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,[a]
to proclaim[b] release to the captives
and liberation to those who are bound,
2 to proclaim[c] the year of Yahweh’s favor,
and our God’s day of vengeance,
to comfort all those in mourning,
3 to give[d] 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[e] 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,[f]
the deserted places of many generations.[g]
5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,[h]
and foreigners[i] shall be your farmers and vinedressers.
6 But[j] you shall be called the priests of Yahweh,
you will be called[k] 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.[l]
8 For I, Yahweh, love justice,
hate robbery and[m] injustice,
and I will faithfully[n] give their reward,
and I will make[o] an everlasting covenant with[p] them.
9 And their descendants[q] 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[r] 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[s] its sprout,
and as a garden makes its plants sprout,
so the Lord Yahweh will make righteousness sprout,
and praise before all the nations.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 61:1 Literally “those broken of heart”
- Isaiah 61:1 Literally “call”
- Isaiah 61:2 Literally “call”
- Isaiah 61:3 Literally “place”
- Isaiah 61:3 Literally “it will be called to them”
- Isaiah 61:4 Literally “cities of devastation”
- Isaiah 61:4 Literally “generation and generation”
- Isaiah 61:5 Hebrew “flock”
- Isaiah 61:5 Literally “sons of a foreign country”
- Isaiah 61:6 Or “And”
- Isaiah 61:6 Literally “it shall be said of you”
- Isaiah 61:7 Literally “possession of joy everlasting shall be for them”
- Isaiah 61:8 Or “in”
- Isaiah 61:8 Literally “in the faithfulness”
- Isaiah 61:8 Literally “cut”
- Isaiah 61:8 Literally “to”
- Isaiah 61:9 Hebrew “descendant”
- Isaiah 61:9 Hebrew “descendant”
- Isaiah 61:11 Literally “brings out”