Isaiah 60:18–61:11

18  jViolence shall no more be heard in your land,

devastation or destruction within your borders;

kyou shall call your walls Salvation,

and your gates Praise.

19  lThe sun shall be no more

your light by day,

nor for brightness shall the moon

give you light;2

but the Lord will be your everlasting light,

and your God will be your glory.3

20  Your sun shall no more go down,

nor your moon withdraw itself;

for the Lord will be your everlasting light,

and myour days of mourning shall be ended.

21  nYour people shall all be righteous;

othey shall possess the land forever,

pthe branch of my planting, the work of my hands,

that I might be glorified.4

22  qThe least one shall become a clan,

and the smallest one a mighty nation;

rI am the Lord;

in its time I will hasten it.

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.