Yesaya 61:1

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ¹  me. ² 

He has commissioned ³  me to encourage ⁴  the poor,

to help ⁵  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

Yesaya 61:11

61:11 For just as the ground produces its crops

and a garden yields its produce,

so the sovereign Lord will cause deliverance ⁶  to grow,

and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations. ⁷ 

[61:1]  ¹ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ² sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

[61:1]  ³ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ⁴ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[61:11]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps, “righteousness,” but the context seems to emphasize deliverance and restoration (see v. 10 and 62:1).

[61:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “and praise before all the nations.”