Isaiah 61

1The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me, because Yahweh has anointed me to proclaim good news to the humble. He has sent me to bandage those whose hearts are broken, to proclaim freedom to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound,

2to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor and the day when our God takes vengeance, to console all who mourn,

3to provide for those in Zion who mourn—to give them a festive headdress in place of ashes, oil of joy in place of mourning, a cloak of praise in place of a spirit that has grown dim. They will be named oaks of righteousness, planted by Yahweh to show his splendor.

4They will build again the ruins of long ago and restore what was laid waste in earlier times; they will make new the wrecked cities, desolate for generation after generation.

5Outsiders will stand ready to pasture your flocks, and foreigners will plow your fields and tend your vineyards.

6And you will be called Yahweh’s priests; people will name you servants of our God. You will live on the riches of the nations and take pride in their splendor.

7In place of your shame you will have twice as much; in place of humiliation they will sing out over their share. So in their land they will take possession of twice as much, and joy that never ends will be theirs.

8For I, Yahweh, love justice and hate robbery joined to burnt offering. In faithfulness I will pay them their wages, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

9Among the nations their offspring will be well known, and their descendants among the peoples; everyone who sees them will recognize that they are offspring whom Yahweh has blessed.

10I will rejoice with great joy in Yahweh; my soul is glad in my God. For he has dressed me in clothes of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, like a bridegroom who wears a priestly headdress, like a bride who decks herself out in her jewelry.

11For just as the ground puts out its shoots and a garden makes its seeds come up, so the Lord Yahweh will make righteousness and praise grow up in the sight of every nation.