22The least of you will become a thousand,

and the smallest a mighty nation.

I am the LORD;

in its time I will accomplish it quickly.

The Year of the LORD’s Favor

1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me,

because the LORD has anointed Me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives

and freedom to the prisoners,

2to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor

and the day of our God’s vengeance,

to comfort all who mourn,

3to console the mourners in Zion—

to give them a crown of beauty for ashes,

the oil of joy for mourning,

and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair.

So they will be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

4They will rebuild the ancient ruins;

they will restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities,

the desolations of many generations.

5Strangers will stand and feed your flocks,

and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.

6But you will be called the priests of the LORD;

they will speak of you as ministers of our God;

you will feed on the wealth of nations,

and you will boast in their riches.

7Instead of shame, My people will have a double portion,

and instead of humiliation, they will rejoice in their share;

and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,

and everlasting joy will be theirs.

8For I, the LORD, love justice;

I hate robbery and iniquity;

in My faithfulness I will give them their recompense

and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9Their descendants will be known among the nations,

and their offspring among the peoples.

All who see them will acknowledge

that they are a people the LORD has blessed.

10I will rejoice greatly in the LORD,

my soul will exult in my God;

for He has clothed me with garments of salvation

and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress,

as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11For as the earth brings forth its growth,

and as a garden enables seed to spring up,

so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise

to spring up before all the nations.

Zion’s Salvation and New Name

1For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,

and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep still,

until her righteousness shines like a bright light,

her salvation like a blazing torch.

2Nations will see your righteousness,

and all kings your glory.

You will be called by a new name

that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.

3You will be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD,

a royal diadem in the palm of your God.

4No longer will you be called Forsaken,

nor your land named Desolate;

but you will be called Hephzibah,

and your land Beulah;

for the LORD will take delight in you,

and your land will be His bride.

5For as a young man marries a young woman,

so your sons will marry you;

and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,

so your God will rejoice over you.

6On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen;

they will never be silent day or night.

You who call on the LORD

shall take no rest for yourselves,

7nor give Him any rest

until He establishes Jerusalem

and makes her the praise of the earth.

8The LORD has sworn by His right hand

and by His mighty arm:

“Never again will I give your grain

to your enemies for food,

nor will foreigners drink the new wine

for which you have toiled.

9For those who harvest grain

will eat it and praise the LORD,

and those who gather grapes

will drink the wine in My holy courts.”

10Go out, go out through the gates;

prepare the way for the people!

Build it up, build up the highway;

clear away the stones;

raise a banner for the nations!

11Behold, the LORD has proclaimed

to the ends of the earth,

“Say to Daughter Zion:

See, your Savior comes!

Look, His reward is with Him,

and His recompense goes before Him.”

12And they will be called the Holy People,

the Redeemed of The LORD;

and you will be called Sought Out,

A City Not Forsaken.

God’s Vengeance on the Nations

1Who is this coming from Edom,

from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments?

Who is this robed in splendor,

marching in the greatness of His strength?

“It is I, proclaiming vindication,

mighty to save.”

2Why are Your clothes red,

and Your garments like one who treads the winepress?

3“I have trodden the winepress alone,

and no one from the nations was with Me.

I trampled them in My anger

and trod them down in My fury;

their blood spattered My garments,

and all My clothes were stained.

4For the day of vengeance was in My heart,

and the year of My redemption had come.

5I looked, but there was no one to help;

I was appalled that no one assisted.

So My arm brought Me salvation,

and My own wrath upheld Me.

6I trampled the nations in My anger;

in My wrath I made them drunk

and poured out their blood on the ground.”

God’s Mercies Recalled

7I will make known the LORD’s loving devotion

and His praiseworthy acts,

because of all that the LORD has done for us—

the many good things for the house of Israel

according to His great compassion and loving devotion.

8For He said, “They are surely My people,

sons who will not be disloyal.”

So He became their Savior.

9In all their distress, He too was afflicted,

and the Angel of His Presence saved them.

In His love and compassion He redeemed them;

He lifted them up and carried them

all the days of old.

10But they rebelled

and grieved His Holy Spirit.

So He turned and became their enemy,

and He Himself fought against them.

11Then His people remembered the days of old,

the days of Moses.

Where is He who brought them through the sea

with the shepherds of His flock?

Where is the One who set

His Holy Spirit among them,

12who sent His glorious arm

to lead them by the right hand of Moses,

who divided the waters before them

to gain for Himself everlasting renown,

13who led them through the depths

like a horse in the wilderness,

so that they did not stumble?

14Like cattle going down to the valley,

the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest.

You led Your people this way

to make for Yourself a glorious name.

A Prayer for Mercy

15Look down from heaven and see,

from Your holy and glorious habitation.

Where are Your zeal and might?

Your yearning and compassion for me are restrained.

16Yet You are our Father,

though Abraham does not know us

and Israel does not acknowledge us.

You, O LORD, are our Father;

our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.

17Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways

and harden our hearts from fearing You?

Return, for the sake of Your servants,

the tribes of Your heritage.

18For a short while Your people possessed Your holy place,

but our enemies have trampled Your sanctuary.

19We have become like those You never ruled,

like those not called by Your name.

A Prayer for God’s Power

1If only You would rend the heavens and come down,

so that mountains would quake at Your presence,

2as fire kindles the brushwood

and causes the water to boil,

to make Your name known to Your enemies,

so that the nations will tremble at Your presence!

3When You did awesome works that we did not expect,

You came down, and the mountains trembled at Your presence.

4From ancient times no one has heard,

no ear has perceived,

no eye has seen any God besides You,

who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.

5You welcome those who gladly do right,

who remember Your ways.

Surely You were angry, for we sinned.

How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?

6Each of us has become like something unclean,

and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

we all wither like a leaf,

and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

7No one calls on Your name

or strives to take hold of You.

For You have hidden Your face from us

and delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.

8But now, O LORD, You are our Father;

we are the clay, and You are the potter;

we are all the work of Your hand.

9Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure;

do not remember our iniquity forever.

Oh, look upon us, we pray;

we are all Your people!

10Your holy cities have become a wilderness.

Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation.

11Our holy and beautiful temple,

where our fathers praised You,

has been burned with fire,

and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.

12After all this, O LORD,

will You restrain Yourself?

Will You keep silent

and afflict us beyond measure?

Judgments and Promises

1“I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me;

I was found by those who did not seek Me.

To a nation that did not call My name,

I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’