Beginning
Rampant Transgression
59 Look! The hand of Yahweh is not too short to save,[a]
and his ear is not too dull to hear.[b]
2 Rather, your iniquities have been barriers[c] between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you, from hearing.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood,
and your fingers with iniquity.
Your lips have spoken lies,
your tongue speaks wickedness.
4 There is nobody who pleads with[d] justice,
and there is nobody who judges with honesty.
They rely on nothing
and speak vanity.
They conceive trouble
and beget iniquity;
5 they hatch viper eggs,
and they weave a spider web.
One who eats their eggs dies,
and that which is pressed is hatched as a serpent.
6 Their webs cannot become clothing,
and they cannot cover themselves with their works.
Their works are works of iniquity,
and deeds[e] of violence are in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil,
and they hasten to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
devastation and destruction are in their highways.
8 They do not know the way of peace,
and there is no justice in their firm paths.
They have made their paths crooked for themselves;
everyone who walks[f] in it knows no peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We wait for light, but[g] look! there is darkness;
for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
10 We grope like the blind along a wall,
and we grope as without[h] eyes.
We stumble at noon as in the twilight;
among the strong we are like the dead.
11 We all groan like bears,
and we coo mutteringly like doves.
We wait for justice, but[i] there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions are numerous before you,
and our sins testify[j] against us.
Indeed, our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
13 transgressing and denying Yahweh,
and turning away from following[k] our God;
speaking oppression and falsehood,
conceiving and uttering words of deception from the heart.
14 And justice is pushed back,
and righteousness stands afar;
for truth stumbles in the public square,
and straightforwardness is unable to enter,
15 and truth is missing,
and he who turns aside from evil is plundered.
And Yahweh saw,
and it was displeasing in his eyes that there was no justice
16 And he saw that there was no man,
and he was appalled that there was no one who intercedes,
so[l] his arm came to assist him,
and his righteousness was what[m] sustained him.
17 And he put on righteousness like a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on his head,
and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and he wrapped himself in zeal as in a robe.
18 According to deeds, so he will repay;
wrath to his enemies, requital to those who are his enemies.[n]
He will repay requital to the coastlands.
19 So[o] they shall fear the name of Yahweh from the west,
and his glory from the sunrise,
for he will come like a narrow stream;
the wind of Yahweh drives it on.
20 “And a redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn away from transgression,”
declares[p] Yahweh.
21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says Yahweh:
my spirit that is upon you,
and my words that I have placed in your mouth
shall not depart from your mouth,
or[q] from the mouths[r] of your children,[s]
or[t] from the mouths[u] of your children’s children,”[v]
says Yahweh, “from now on and forever.”
Zion Glorified
60 “Arise, shine! For your light has come,
and the glory of Yahweh has risen on you.
2 For look! darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples,
but[w] Yahweh will rise on you,
and his glory will appear over you.
3 And nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the bright light of your sunrise.
4 Lift up your eyes all around and see!
All of them gather; they come to you.
Your sons shall come from afar,
and your daughters shall be looked after on the hip.
5 Then you shall see
and you shall be radiant;
and your heart shall tremble
and open itself wide,
because the abundance of the sea shall fall upon you;
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
6 A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young male camels of Midian and Ephah.
All those from Sheba shall come;
they shall bring gold and frankincense,
and they shall proclaim the praise of Yahweh.
7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you;
the rams of Nebaioth shall serve you.
They shall present a sacrifice for favor on my altar,
and I will glorify my honorable house.[x]
8 Who are these? They fly like a cloud,
and like doves to their coops.
9 Because the coastlands wait for me,
and the ships of Tarshish are first
to bring your children from afar,
their silver and gold with them,
for the name of Yahweh your God,
and for the holy one of Israel, because he has glorified you.
10 And foreigners[y] shall build your walls,
and their kings shall serve you,
for in my anger I struck you,
but[z] in my favor I have taken pity on you.
11 And your gates shall continually be open,
day and night they shall not be shut,
to bring you the wealth of nations,
and their kings shall be led.
12 For the nation and the kingdom that will not serve you shall perish,
and the nations shall be utterly devastated.
13 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you;
the cypress, the plane, and the pine together,
to glorify the place of my sanctuary,
and I will do honor to the place of my feet.
14 And the children of those who oppressed you shall come to you bending low,
and all those who treated you disrespectfully shall bow down at the soles of your feet.
And they shall call you the city of Yahweh,
Zion of the holy one of Israel.
15 Instead of you being forsaken
and hated with no one passing through,[aa]
I will make[ab] you an everlasting object of pride,[ac]
a joy of coming generations.[ad]
16 And you shall suck the milk of nations,
and suck the breast of kings,
and you shall know that I am Yahweh your Savior,
and your Redeemer, the Strong One of Jacob.
17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold,
and instead of iron I will bring silver,
and instead of wood, bronze,
and instead of stones, iron.
And I will appoint[ae] peace as your overseer,
and righteousness as your ruling body.[af]
18 Violence shall no longer be heard in your land;
devastation or[ag] destruction on your borders.
And you shall call your walls Salvation,
and your gates, Praise.
19 The sun shall no longer be your light by day,
and for bright light the moon shall not give you light,
but[ah] Yahweh will be your everlasting light,
and your God your glory.
20 Your sun shall no longer go down,
and your moon shall not wane,[ai]
for Yahweh himself will be your everlasting light,
and your days of mourning shall come to an end.
21 And all your people shall be righteous;
they shall take possession of the land forever,
the shoot of his[aj] planting,
the work of my hands, to show my glory.
22 The small one shall become a tribe,
and the smallest one a mighty nation.
I am Yahweh; I will hasten it in its time.”
The Year of Yahweh’s Favor
61 The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me,
because Yahweh has anointed me,
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the brokenhearted,[ak]
to proclaim[al] release to the captives
and liberation to those who are bound,
2 to proclaim[am] the year of Yahweh’s favor,
and our God’s day of vengeance,
to comfort all those in mourning,
3 to give[an] for those in mourning in Zion,
to give them a head wrap instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning,
a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit.
And they will be called[ao] oaks of righteousness,
the planting of Yahweh, to show his glory.
4 And they shall build the ancient ruins,
they shall erect the former deserted places.
And they shall restore the devastated cities,[ap]
the deserted places of many generations.[aq]
5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,[ar]
and foreigners[as] shall be your farmers and vinedressers.
6 But[at] you shall be called the priests of Yahweh,
you will be called[au] servers of our God.
You shall eat the wealth of the nations,
and you shall boast in their riches.
7 Instead of your shame, a double portion,
and instead of insult, they will rejoice over their portion.
Therefore they will take a double portion in their land;
they shall possess everlasting joy.[av]
8 For I, Yahweh, love justice,
hate robbery and[aw] injustice,
and I will faithfully[ax] give their reward,
and I will make[ay] an everlasting covenant with[az] them.
9 And their descendants[ba] will be known among the nations,
and their offspring in the midst of the peoples.
All those who see them shall recognize them,
that they are descendants[bb] whom Yahweh has blessed.
10 I will rejoice greatly in Yahweh;
my being shall shout in exultation in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation,
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns himself with a head wrap like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewelry.
11 For as the earth produces[bc] its sprout,
and as a garden makes its plants sprout,
so the Lord Yahweh will make righteousness sprout,
and praise before all the nations.
Zion’s New Identity
62 For the sake of Zion I will not be silent,
and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not maintain a quiet attitude,
until her righteousness goes out like the bright light,
and her salvation burns like a torch.
2 And the nations shall see your righteousness,
and all the kings your glory,
and you will be called[bd] a new name
that the mouth of Yahweh will designate.
3 And you shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of Yahweh,
and a headband of royalty in the hand of your God.
4 It shall no longer be said of you, “Forsaken,”
and it shall no longer be said of your land, “Desolation!”
but you will[be] be called “My Delight Is In Her,”
and your land, “Married,”
for Yahweh delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
5 For as a young man marries a virgin,
so shall your sons marry you,
and as is the joy of the bridegroom over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.
6 I have appointed watchmen upon your walls, Jerusalem;
all day and all night they shall never be silent.
You who profess Yahweh have no rest.
7 And you must not give him rest until he establishes,
and until he makes[bf] Jerusalem an object of praise[bg] in the earth.
8 Yahweh has sworn by his right hand,
and by his mighty arm,[bh]
“Surely I will never again give your grain as food to your enemies,[bi]
and surely foreigners[bj] shall not drink your new wine at which you have labored.”
9 But those who gather it shall eat it, and they shall praise Yahweh,
and those who gather it shall drink it in my holy courts.[bk]
10 Pass through, pass through the gates!
Make the way clear for[bl] the people!
Pile up, pile up the highway; clear it of stones![bm]
Lift up an ensign over the peoples!
11 Look! Yahweh has proclaimed to the end of the earth:
Say to daughter Zion, “Look, your salvation is coming!
Look, his reward is with him,
and his reward before him.
12 And they shall call them “The Holy People,[bn] The Redeemed Of Yahweh,”
and you[bo] shall be called “Sought After, A City Is Not Forsaken.”
Yahweh’s Day of Vengeance
63 Who is this, coming from Edom,
from Bozrah in bright red garments?
Who is this honored in his garment,
lying down in his great strength?
“It is I, speaking in justice,
mighty[bp] to save!”
2 Why are your garments[bq] red,
and your garments like he who treads in the winepress?
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone,
and there was no man from the peoples with me.
And I trod them in my anger,
and I trampled them in my wrath,
and spattered their juice on my garments,
and stained all my clothing,
4 for the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and the year of my blood-vengeance has come!
5 And I looked, but[br] there was no helper,
and I was appalled, but[bs] there was no one who sustains,
so[bt] my arm came to assist me,
and my wrath was what[bu] sustained me.
6 And I trampled peoples in my anger,
and I made them drunk in my wrath,
and I brought their juice down to the earth.”
Remembering Yahweh’s Mercy
7 I will mention the loyal love of Yahweh, the praises of Yahweh, according to all that Yahweh has done for us,
and the greatness of goodness to the house of Israel that he has done to them according to his mercy and the abundance of his loyal love.
8 And he said, “Surely my people are children; they will not break faith.” And he became a Savior to them.
9 In all their distress, there was no distress,[bv]
and the messenger of his presence[bw] saved them,
in his love and compassion he himself redeemed them,
and he lifted them up,
and he supported them all the days of old.
10 But[bx] they were the ones who[by] rebelled,
and they grieved his Holy Spirit,[bz]
so[ca] he became an enemy to them;[cb]
he himself fought against them.
11 Then[cc] his people remembered the days of old, of Moses.
Where is the one who led up them from the sea with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is the one who puts his Holy Spirit[cd] inside him,
12 who made[ce] his magnificent arm move at[cf] the right hand of Moses,
who divided[cg] the waters before them,[ch]
to make an everlasting name for himself,
13 who led[ci] them through the depths?
They did not stumble like a horse in the desert;
14 like cattle in the valley that goes down, the Spirit of Yahweh gave him rest,[cj]
so you lead your people to make a magnificent name for yourself.
Prayer for Mercy
15 Look from heaven,
and see from the lofty residence of your holiness and glory.
Where are your zeal and strength?
Your compassion[ck] and mercy to me hold themselves back.
16 For you are our father, although Abraham does not know us,
and Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, Yahweh are our father,
Our Redeemer from of old is your name.
17 Why do you make us wander, Yahweh?
You harden our heart from your ways so that we do not fear[cl] you.
Turn back for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your inheritance.
18 Your holy people[cm] took possession for a little while;
our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
19 We have been since antiquity; you did not rule them;
they were not called by your name.[cn]
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software