Isaiah 59-63

New International Version

⁹ So justice is far from us,
    and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;^(W)
    for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
¹⁰ Like the blind^(X) we grope along the wall,
    feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble^(Y) as if it were twilight;
    among the strong, we are like the dead.^(Z)
11 We all growl like bears;
    we moan mournfully like doves.^(AA)
We look for justice, but find none;
    for deliverance, but it is far away.

¹² For our offenses^(AB) are many in your sight,
    and our sins testify^(AC) against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
    and we acknowledge our iniquities:^(AD)
13 rebellion^(AE) and treachery against the Lord,
    turning our backs^(AF) on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,^(AG)
    uttering lies^(AH) our hearts have conceived.
¹⁴ So justice^(AI) is driven back,
    and righteousness^(AJ) stands at a distance;
truth^(AK) has stumbled in the streets,
    honesty cannot enter.
¹⁵ Truth^(AL) is nowhere to be found,
    and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased
    that there was no justice.^(AM)
16 He saw that there was no one,^(AN)
    he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;^(AO)
so his own arm achieved salvation^(AP) for him,
    and his own righteousness^(AQ) sustained him.
¹⁷ He put on righteousness as his breastplate,^(AR)
    and the helmet^(AS) of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments^(AT) of vengeance^(AU)
    and wrapped himself in zeal^(AV) as in a cloak.
¹⁸ According to what they have done,
    so will he repay^(AW)
wrath to his enemies
    and retribution to his foes;
    he will repay the islands^(AX) their due.
¹⁹ From the west,^(AY) people will fear the name of the Lord,
    and from the rising of the sun,^(AZ) they will revere his glory.^(BA)
For he will come like a pent-up flood
    that the breath^(BB) of the Lord drives along.^[a]

²⁰ “The Redeemer^(BC) will come to Zion,^(BD)
    to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”^(BE)
declares the Lord.

⁴ “Lift up your eyes and look about you:
    All assemble^(BR) and come to you;
your sons come from afar,^(BS)
    and your daughters^(BT) are carried on the hip.^(BU)
5 Then you will look and be radiant,^(BV)
    your heart will throb and swell with joy;^(BW)
the wealth^(BX) on the seas will be brought to you,
    to you the riches of the nations will come.
⁶ Herds of camels^(BY) will cover your land,
    young camels of Midian^(BZ) and Ephah.^(CA)
And all from Sheba^(CB) will come,
    bearing gold and incense^(CC)
    and proclaiming the praise^(CD) of the Lord.
⁷ All Kedar’s^(CE) flocks will be gathered to you,
    the rams of Nebaioth will serve you;
they will be accepted as offerings^(CF) on my altar,^(CG)
    and I will adorn my glorious temple.^(CH)

⁸ “Who are these^(CI) that fly along like clouds,^(CJ)
    like doves to their nests?
⁹ Surely the islands^(CK) look to me;
    in the lead are the ships of Tarshish,^[b](CL)
bringing^(CM) your children from afar,
    with their silver and gold,^(CN)
to the honor^(CO) of the Lord your God,
    the Holy One^(CP) of Israel,
    for he has endowed you with splendor.^(CQ)

¹⁰ “Foreigners^(CR) will rebuild your walls,
    and their kings^(CS) will serve you.
Though in anger I struck you,
    in favor^(CT) I will show you compassion.^(CU)
11 Your gates^(CV) will always stand open,
    they will never be shut, day or night,
so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations^(CW)—
    their kings^(CX) led in triumphal procession.
¹² For the nation or kingdom that will not serve^(CY) you will perish;
    it will be utterly ruined.^(CZ)

¹³ “The glory of Lebanon^(DA) will come to you,
    the juniper, the fir and the cypress together,^(DB)
to adorn my sanctuary;^(DC)
    and I will glorify the place for my feet.^(DD)
14 The children of your oppressors^(DE) will come bowing before you;
    all who despise you will bow down^(DF) at your feet
and will call you the City^(DG) of the Lord,
    Zion^(DH) of the Holy One^(DI) of Israel.

¹⁵ “Although you have been forsaken^(DJ) and hated,
    with no one traveling^(DK) through,
I will make you the everlasting pride^(DL)
    and the joy^(DM) of all generations.
¹⁶ You will drink the milk of nations
    and be nursed^(DN) at royal breasts.
Then you will know^(DO) that I, the Lord, am your Savior,^(DP)
    your Redeemer,^(DQ) the Mighty One of Jacob.^(DR)
17 Instead of bronze I will bring you gold,^(DS)
    and silver in place of iron.
Instead of wood I will bring you bronze,
    and iron in place of stones.
I will make peace^(DT) your governor
    and well-being your ruler.^(DU)
18 No longer will violence^(DV) be heard in your land,
    nor ruin or destruction^(DW) within your borders,
but you will call your walls Salvation^(DX)
    and your gates Praise.^(DY)
19 The sun will no more be your light by day,
    nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,^(DZ)
    and your God will be your glory.^(EA)
20 Your sun^(EB) will never set again,
    and your moon will wane no more;
the Lord will be your everlasting light,
    and your days of sorrow^(EC) will end.
²¹ Then all your people will be righteous^(ED)
    and they will possess^(EE) the land forever.
They are the shoot I have planted,^(EF)
    the work of my hands,^(EG)
    for the display of my splendor.^(EH)
22 The least of you will become a thousand,
    the smallest a mighty nation.^(EI)
I am the Lord;
    in its time I will do this swiftly.”^(EJ)

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

⁷ Instead of your shame^(FG)
    you will receive a double^(FH) portion,
and instead of disgrace
    you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit^(FI) a double portion in your land,
    and everlasting joy^(FJ) will be yours.

⁸ “For I, the Lord, love justice;^(FK)
    I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
    and make an everlasting covenant^(FL) with them.
⁹ Their descendants^(FM) 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.”^(FN)

¹⁰ I delight greatly in the Lord;
    my soul rejoices^(FO) in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
    and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,^(FP)
as a bridegroom adorns his head^(FQ) like a priest,
    and as a bride^(FR) adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹ For as the soil makes the sprout come up
    and a garden^(FS) causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness^(FT)
    and praise spring up before all nations.

⁶ I have posted watchmen^(GI) on your walls, Jerusalem;
    they will never be silent day or night.
You who call on the Lord,
    give yourselves no rest,^(GJ)
7 and give him no rest^(GK) till he establishes Jerusalem
    and makes her the praise^(GL) of the earth.

⁸ The Lord has sworn^(GM) by his right hand
    and by his mighty arm:
“Never again will I give your grain^(GN)
    as food for your enemies,
and never again will foreigners drink the new wine
    for which you have toiled;
⁹ but those who harvest it will eat^(GO) it
    and praise the Lord,^(GP)
and those who gather the grapes will drink it
    in the courts of my sanctuary.”^(GQ)

¹⁰ Pass through, pass through the gates!^(GR)
    Prepare the way for the people.
Build up, build up the highway!^(GS)
    Remove the stones.
Raise a banner^(GT) for the nations.

¹¹ The Lord has made proclamation
    to the ends of the earth:^(GU)
“Say to Daughter Zion,^(GV)
    ‘See, your Savior comes!^(GW)
See, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense accompanies him.’”^(GX)
12 They will be called^(GY) the Holy People,^(GZ)
    the Redeemed^(HA) of the Lord;
and you will be called Sought After,
    the City No Longer Deserted.^(HB)

“It is I, proclaiming victory,
    mighty to save.”^(HG)

² Why are your garments red,
    like those of one treading the winepress?^(HH)

³ “I have trodden the winepress^(HI) alone;
    from the nations no one was with me.
I trampled^(HJ) them in my anger
    and trod them down in my wrath;^(HK)
their blood spattered my garments,^(HL)
    and I stained all my clothing.
⁴ It was for me the day of vengeance;^(HM)
    the year for me to redeem had come.
⁵ I looked, but there was no one^(HN) to help,
    I was appalled that no one gave support;
so my own arm^(HO) achieved salvation for me,
    and my own wrath sustained me.^(HP)
6 I trampled^(HQ) the nations in my anger;
    in my wrath I made them drunk^(HR)
    and poured their blood^(HS) on the ground.”

¹¹ Then his people recalled^[g] the days of old,
    the days of Moses and his people—
where is he who brought them through the sea,^(IH)
    with the shepherd of his flock?^(II)
Where is he who set
    his Holy Spirit^(IJ) among them,
¹² who sent his glorious arm^(IK) of power
    to be at Moses’ right hand,
who divided the waters^(IL) before them,
    to gain for himself everlasting renown,^(IM)
13 who led^(IN) them through the depths?^(IO)
Like a horse in open country,
    they did not stumble;^(IP)
14 like cattle that go down to the plain,
    they were given rest^(IQ) by the Spirit of the Lord.
This is how you guided your people
    to make for yourself a glorious name.

¹⁵ Look down from heaven^(IR) and see,
    from your lofty throne,^(IS) holy and glorious.
Where are your zeal^(IT) and your might?
    Your tenderness and compassion^(IU) are withheld^(IV) from us.
¹⁶ But you are our Father,^(IW)
    though Abraham does not know us
    or Israel acknowledge^(IX) us;
you, Lord, are our Father,
    our Redeemer^(IY) from of old is your name.
¹⁷ Why, Lord, do you make us wander^(IZ) from your ways
    and harden our hearts^(JA) so we do not revere^(JB) you?
Return^(JC) for the sake of your servants,
    the tribes that are your inheritance.^(JD)
18 For a little while^(JE) your people possessed your holy place,
    but now our enemies have trampled^(JF) down your sanctuary.^(JG)
19 We are yours from of old;
    but you have not ruled over them,
    they have not been called^[h] by your name.^(JH)