60:1 “Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!
The splendor of the Lord shines on you!
60:2 For, look, darkness covers the earth
and deep darkness covers the nations,
but the Lord shines on you;
his splendor appears over you.
60:3 Nations come to your light,
kings to your bright light.
60:4 Look all around you!
They all gather and come to you –
your sons come from far away
and your daughters are escorted by guardians.
60:5 Then you will look and smile,
you will be excited and your heart will swell with pride.
For the riches of distant lands will belong to you
and the wealth of nations will come to you.
60:6 Camel caravans will cover your roads,
young camels from Midian and Ephah.
All the merchants of Sheba will come,
bringing gold and incense
and singing praises to the Lord.
60:7 All the sheep of Kedar will be gathered to you;
the rams of Nebaioth will be available to you as sacrifices.
They will go up on my altar acceptably,
and I will bestow honor on my majestic temple.
60:8 Who are these who float along like a cloud,
who fly like doves to their shelters?
60:9 Indeed, the coastlands look eagerly for me,
the large ships are in the lead,
bringing your sons from far away,
along with their silver and gold,
to honor the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, for he has bestowed honor on you.
60:10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls;
their kings will serve you.
Even though I struck you down in my anger,
I will restore my favor and have compassion on you.
60:11 Your gates will remain open at all times;
they will not be shut during the day or at night,
so that the wealth of nations may be delivered,
with their kings leading the way.
60:12 Indeed, nations or kingdoms that do not serve you will perish;
such nations will be totally destroyed.
60:13 The splendor of Lebanon will come to you,
its evergreens, firs, and cypresses together,
to beautify my palace;
I will bestow honor on my throne room.
60:14 The children of your oppressors will come bowing to you;
all who treated you with disrespect will bow down at your feet.
They will call you, ‘The City of the Lord,
Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’
60:15 You were once abandoned
and despised, with no one passing through,
but I will make you a permanent source of pride
and joy to coming generations.
60:16 You will drink the milk of nations;
you will nurse at the breasts of kings.
Then you will recognize that I, the Lord, am your deliverer,
your protector, the powerful ruler of Jacob.
60:17 Instead of bronze, I will bring you gold,
instead of iron, I will bring you silver,
instead of wood, I will bring you bronze,
instead of stones, I will bring you iron.
I will make prosperity your overseer,
and vindication your sovereign ruler.
60:18 Sounds of violence will no longer be heard in your land,
or the sounds of destruction and devastation within your borders.
You will name your walls, ‘Deliverance,’
and your gates, ‘Praise.’
60:19 The sun will no longer supply light for you by day,
nor will the moon’s brightness shine on you;
the Lord will be your permanent source of light –
the splendor of your God will shine upon you.
60:20 Your sun will no longer set;
your moon will not disappear;
the Lord will be your permanent source of light;
your time of sorrow will be over.
60:21 All of your people will be godly;
they will possess the land permanently.
I will plant them like a shoot;
they will be the product of my labor,
through whom I reveal my splendor.
60:22 The least of you will multiply into a thousand;
the smallest of you will become a large nation.
When the right time comes, I the Lord will quickly do this!”
61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has chosen me.
He has commissioned me to encourage the poor,
to help the brokenhearted,
to decree the release of captives,
and the freeing of prisoners,
61:2 to announce the year when the Lord will show his favor,
the day when our God will seek vengeance,
to console all who mourn,
61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,
by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,
oil symbolizing joy, instead of mourning,
a garment symbolizing praise, instead of discouragement.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor.
61:4 They will rebuild the perpetual ruins
and restore the places that were desolate;
they will reestablish the ruined cities,
the places that have been desolate since ancient times.
61:5 “Foreigners will take care of your sheep;
foreigners will work in your fields and vineyards.
61:6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests,
servants of our God.’
You will enjoy the wealth of nations
and boast about the riches you receive from them.
61:7 Instead of shame, you will get a double portion;
instead of humiliation, they will rejoice over the land they receive.
Yes, they will possess a double portion in their land
and experience lasting joy.
61:8 For I, the Lord, love justice
and hate robbery and sin.
I will repay them because of my faithfulness;
I will make a permanent covenant with them.
61:9 Their descendants will be known among the nations,
their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will recognize that
the Lord has blessed them.”
61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
I will be overjoyed because of my God.
For he clothes me in garments of deliverance;
he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication.
I look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest would;
I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry.
61:11 For just as the ground produces its crops
and a garden yields its produce,
so the sovereign Lord will cause deliverance to grow,
and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations.
62:1 “For the sake of Zion I will not be silent;
for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be quiet,
until her vindication shines brightly
and her deliverance burns like a torch.”
62:2 Nations will see your vindication,
and all kings your splendor.
You will be called by a new name
that the Lord himself will give you.
62:3 You will be a majestic crown in the hand of the Lord,
a royal turban in the hand of your God.
62:4 You will no longer be called, “Abandoned,”
and your land will no longer be called “Desolate.”
Indeed, you will be called “My Delight is in Her,”
and your land “Married.”
For the Lord will take delight in you,
and your land will be married to him.
62:5 As a young man marries a young woman,
so your sons will marry you.
As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride,
so your God will rejoice over you.
62:6 I post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they should keep praying all day and all night.
You who pray to the Lord, don’t be silent!
62:7 Don’t allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem,
until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.
62:8 The Lord swears an oath by his right hand,
by his strong arm:
“I will never again give your grain
to your enemies as food,
and foreigners will not drink your wine,
which you worked hard to produce.
62:9 But those who harvest the grain will eat it,
and will praise the Lord.
Those who pick the grapes will drink the wine
in the courts of my holy sanctuary.”
62:10 Come through! Come through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people!
Build it! Build the roadway!
Remove the stones!
Lift a signal flag for the nations!
62:11 Look, the Lord announces to the entire earth:
“Say to Daughter Zion,
‘Look, your deliverer comes!
Look, his reward is with him
and his reward goes before him!’”
62:12 They will be called, “The Holy People,
the Ones Protected by the Lord.”
You will be called, “Sought After,
City Not Abandoned.”
63:1 Who is this who comes from Edom,
dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah?
Who is this one wearing royal attire,
who marches confidently because of his great strength?
“It is I, the one who announces vindication,
and who is able to deliver!”
63:2 Why are your clothes red?
Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat?
63:3 “I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself;
no one from the nations joined me.
I stomped on them in my anger;
I trampled them down in my rage.
Their juice splashed on my garments,
and stained all my clothes.
63:4 For I looked forward to the day of vengeance,
and then payback time arrived.
63:5 I looked, but there was no one to help;
I was shocked because there was no one offering support.
So my right arm accomplished deliverance;
my raging anger drove me on.
63:6 I trampled nations in my anger,
I made them drunk in my rage,
I splashed their blood on the ground.”
63:7 I will tell of the faithful acts of the Lord,
of the Lord’s praiseworthy deeds.
I will tell about all the Lord did for us,
the many good things he did for the family of Israel,
because of his compassion and great faithfulness.
63:8 He said, “Certainly they will be my people,
children who are not disloyal.”
He became their deliverer.
63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too.
The messenger sent from his very presence delivered them.
In his love and mercy he protected them;
he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times.
63:10 But they rebelled and offended his holy Spirit,
so he turned into an enemy
and fought against them.
63:11 His people remembered the ancient times.
Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,
along with the shepherd of his flock?
Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them,
63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses,
who divided the water before them,
gaining for himself a lasting reputation,
63:13 who led them through the deep water?
Like a horse running on flat land they did not stumble.
63:14 Like an animal that goes down into a valley to graze,
so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest.
In this way you guided your people,
gaining for yourself an honored reputation.
63:15 Look down from heaven and take notice,
from your holy, majestic palace!
Where are your zeal and power?
Do not hold back your tender compassion!
63:16 For you are our father,
though Abraham does not know us
and Israel does not recognize us.
You, Lord, are our father;
you have been called our protector from ancient times.
63:17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray from your ways,
and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you?
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your inheritance!
63:18 For a short time your special nation possessed a land,
but then our adversaries knocked down your holy sanctuary.
63:19 We existed from ancient times,
but you did not rule over them,
they were not your subjects.
64:1 (63:19b) If only you would tear apart the sky and come down!
The mountains would tremble before you!
64:2 (64:1) As when fire ignites dry wood,
or fire makes water boil,
let your adversaries know who you are,
and may the nations shake at your presence!
64:3 When you performed awesome deeds that took us by surprise,
you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
64:4 Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who intervenes for those who wait for him.
64:5 You assist those who delight in doing what is right,
who observe your commandments.
Look, you were angry because we violated them continually.
How then can we be saved?
64:6 We are all like one who is unclean,
all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight.
We all wither like a leaf;
our sins carry us away like the wind.
64:7 No one invokes your name,
or makes an effort to take hold of you.
For you have rejected us
and handed us over to our own sins.
64:8 Yet, Lord, you are our father.
We are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the product of your labor.
64:9 Lord, do not be too angry!
Do not hold our sins against us continually!
Take a good look at your people, at all of us!
64:10 Your chosen cities have become a desert;
Zion has become a desert,
Jerusalem is a desolate ruin.
64:11 Our holy temple, our pride and joy,
the place where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned with fire;
all our prized possessions have been destroyed.
64:12 In light of all this, how can you still hold back, Lord?
How can you be silent and continue to humiliate us?
65:1 “I made myself available to those who did not ask for me;
I appeared to those who did not look for me.
I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’
to a nation that did not invoke my name.
65:2 I spread out my hands all day long
to my rebellious people,
who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable,
and who did what they desired.
65:3 These people continually and blatantly offend me
as they sacrifice in their sacred orchards
and burn incense on brick altars.
65:4 They sit among the tombs
and keep watch all night long.
They eat pork,
and broth from unclean sacrificial meat is in their pans.
65:5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself!
Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’
These people are like smoke in my nostrils,
like a fire that keeps burning all day long.
65:6 Look, I have decreed:
I will not keep silent, but will pay them back;
I will pay them back exactly what they deserve,
65:7 for your sins and your ancestors’ sins,” says the Lord.
“Because they burned incense on the mountains
and offended me on the hills,
I will punish them in full measure.”
65:8 This is what the Lord says:
“When juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes,
someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’
So I will do for the sake of my servants –
I will not destroy everyone.
65:9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains.
My chosen ones will take possession of the land;
my servants will live there.
65:10 Sharon will become a pasture for sheep,
and the Valley of Achor a place where cattle graze;
they will belong to my people, who seek me.
65:11 But as for you who abandon the Lord
and forget about worshiping at my holy mountain,
who prepare a feast for the god called ‘Fortune,’
and fill up wine jugs for the god called ‘Destiny’ –
65:12 I predestine you to die by the sword,
all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block,
because I called to you, and you did not respond,
I spoke and you did not listen.
You did evil before me;
you chose to do what displeases me.”
65:13 So this is what the sovereign Lord says:
“Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry!
Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty!
Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated!
65:14 Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts!
But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts;
you will wail because your spirits will be crushed.
65:15 Your names will live on in the curse formulas of my chosen ones.
The sovereign Lord will kill you,
but he will give his servants another name.
65:16 Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth
will do so in the name of the faithful God;
whoever makes an oath in the earth
will do so in the name of the faithful God.
For past problems will be forgotten;
I will no longer think about them.
65:17 For look, I am ready to create
new heavens and a new earth!
The former ones will not be remembered;
no one will think about them anymore.
65:18 But be happy and rejoice forevermore
over what I am about to create!
For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem to be a source of joy,
and her people to be a source of happiness.
65:19 Jerusalem will bring me joy,
and my people will bring me happiness.
The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow
will never be heard in her again.
65:20 Never again will one of her infants live just a few days
or an old man die before his time.
Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred,
anyone who fails to reach the age of a hundred will be considered cursed.
65:21 They will build houses and live in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
65:22 No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it,
or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit,
for my people will live as long as trees,
and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced.
65:23 They will not work in vain,
or give birth to children that will experience disaster.
For the Lord will bless their children
and their descendants.
65:24 Before they even call out, I will respond;
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
65:25 A wolf and a lamb will graze together;
a lion, like an ox, will eat straw,
and a snake’s food will be dirt.
They will no longer injure or destroy
on my entire royal mountain,” says the Lord.
66:1 This is what the Lord says:
“The heavens are my throne
and the earth is my footstool.
Where then is the house you will build for me?
Where is the place where I will rest?
66:2 My hand made them;
that is how they came to be,” says the Lord.
I show special favor to the humble and contrite,
who respect what I have to say.
66:3 The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man;
the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck;
the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it;
the one who offers incense also praises an idol.
They have decided to behave this way;
they enjoy these disgusting practices.
66:4 So I will choose severe punishment for them;
I will bring on them what they dread,
because I called, and no one responded,
I spoke and they did not listen.
They did evil before me;
they chose to do what displeases me.”
66:5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you who respect what he has to say!
Your countrymen, who hate you
and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name,
say, “May the Lord be glorified,
then we will witness your joy.”
But they will be put to shame.
66:6 The sound of battle comes from the city;
the sound comes from the temple!
It is the sound of the Lord paying back his enemies.
66:7 Before she goes into labor, she gives birth!
Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!
66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?
Who has ever seen this?
Can a country be brought forth in one day?
Can a nation be born in a single moment?
Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!
66:9 “Do I bring a baby to the birth opening and then not deliver it?”
asks the Lord.
“Or do I bring a baby to the point of delivery and then hold it back?”
asks your God.
66:10 Be happy for Jerusalem
and rejoice with her, all you who love her!
Share in her great joy,
all you who have mourned over her!
66:11 For you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished;
you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts.
66:12 For this is what the Lord says:
“Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river,
the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks.
You will nurse from her breast and be carried at her side;
you will play on her knees.
66:13 As a mother consoles a child,
so I will console you,
and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”
66:14 When you see this, you will be happy,
and you will be revived.
The Lord will reveal his power to his servants
and his anger to his enemies.
66:15 For look, the Lord comes with fire,
his chariots come like a windstorm,
to reveal his raging anger,
his battle cry, and his flaming arrows.
66:16 For the Lord judges all humanity
with fire and his sword;
the Lord will kill many.
66:17 “As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards, those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice – they will all be destroyed together,” says the Lord. 66:18 “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming to gather all the nations and ethnic groups; they will come and witness my splendor. 66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, Lud (known for its archers), Tubal, Javan, and to the distant coastlands that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor. 66:20 They will bring back all your countrymen from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers. 66:21 And I will choose some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord. 66:22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me,” says the Lord, “so your descendants and your name will remain. 66:23 From one month to the next and from one Sabbath to the next, all people will come to worship me,” says the Lord. 66:24 “They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die, and the fire that consumes them will not die out. All people will find the sight abhorrent.”