UST ISA Chapter 61

◄ ISA 61 ► ║ ═ ©

61 Because Yahweh, the Lord, has chosen me for this task,

his Spirit is directing me.

He wants me to tell good news to people who are poor,

to encourage people who are very sad,

and to announce that he will set free

people whom their enemies have captured.

2 He has sent me to announce that Yahweh will now act kindly toward his people

but that he, our God, will punish their enemies.

He is going to comfort people who have been grieving.

3 This is what he will do for the people of Jerusalem who have been grieving.

They have been putting ashes on their heads to express their grief,

but he will give them beautiful headdresses to wear instead.

Since they will not be sad anymore,

he will have them put oil on their hair as people do when they celebrate.

He will enable them to praise him instead of feeling despair.

People will acknowledge that Yahweh has restored them to their land

and made them great and strong like oak trees.

This will glorify him.

4 They will rebuild the cities that have been in ruins for a long time.

Their enemies destroyed those cities,

and no one has lived in them for many generations.

5 Foreigners will serve you by caring for your flocks.

People from other countries will plow your fields and tend your vineyards.

6 People will say that you are like priests who serve Yahweh, our God.

You will enjoy valuable things that come from other nations.

You will be proud of the wealth you get from them.

7 You will no longer feel shame,

because you will have twice as many good things as you had before.

You will no longer feel disgrace.

Instead, you will shout joyfully about what you have received.

You will possess twice as much as before in your own land,

and you will always be happy.

8 “I, Yahweh, love it when people judge fairly,

but I hate it when people rob others and act unjustly.

I will reward my people for being faithful to me.

I will make a permanent agreement with them.

9 Their descendants will do things that make them famous.

People of other nations will know about them.

Those who see them will recognize

that they are a people whom I, Yahweh, have blessed.”

10 I am very happy because of what Yahweh has done!

Yes, I am very glad about what my God has done.

He has saved me by delivering me from my enemies.

It is as if he has given me new clothes to wear,

just as a bridegroom puts on a fine turban

and a bride wears her jewelry.

11 Just as seeds grow from the ground

and things that people plant in gardens grow there,

so Yahweh, the Lord, will deliver his people

as the people of other nations are watching,

and this will make people praise him.