Beginning
Alienation from God
59 Look! The Lord does not lack the power to save,
nor are his ears too dull to hear,
2 but your misdeeds have separated you from your God.
Your sins have hidden his face from you
so that you aren’t heard.
3 Your hands are stained with blood,
and your fingers with guilt.
Your lips speak lies;
your tongues mutter malice.
4 No one sues honestly;
no one pleads truthfully.
By trusting in emptiness and speaking deceit,
they conceive harm and give birth to malice.
5 They hatch adders’ eggs,
and weave spiderwebs.
Whoever eats their eggs will die.
Moreover, the crushed egg hatches a viper.
6 Their webs can’t serve as clothing;
they can’t cover themselves with their deeds.
Their deeds are deeds of malice,
and the work of violence is in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil;
they rush to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are thoughts of malice;
desolation and destruction litter their highways.
8 They don’t know the way of peace;
there’s no justice in their paths.
They make their roads crooked;
no one who walks in them knows peace.
Injustice obscures vision
9 Because of all this, justice is far from us,
and righteousness beyond our reach.
We expect light, and there is darkness;
we await a gleam of light, but walk about in gloom.
10 We grope along the wall like the blind;
like those without eyes we grope.
We stumble at noonday as if it were twilight,
and among the strong as if we were dying.
11 All of us growl like bears,
and like doves we moan.
We expect justice, but there is none;
we await salvation, but it is far from us.
12 Our rebellions are numerous in your presence;
our sins testify against us.
Our rebellions are with us;
we’re aware of our guilt:
13 defying and denying the Lord,
turning away from our God,
planning oppression and revolt,
muttering lying words conceived in our minds.
14 Justice is pushed aside;
righteousness stands far off,
because truth has stumbled in the public square,
and honesty can’t enter.
15 Truth is missing;
anyone turning from evil is plundered.
God will intervene
The Lord looked and was upset at the absence of justice.
16 Seeing that there was no one,
and astonished that no one would intervene,
God’s arm brought victory,
upheld by righteousness,
17 putting on righteousness as armor
and a helmet of salvation on his head,
putting on garments of vengeance,
and wrapping himself in a cloak of zeal.
18 God will repay according to their actions:
wrath to his foes, retribution to enemies,
retribution to the coastlands,
19 so those in the west will fear the Lord’s name,
and those in the east will fear God’s glory.
It will come like a rushing river
that the Lord’s wind drives on.
20 A redeemer will come to Zion
and to those in Jacob who stop rebelling,
says the Lord.
21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord.
My spirit, which is upon you,
and my words, which I have placed in your mouth
won’t depart from your mouth,
nor from the mouths of your descendants,
nor from the mouths of your descendants’ children,
says the Lord,
forever and always.
Jerusalem’s coming radiance
60 Arise! Shine! Your light has come;
the Lord’s glory has shone upon you.
2 Though darkness covers the earth
and gloom the nations,
the Lord will shine upon you;
God’s glory will appear over you.
3 Nations will come to your light
and kings to your dawning radiance.
4 Lift up your eyes and look all around:
they are all gathered; they have come to you.
Your sons will come from far away,
and your daughters on caregivers’ hips.
5 Then you will see and be radiant;
your heart will tremble and open wide,
because the sea’s abundance will be turned over to you;
the nations’ wealth will come to you.
6 Countless camels will cover your land,
young camels from Midian and Ephah.
They will all come from Sheba,
carrying gold and incense,
proclaiming the Lord’s praises.
7 All Kedar’s sheep will be gathered for you;
rams from Nebaioth will be your offerings;
they will be accepted on my altar,
and I will glorify my splendid house.
8 Who are these who fly like a cloud,
like doves to their shelters?
9 I’m the hope of the coastlands.
Ships from Tarshish are in the lead
to bring your children from afar,
their silver and gold with them
for the name of the Lord your God
and for the holy one of Israel, who has glorified you.
10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls,
and their kings will serve you.
Though in my rage I struck you down,
in my favor I have consoled you.
11 Your gates will be open continually;
day and night they won’t close,
to bring to you the wealth of nations,
and their kings led in procession.
12 The nation and the dynasty
that won’t serve you will perish;
such nations will be devastated.
13 Lebanon’s glory will come upon you,
cypress, elm, and pine,
to glorify the site of my sanctuary,
and I will honor my royal footstool.
14 The children of your tormenters will come bending low to you;
all who despised you will bow down at your feet.
They will call you The Lord’s City,
Zion, of the holy one of Israel.
15 Instead of being abandoned,
hated, and forbidden,
I will make you majestic forever,
a joy for all generations.
16 You will suck the milk of nations,
and nurse at royal breasts.
You will know that I am the Lord, your savior
and your redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.
17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold;
instead of iron I will bring silver;
instead of wood, bronze;
and instead of stones, iron.
I will make peace your governor
and righteousness your taskmaster.
18 Violence will no longer resound throughout your land,
nor devastation or destruction within your borders.
You will call your walls Salvation,
and your gates Praise.
19 The sun will no longer be your light by day,
nor will the moon shine for illumination by night.[a]
The Lord will be your everlasting light;
your God will be your glory.
20 Your sun will no longer set;
your moon will no longer wane.
The Lord will be an everlasting light for you,
and your days of mourning will be ended.
21 Your people will all be righteous;
they will possess the land forever.
They are the shoot that I planted,
the work of my hands, to glorify myself.
22 The least will become a thousand,
and the smallest a powerful people.
I am the Lord; at the right moment, I will hurry it along.
Joyful proclamations
61 The Lord God’s spirit is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me
to bring good news to the poor,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim release for captives,
and liberation for prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and a day of vindication for our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 to provide for Zion’s mourners,
to give them a crown in place of ashes,
oil of joy in place of mourning,
a mantle of praise in place of discouragement.
They will be called Oaks of Righteousness,
planted by the Lord to glorify himself.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins;
they will restore formerly deserted places;
they will renew ruined cities,
places deserted in generations past.
5 Foreigners will stay and shepherd your sheep,
and strangers will be your farmers and vinedressers.
6 You will be called The Priests of the Lord;
Ministers of Our God, they will say about you.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and fatten[b] yourself on their riches.
7 Instead of shame, their[c] portion will be double;
instead of disgrace, they will rejoice over their share.
They will possess a double portion in their land;
everlasting joy will be theirs.
8 I, the Lord, love justice;
I hate robbery and dishonesty.[d]
I will faithfully give them their wage,
and make with them an enduring covenant.
9 Their offspring will be known among the nations,
and their descendants among the peoples.
All who see them will recognize
that they are a people blessed by the Lord.
10 I surely rejoice in the Lord;
my heart is joyful because of my God,
because he has clothed me with clothes of victory,
wrapped me in a robe of righteousness
like a bridegroom in a priestly crown,
and like a bride adorned in jewelry.
11 As the earth puts out its growth,
and as a garden grows its seeds,
so the Lord God will grow righteousness and praise before all the nations.
Jerusalem redeemed
62 For Zion’s sake I won’t keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I won’t sit still
until her righteousness shines out like a light,
and her salvation blazes like a torch.
2 Nations will see your righteousness,
all kings your glory.
You will be called by a new name,
which the Lord’s own mouth will determine.
3 You will be a splendid garland in the Lord’s hand,
a royal turban in the palm of God’s hand.
4 You will no longer be called Abandoned,
and your land will no longer be called Deserted.
Instead, you will be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land, Married.
Because the Lord delights in you,
your land will be cared for once again.
5 As a young man marries a young woman,
so your sons will marry you.
With the joy of a bridegroom because of his bride,
so your God will rejoice because of you.
6 Upon your walls, Jerusalem,
I have appointed sentinels.
Continually, all day and all night,
they won’t keep silent.
You who call on the Lord, don’t rest,
7 and don’t allow God to rest
until he establishes Jerusalem,
and makes it the praise of the earth.
8 The Lord has promised
with raised hand and strong arm:
I will never again give your grain
as food for your enemies.
Foreigners won’t drink your wine
for which you labored.
9 Those who harvest will eat it
and will praise the Lord;
those who gather will drink it
in my holy courtyards.
10 Pass through, pass through the gates;
prepare the way for the people!
Build, build the road;
clear away the stones!
Raise up a signal for the peoples.
11 This is what the Lord announced
to the earth’s distant regions:
Say to Daughter Zion, “Look! Your deliverer arrives,
bringing reward and payment!”
12 They will be called The Holy People,
Redeemed By the Lord.
And you will be called Sought After—
A City That Is Not Abandoned.
Vengeance against the nations
63 Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah in bright red garments,
this splendidly dressed one, striding[e] with great power?
It is I, proclaiming righteousness, powerful to save!
2 Why is your clothing red,
and your garments like those of one who stomps on grapes?
3 I have pressed out in the vat by myself—from the peoples, no one was with me.
I stomped on them in my anger,
trampled them in my wrath.
Their blood splashed on my garments,
and stained all my clothing,
4 because I intended a day of vengeance;
the year of my deliverance had arrived.
5 I looked and found no helper;
I was astonished to find no supporter.
But my arm brought victory for me;
my wrath helped me.
6 I trampled down nations in my anger
and made them drunk on my wrath;
I spilled their blood on the ground.
Prayer of yearning
7 I will recount the Lord’s faithful acts;
I will sing the Lord’s praises,
because of all the Lord did for us,
for God’s great favor toward the house of Israel.
God treated them compassionately
and with deep affection.
8 God said, “Truly, they are my people,
children who won’t do what is wrong.”
God became their savior.
9 During all their distress, God also was distressed,
so a messenger who served him saved them.
In love and mercy God redeemed them,
lifting and carrying them throughout earlier times.
10 But they rebelled,
and made God’s holy spirit terribly sad,
so that he turned into their enemy—
he fought against them!
11 Then they remembered earlier times,
when he rescued his people.[f]
Where was the one who drew them up from the sea,
the shepherd[g] of the flock?
Where was the one who put within them his holy spirit;
12 the one who guided Moses’ strong hand
with his glorious arm;
who split the water for them
to create an enduring reputation for himself,
13 and who guided them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert, they didn’t stumble.
14 Like cattle descending to the valley,
the Lord’s spirit brought them to rest.
In this way you led your people
and made for yourself a glorious reputation.
15 Look down from heaven and see,
from your holy and glorious perch.
Where are your energy and your might,
your concern and your pity?
Don’t hold back![h]
16 You are surely our father,
even though Abraham doesn’t know us,
and Israel doesn’t recognize us.
You, Lord, are our father;
your reputation since long ago is that of our redeemer.
17 Why do you lead us astray, Lord,
from your ways?
Why do you harden our heart
so we don’t fear you?
Return for the sake of your servants
the tribes that are your heritage!
18 Why did the wicked bring down your holy place?[i]
Why did our enemies trample your sanctuary?
19 For too long we have been like those you don’t rule,
like those not known by your name.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible