Isaiah 61:2-11 ▼

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;

3 to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

4 They shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

5 Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

6 But you shall be named the priests of the LORD; men will call you the ministers of our God: you will eat the wealth of the nations, and you will boast in their glory.

7 Instead of your shame you shall have double; and instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be to them.

8 |For I, the LORD, love justice, and I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the offspring which the LORD has blessed.|

10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the earth brings forth its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the LORD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.