Good News for the Broken, the Promise of Renewal, and the Warrior Who Brings Justice
Isaiah 61
1 The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may be glorified.
4 They will rebuild the old ruins. They will raise up the former devastations, and repair the ruined cities that have been devastated for many generations.
5 Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and your vine dressers.
6 But you will be called Yahweh’s priests; men will call you the ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of the nations, and you will boast in their glory.
7 Instead of your shame you will have double; and instead of dishonor, they will rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they will possess double. Everlasting joy will be theirs.
8 “For I, Yahweh, love justice. I hate robbery and iniquity. I will give them their reward in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their offspring will be known among the nations, and their descendants among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge them, that they are the offspring which Yahweh has blessed.”
10 I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh! My soul will be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth produces its shoots, and as a garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring up; so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
Isaiah 62
1 For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning lamp.
2 The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You will be called by a new name, which Yahweh’s mouth will name.
3 You will also be a crown of beauty in Yahweh’s hand, and a royal diadem in your God’s hand.
4 You will not be called Forsaken any more, nor will your land be called Desolate any more; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for Yahweh delights in you, and your land will be married.
5 For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you. As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.
6 I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem. They will never be silent day nor night. You who call on Yahweh, take no rest,
7 and give him no rest, until he establishes, and until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
8 Yahweh has sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, “Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies; and foreigners will not drink your new wine, for which you have labored;
9 but those who have harvested it will eat it, and praise Yahweh. Those who have gathered it will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.”
10 Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way of the people. Build up, build up the highway! Gather out the stones! Lift up a banner for the peoples.
11 Behold, Yahweh has proclaimed to the end of the earth, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your salvation comes! Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him!’”
12 They will call them The Holy People, The Redeemed of Yahweh. You will be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.
Isaiah 63
1 Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? Who is this who is glorious in his clothing, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”
2 Why are you red in your clothing, and your garments like him who treads in the wine vat?
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples, no one was with me. Yes, I trod them in my anger, and trampled them in my wrath. Their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I have stained all my clothing.
4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come.
5 I looked, and there was no one to help; and I wondered that there was no one to uphold. Therefore my own arm brought salvation to me; and my wrath upheld me.
6 I trod down the peoples in my anger, made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured their lifeblood out on the earth.”
7 I will tell of the loving kindnesses of Yahweh and the praises of Yahweh, according to all that Yahweh has bestowed on us; and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
8 For he said, “Surely, they are my people, children who will not deal falsely”; so he became their Savior.
9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. Therefore he turned and became their enemy, and he himself fought against them.
11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, “Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among them?”
12 Who caused his glorious arm to be at Moses’ right hand? Who divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
13 Who led them through the depths, like a horse in the wilderness, so that they didn’t stumble?
14 As the livestock that go down into the valley, Yahweh’s Spirit caused them to rest. So you led your people, to make yourself a glorious name.
15 Look down from heaven, and see from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory. Where are your zeal and your mighty acts? The yearning of your heart and your compassion is restrained toward me.
16 For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.
17 O Yahweh, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance.
18 Your holy people possessed it but a little while. Our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary.
19 We have become like those over whom you never ruled, like those who were not called by your name.
Scripture: World English Bible (WEB), public domain.
