Isaiah 61:2-11 ▼

2 To announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God; To comfort all who mourn;

3 to place on those who mourn in Zion a diadem instead of ashes, To give them oil of gladness instead of mourning, a glorious mantle instead of a faint spirit.

4 They shall rebuild the ancient ruins, the former wastes they shall raise up And restore the desolate cities, devastations of generation upon generation.

5 Strangers shall stand ready to pasture your flocks, foreigners shall be your farmers and vinedressers.

6 You yourselves shall be called “Priests of the LORD,” “Ministers of our God” you shall be called. You shall eat the wealth of the nations and in their riches you will boast.

7 Because their shame was twofold and disgrace was proclaimed their portion, They will possess twofold in their own land; everlasting joy shall be theirs.

8 For I, the LORD, love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their recompense, an everlasting covenant I will make with them.

9 Their offspring shall be renowned among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; All who see them shall acknowledge them: “They are offspring the LORD has blessed.”

10 I will rejoice heartily in the LORD, my being exults in my God; For he has clothed me with garments of salvation, and wrapped me in a robe of justice, Like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 As the earth brings forth its shoots, and a garden makes its seeds spring up, So will the Lord GOD make justice spring up, and praise before all the nations.