Isaiah 61–63; Proverbs 11

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Isaiah 61–63

The Year of the Lord’s Favor

sThe Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has tanointed me

to bring good news to the poor;1

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and uthe opening of the prison to those who are bound;2

vto proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,

wand the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

to grant to those who mourn in Zion

xto give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

ythe oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

zthat they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, athat he may be glorified.3

bThey shall build up the ancient ruins;

they shall raise up the former devastations;

they shall repair the ruined cities,

the devastations of many generations.

cStrangers shall stand and tend your flocks;

foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;

dbut you shall be called the priests of the Lord;

they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;

eyou shall eat the wealth of the nations,

and in their glory you shall boast.

fInstead of your shame there shall be a double portion;

instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;

therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;

they shall have everlasting joy.

gFor I the Lord love justice;

I hate robbery and wrong;4

hI will faithfully give them their recompense,

iand I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their offspring shall be known among the nations,

and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;

all who see them shall acknowledge them,

that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.

10  jI will greatly rejoice in the Lord;

my soul shall exult in my God,

kfor he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself llike a priest with a beautiful headdress,

mand as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11  For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,

so the Lord God will cause nrighteousness and praise

to sprout up before all the nations.

Zion’s Coming Salvation

oFor Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,

and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,

puntil her righteousness goes forth as brightness,

and her salvation as a burning torch.

qThe nations shall see your righteousness,

and all the kings your glory,

rand you shall be called by a new name

that the mouth of the Lord will give.

You shall be sa crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,

and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

tYou shall no more be termed uForsaken,5

and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,6

rbut you shall be called vMy Delight Is in Her,7

and your land Married;8

for the Lord delights in you,

and your land shall be married.

For as a young man marries a young woman,

so wshall your sons marry you,

and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

so xshall your God rejoice over you.

On your walls, O Jerusalem,

I have set ywatchmen;

all the day and all the night

they shall never be silent.

You who put the Lord in remembrance,

take no rest,

and give him no rest

until he establishes Jerusalem

and makes it za praise in the earth.

The Lord has sworn aby his right hand

and by his mighty arm:

I will not again give byour grain

to be food for your enemies,

cand foreigners shall not drink your wine

for which you have labored;

but dthose who garner it shall eat it

and praise the Lord,

and dthose who gather it shall drink it

in the courts of my sanctuary.9

10  Go through, go through the gates;

eprepare the way for the people;

fbuild up, build up the highway;

clear it of stones;

glift up a signal over the peoples.

11  Behold, the Lord has proclaimed

to the end of the earth:

hSay to the daughter of Zion,

iBehold, your salvation comes;

behold, his reward is with him,

and his recompense before him.

12  jAnd they shall be called The Holy People,

The Redeemed of the Lord;

kand you shall be called Sought Out,

A City Not Forsaken.

The Lord’s Day of Vengeance

Who is this who comes from lEdom,

in crimsoned garments from lBozrah,

he who is splendid in his apparel,

mmarching in the greatness of his strength?

It is I, speaking in righteousness,

mighty to save.

Why is your napparel red,

and your garments like his owho treads in the winepress?

pI have trodden the winepress alone,

qand from the peoples no one was with me;

I trod them in my anger

and trampled them in my wrath;

their lifeblood10 spattered on my garments,

and stained all my apparel.

rFor the day of vengeance was in my heart,

and my year of redemption11 had come.

I looked, but sthere was no one to help;

I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;

so my own arm brought me salvation,

and my wrath upheld me.

I trampled down the peoples in my anger;

tI made them drunk in my wrath,

and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.

The Lord’s Mercy Remembered

I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord,

the praises of the Lord,

according to all that the Lord has granted us,

uand the great goodness to the house of Israel

that he has granted them according to his compassion,

according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

For he said, Surely they are my people,

children who will not deal falsely.

And he became their Savior.

vIn all their affliction he was afflicted,12

and the angel of his presence saved them;

win his love and in his pity he redeemed them;

xhe lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

10  yBut they rebelled

zand grieved his Holy Spirit;

therefore he turned to be their enemy,

and himself fought against them.

11  Then he remembered athe days of old,

of Moses and his people.13

bWhere is he who brought them up out of the sea

with the shepherds of his flock?

Where is he who put in the midst of them

his Holy Spirit,

12  who caused his glorious arm

to go at the right hand of Moses,

cwho divided the waters before them

dto make for himself an everlasting name,

13  who led them through the depths?

Like a horse in the desert,

they did not stumble.

14  Like livestock that go down into the valley,

ethe Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.

So you led your people,

dto make for yourself a glorious name.

Prayer for Mercy

15  fLook down from heaven and see,

gfrom your holy and beautiful14 habitation.

Where are hyour zeal and your might?

The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion

are held back from me.

16  For iyou are our Father,

though Abraham does not know us,

and Israel does not acknowledge us;

you, O Lord, are our Father,

jour Redeemer from of old is your name.

17  O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways

and kharden our heart, so that we fear you not?

lReturn for the sake of your servants,

the tribes of your heritage.

18  mYour holy people held possession for a little while;15

nour adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.

19  oWe have become like those over whom you have never ruled,

like those who are not called by your name.


Proverbs 11

aA false balance is an abomination to the Lord,

bbut a just weight is his delight.

cWhen pride comes, then comes disgrace,

but with dthe humble is wisdom.

eThe integrity of the upright guides them,

fbut the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

gRiches do not profit in the day of wrath,

hbut righteousness delivers from death.

The righteousness of the blameless ikeeps his way straight,

but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.

hThe righteousness of the upright delivers them,

but the treacherous jare taken captive by their lust.

When the wicked dies, his khope will perish,

and lthe expectation of wealth1 perishes too.

mThe righteous is delivered from trouble,

and the wicked walks into it instead.

With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor,

but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.

10  nWhen it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,

and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.

11  By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,

but oby the mouth of the wicked pit is overthrown.

12  Whoever qbelittles his neighbor lacks sense,

but a man of understanding remains silent.

13  Whoever rgoes about slandering reveals secrets,

but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.

14  Where there is sno guidance, a people falls,

sbut in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

15  tWhoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm,

but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure.

16  uA gracious woman gets honor,

and vviolent men get riches.

17  wA man who is kind benefits himself,

but a cruel man hurts himself.

18  The wicked earns deceptive wages,

but one who xsows righteousness gets a sure reward.

19  Whoever is steadfast in righteousness ywill live,

but zhe who pursues evil will die.

20  Those of acrooked heart are ban abomination to the Lord,

but those of cblameless ways are dhis delight.

21  eBe assured, fan evil person will not go unpunished,

but gthe offspring of the righteous will be delivered.

22  Like ha gold ring in a pig’s snout

is a beautiful woman without discretion.

23  The desire of the righteous ends only in good,

ithe expectation of the wicked in wrath.

24  jOne gives kfreely, yet grows all the richer;

another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

25  lWhoever brings blessing mwill be enriched,

and none who waters will himself be watered.

26  oThe people curse him who holds back grain,

but pa blessing is on the head of him who qsells it.

27  Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor,2

but evil comes to rhim who searches for it.

28  Whoever strusts in his riches will fall,

but the righteous will tflourish like a green leaf.

29  Whoever utroubles his own household will vinherit the wind,

and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

30  The fruit of the righteous is wa tree of life,

and whoever xcaptures souls is wise.

31  If ythe righteous is repaid on earth,

how much more the wicked and the sinner!