The Year of the Lord’s Favor

61 sThe Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has tanointed me

to bring good news to the poor;1

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and uthe opening of the prison to those who are bound;2

2  vto proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,

wand the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

3  to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

xto give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

ythe oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

zthat they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, athat he may be glorified.3

4  bThey 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  cStrangers shall stand and tend your flocks;

foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;

6  dbut you shall be called the priests of the Lord;

they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;

eyou shall eat the wealth of the nations,

and in their glory you shall boast.

7  fInstead 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  gFor I the Lord love justice;

I hate robbery and wrong;4

hI will faithfully give them their recompense,

iand I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

9  Their 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  jI will greatly rejoice in the Lord;

my soul shall exult in my God,

kfor he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself llike a priest with a beautiful headdress,

mand as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11  For 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 nrighteousness and praise

to sprout up before all the nations.

Zion’s Coming Salvation

62 oFor Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,

and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,

puntil her righteousness goes forth as brightness,

and her salvation as a burning torch.

2  qThe nations shall see your righteousness,

and all the kings your glory,

rand you shall be called by a new name

that the mouth of the Lord will give.

3  You shall be sa crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,

and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

4  tYou shall no more be termed uForsaken,1

and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,2

rbut you shall be called vMy Delight Is in Her,3

and your land Married;4

for the Lord delights in you,

and your land shall be married.

5  For as a young man marries a young woman,

so wshall your sons marry you,

and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

so xshall your God rejoice over you.

6  On your walls, O Jerusalem,

I have set ywatchmen;

all the day and all the night

they shall never be silent.

You who put the Lord in remembrance,

take no rest,

7  and give him no rest

until he establishes Jerusalem

and makes it za praise in the earth.

8  The Lord has sworn aby his right hand

and by his mighty arm:

“I will not again give byour grain

to be food for your enemies,

cand foreigners shall not drink your wine

for which you have labored;

9  but dthose who garner it shall eat it

and praise the Lord,

and dthose who gather it shall drink it

in the courts of my sanctuary.”5

10  Go through, go through the gates;

eprepare the way for the people;

fbuild up, build up the highway;

clear it of stones;

glift up a signal over the peoples.

11  Behold, the Lord has proclaimed

to the end of the earth:

hSay to the daughter of Zion,

i“Behold, your salvation comes;

behold, his reward is with him,

and his recompense before him.”

12  jAnd they shall be called The Holy People,

The Redeemed of the Lord;

kand you shall be called Sought Out,

A City Not Forsaken.

The Lord’s Day of Vengeance

63 Who is this who comes from lEdom,

in crimsoned garments from lBozrah,

he who is splendid in his apparel,

mmarching in the greatness of his strength?

“It is I, speaking in righteousness,

mighty to save.”

2  Why is your napparel red,

and your garments like his owho treads in the winepress?

3  p“I have trodden the winepress alone,

qand from the peoples no one was with me;

I trod them in my anger

and trampled them in my wrath;

their lifeblood1 spattered on my garments,

and stained all my apparel.

4  rFor the day of vengeance was in my heart,

and my year of redemption2 had come.

5  I looked, but sthere was no one to help;

I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;

so my own arm brought me salvation,

and my wrath upheld me.

6  I trampled down the peoples in my anger;

tI made them drunk in my wrath,

and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”