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The Year of the Lord’s Favor

  1The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
   because the Lord has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
   to proclaim freedom for the captives
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,
  2to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
   and the day of vengeance of our God,
  to comfort all who mourn,
   3and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
  to bestow on them a crown of beauty
   instead of ashes,
  the oil of joy
   instead of mourning,
  and a garment of praise
   instead of a spirit of despair.
  They will be called oaks of righteousness,
   a planting of the Lord
   for the display of his splendor.

  4They will rebuild the ancient ruins
   and restore the places long devastated;
  they will renew the ruined cities
   that have been devastated for generations.
  5Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
   foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
  6And you will be called priests of the Lord,
   you will be named ministers of our God.
  You will feed on the wealth of nations,
   and in their riches you will boast.

  7Instead of your shame
   you will receive a double portion,
  and instead of disgrace
   you will rejoice in your inheritance.
  And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
   and everlasting joy will be yours.

  8“For I, the Lord, love justice;
   I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
  In my faithfulness I will reward my people
   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 delight greatly in the Lord;
   my soul rejoices in my God.
  For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
   and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
  as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
   and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
  11For as the soil makes the sprout come up
   and a garden causes seeds to grow,
  so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
   and praise spring up before all nations.