yes, your God will be the light
that brings you honour.
20 Your sun will never go down again
and your moon will never disappear.
That is because the Lord will be the light
that shines on you for ever.
Then your sad days will come to an end.
21 All your people will be righteous.
The land will belong to them for ever.
I myself will plant them in the ground
like a young plant.
As they grow, they will show how great I am.
22 The least important person among you
will become a great family.
The smallest person will become a large nation.
I am the Lord.
When the right time comes,
I will cause it to happen quickly!
Good news of salvation
61 The Spirit of the Almighty Lord is on me,
because he has chosen me to serve him.[c]
He has sent me to tell good news to poor people.
He has sent me to comfort people who are very upset.
He has sent me to tell prisoners that they are now free.
They can go out of their prisons!
2 He has sent me to say,
‘This is the year when the Lord will be kind to his people.’
It is the time when our God will punish our enemies.
He has sent me to comfort people who are weeping
because they are sad.
3 In that way, the people in Zion who are sad
will become strong again.
They will not put ashes on their heads any more.[d]
Instead, they will wear beautiful hats.
Instead of weeping,
they will have olive oil to show their joy.
They will not feel upset,
but they will sing happy songs to praise God.
People will call them ‘Strong trees that show God's righteousness’.
They will be like trees that the Lord himself has planted
to show how great he is.
4 God's people will build again their towns
that became heaps of stones a long time ago.
Once again, they will live in the cities
that have been empty for so long.
5 The Lord says to his people,
‘Foreign people will take care of your sheep for you.
They will work on your farms,
and they will take care of your vines.[e]
6 People will call you
“The Lord's priests who are servants of our God”.
You will enjoy valuable things from other nations.
You will boast about all the riches
that you receive from them.
7 You will not be ashamed any more.
Instead, you will receive twice as much blessing.
People will not say that you are useless.
Instead, you will live happily on your own land.
Yes, my people will have twice the crops from their land,
And so they will always be very happy.
8 I, the Lord, love justice.
I hate it when people rob others,
or they do other wrong things.
Because I am faithful,
I will give help to my people.
I will make a covenant with them
that will continue for ever.
9 Their descendants will be famous
among the other nations.
Everyone who sees them will know
that the Lord has blessed them.’
10 I am very happy,
because of what the Lord, my God, has done.[f]
I have so much joy!
He has given salvation to me,
like clothes that I can wear all the time.
I have his righteousness as my coat!
He makes me handsome,
like a bridegroom who wears a priest's hat.
He makes me beautiful,
like a bride who wears her jewels.
11 The Almighty Lord will cause his righteousness
to grow everywhere.
It will grow like crops in the fields,
and like plants that grow in a garden.
Then his people will praise him,
and all the nations will see it!
Salvation will come to Zion
62 Because I love Zion,
I will not be quiet.
I cannot stay quiet,
because Jerusalem is in trouble.
I will continue to speak until she is safe again.
I want her righteousness to shine
like the sun at dawn.
I want her salvation to be a bright light in the dark.
2 Jerusalem, the nations will see your righteousness.
All their kings will see how great you are.
People will call you by a new name,
which the Lord himself will give to you.
3 The Lord your God will hold you in his hand,
and you will bring him honour.
You will be like his beautiful crown!
4 They will no longer call you by the name ‘Alone’.
They will not call your land ‘Empty place’.
Instead, they will call you ‘The one that makes God happy’.
The name of your land will be ‘Married’.
Yes, the Lord will be very happy with you.
Your land will be his bride.
5 As a young man marries a pure young woman,
so your sons will marry you, Jerusalem.[g]
Your God will be very happy that you belong to him,
as a bridegroom is happy with his new wife.
6 I have put guards on your walls, Jerusalem.
They should never be quiet,
during the day and during the night.
You people who cause the Lord to remember his promises,
never stop and rest!
7 Do not give the Lord a chance to rest,
until he has made Jerusalem strong again.
Continue to pray until he makes it a famous city
that the whole world will praise.
8 The Lord makes a strong promise,
and he has the power to make it happen.
He says:
‘I will never again take away your grain,
and give it to your enemies for food.
Foreign soldiers will not drink your wine
that you have worked very hard to make.
9 Instead, the people who pick the grain at harvest time
are the people who will eat it.
And they will praise the Lord for it.
The people who pick the grapes
will drink the wine.
They will drink it in the yards of my temple.’
10 Pass through the gates! Pass through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people to travel on.
Build up the road! Make it strong!
Remove the stones!
Lift up a flag,
so that the nations can see the way to go.
11 Look! The Lord has this message for the whole earth:
‘Say to the people of Zion,
“Look! Your Saviour is coming!
Look again! He is bringing his gifts with him.
He brings the prize that he has won.” ’[h]
12 Their name will be ‘God's holy People’,
and ‘The People that the Lord has redeemed’.
And Jerusalem's name will be ‘The City where people are happy’,
and ‘The City that is full of people’.
The Lord punishes the nations
63 Who is this who is coming from Edom?
He is coming from Bozrah
and his clothes are bright red.
He wears beautiful royal clothes,
and he marches forward with great strength.
He says, ‘It is me! I, the Lord, tell you that I have won the fight!
I have the power to save you.’
2 But why are your clothes red?
You look like someone who has walked on grapes,
and you have squeezed them to make wine.
3 He says, ‘I have walked on the grapes alone.
Nobody from the nations came to help me.
I walked on them because I was angry.
I squeezed them to pieces in my anger.
Their blood splashed on my clothes,
and it made all my clothes dirty.
4 I decided that it was time to punish my enemies.
Then I would save my people from their power.
5 I looked for somebody to give help,
but there was nobody.
I was very upset,
because nobody was there to help.
So I used my own strength to rescue my people.
My anger helped me to be strong.
6 Because I was angry,
I walked on the nations to punish them.
My anger was like strong wine that made them drunk.
I poured their blood onto the ground.’
Isaiah's prayer
7 I will speak about all the good things that the Lord does because he loves his people. We should praise him for everything that he does for us. He has done many good things for us, Israel's family. He helps us because he loves us very much, and he is very kind.
8 The Lord said, ‘Surely, they are my own people. As my children, they will not turn against me.’ So he became their Saviour. 9 When his people suffered, he also had pain. He sent his own angel to go and save them. Because he loved them and he was kind to them, he redeemed them. He lifted them up and he carried them, through all the years long ago.
10 But they turned against him. They made his Holy Spirit angry. So he then became their enemy. He fought against them.
11 Then they remembered past years, when Moses led their ancestors out of Egypt. They said, ‘Where is the Lord now, when we need him? He brought his people safely through the sea, with Moses as their leader. He caused his Holy Spirit to work among them. 12 He caused his power to be with Moses, as Moses raised his arm over the sea. He caused the waters to become separate so that his people could go across. In that way, he caused his name always to be famous. 13 He led them through the deep water of the sea. They ran across like horses on open ground, and they did not fall. 14 The Lord's Spirit led them to a place of rest, like cows that go down to a quiet valley.’
Yes, Lord, you were your people's guide. In that way, you made your name great.
15 So now, do something to help us! Look down from your beautiful, holy home in heaven. Use your power to show that we are your special people. Have you forgotten how to be kind to us?
16 Remember that you are our Father. Maybe our ancestor Abraham does not recognize us. Even Israel himself may not recognize us. But you, Lord, are our Father. Since times long ago, your name has been our Redeemer.
17 Lord, why do you cause us to turn away from your ways? You make our minds become hard, so that we do not obey you. Please come back to help us, because we are your servants. We are the tribes that you have chosen for yourself!
18 For only a short time, the holy place belonged to us, your special people. Then our enemies knocked down your temple. 19 It seems that we have not belonged to you for a long time. You no longer rule over us or take care of us.
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