Isaiah 60–62

Jerusalem Will Be Great

60“Jerusalem, get up and shine, because your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord shines on you.

²Darkness now covers the earth;

deep darkness covers her people.

But the Lord shines on you,

and people see his glory around you.

³Nations will come to your light;

kings will come to the brightness of your sunrise.

⁴“Look around you.

People are gathering and coming to you.

Your sons are coming from far away,

and your daughters are coming with them.

⁵When you see them, you will shine with happiness;

you will be excited and full of joy,

because the wealth of the nations across the seas will be given to you;

the riches of the nations will come to you.

⁶Herds of camels will cover your land,

young camels from Midian and Ephah.

People will come from Sheba

bringing gold and incense,

and they will sing praises to the Lord.

⁷All the sheep from Kedar will be given to you;

the sheep from Nebaioth will be brought to you.

They will be pleasing sacrifices on my altar,

and I will make my beautiful Temple more beautiful.

⁸“The people are returning to you like clouds,

like doves flying to their nests.

⁹People in faraway lands are waiting for me.

The great trading ships will come first,

bringing your children from faraway lands,

and with them silver and gold.

This will honor the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel,

who does wonderful things for you.

¹⁰“Jerusalem, foreigners will rebuild your walls,

and their kings will serve you.

When I was angry, I hurt you,

but now I want to be kind to you and comfort you.

¹¹Your gates will always be open;

they will not be closed day or night

so the nations can bring their wealth to you,

and their kings will be led to you.

¹²The nation or kingdom that doesn’t serve you will be destroyed;

it will be completely ruined.

¹³“The great trees of Lebanon will be given to you:

its pine, fir, and cypress trees together.

You will use them to make my Temple beautiful,

and I will give much honor to this place where I rest my feet.

¹⁴The people who have hurt you will bow down to you;

those who hated you will bow down at your feet.

They will call you The City of the Lord,

Jerusalem, city of the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵“You have been hated and left empty

with no one passing through.

But I will make you great from now on;

you will be a place of happiness forever and ever.

¹⁶You will be given what you need from the nations,

like a child drinking milk from its mother.

Then you will know that it is I, the Lord, who saves you.

You will know that the Powerful One of Jacob protects you.

¹⁷I will bring you gold in place of bronze,

silver in place of iron,

bronze in place of wood,

iron in place of rocks.

I will change your punishment into peace,

and you will be ruled by what is right.

¹⁸There will be no more violence in your country;

it will not be ruined or destroyed.

You will name your walls Salvation

and your gates Praise.

¹⁹The sun will no longer be your light during the day

nor will the brightness from the moon be your light,

because the Lord will be your light forever,

and your God will be your glory.

²⁰Your sun will never set again,

and your moon will never be dark,

because the Lord will be your light forever,

and your time of sadness will end.

²¹All of your people will do what is right.

They will receive the earth forever.

They are the plant I have planted,

the work of my own hands

to show my greatness.

²²The smallest family will grow to a thousand.

The least important of you will become a powerful nation.

I am the Lord,

and when it is time, I will make these things happen quickly.”

The Lord’s Message of Freedom

61The Lord God has put his Spirit in me,

because the Lord has appointed me to tell the good news to the poor.

He has sent me to comfort those whose hearts are broken,

to tell the captives they are free,

and to tell the prisoners they are released.

²He has sent me to announce the time when the Lord will show his kindness

and the time when our God will punish evil people.

He has sent me to comfort all those who are sad

³and to help the sorrowing people of Jerusalem.

I will give them a crown to replace their ashes,

and the oil of gladness to replace their sorrow,

and clothes of praise to replace their spirit of sadness.

Then they will be called Trees of Goodness,

trees planted by the Lord to show his greatness.

⁴They will rebuild the old ruins

and restore the places destroyed long ago.

They will repair the ruined cities

that were destroyed for so long.

⁵My people, foreigners will come to tend your sheep.

People from other countries will tend your fields and vineyards.

⁶You will be called priests of the Lord;

you will be named the servants of our God.

You will have riches from all the nations on earth,

and you will take pride in them.

⁷Instead of being ashamed, my people will receive twice as much wealth.

Instead of being disgraced, they will be happy because of what they receive.

They will receive a double share of the land,

so their happiness will continue forever.

⁸“I, the Lord, love justice.

I hate stealing and everything that is wrong.

I will be fair and give my people what they should have,

and I will make an agreement with them that will continue forever.

⁹Everyone in all nations will know the children of my people,

and their children will be known among the nations.

Anyone who sees them will know

that they are people the Lord has blessed.”

¹⁰The Lord makes me very happy;

all that I am rejoices in my God.

He has covered me with clothes of salvation

and wrapped me with a coat of goodness,

like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding,

like a bride dressed in jewels.

¹¹The earth causes plants to grow,

and a garden causes the seeds planted in it to grow.

In the same way the Lord God will make goodness and praise

come from all the nations.

New Jerusalem

62Because I love Jerusalem, I will continue to speak for her;

for Jerusalem’s sake I will not stop speaking

until her goodness shines like a bright light,

until her salvation burns bright like a flame.

²Jerusalem, the nations will see your goodness,

and all kings will see your glory.

Then you will have a new name,

which the Lord himself will give you.

³You will be like a beautiful crown in the Lord’s hand,

like a king’s crown in your God’s hand.

⁴You will never again be called the People that God Left,

nor your land the Land that God Destroyed.

You will be called the People God Loves,

and your land will be called the Bride of God,

because the Lord loves you.

And your land will belong to him as a bride belongs to her husband.

⁵As a young man marries a woman,

so your children will marry your land.

As a man rejoices over his new wife,

so your God will rejoice over you.

⁶Jerusalem, I have put guards on the walls to watch.

They must not be silent day or night.

You people who remind the Lord of your needs in prayer

should never be quiet.

⁷You should not stop praying to him until he builds up Jerusalem

and makes it a city all people will praise.

⁸The Lord has made a promise,

and by his power he will keep his promise.

He said, “I will never again give your grain

as food to your enemies.

I will not let your enemies drink the new wine

that you have worked to make.

⁹Those who gather food will eat it,

and they will praise the Lord.

Those who gather the grapes will drink the wine

in the courts of my Temple.”

¹⁰Go through, go through the gates!

Make the way ready for the people.

Build up, build up the road!

Move all the stones off the road.

Raise the banner as a sign for the people.

¹¹The Lord is speaking

to all the faraway lands:

“Tell the people of Jerusalem,

‘Look, your Savior is coming.

He is bringing your reward to you;

he is bringing his payment with him.’ ”

¹²His people will be called the Holy People,

the Saved People of the Lord,

and Jerusalem will be called the City God Wants,

the City God Has Not Rejected.