Isaías 61

BLIVRE · Chapter 61/66

1O Espírito do Senhor DEUS está sobre mim; pois o SENHOR me ungiu, para dar boas novas aos mansos; ele me enviou para sarar aos feridos de coração, para anunciar liberdade aos cativos, e libertação aos prisioneiros.

2Para anunciar o ano do favor do SENHOR, e o dia da vingança de nosso Deus; para consolar todos os tristes.

3Para ordenar aos tristes de Sião, que lhes seja dado ornamento no lugar de cinza, óleo de alegria no lugar de tristeza, vestes de louvor no lugar de espírito angustiado; para que sejam chamados de carvalhos da justiça, plantação do SENHOR; para que ele seja glorificado.

4E edificarão os lugares arruinados desde os tempos antigos, restaurarão os desde antes destruídos, e renovarão as cidades arruinadas, destruídas desde muitas gerações.

5E estrangeiros apascentarão vossos rebanhos, e filhos de outras nações serão vossos lavradores e vossos trabalhadores nas vinhas.

6Porém vós sereis chamados sacerdotes do SENHOR; chamarão a vós de trabalhadores a serviço de nosso Deus; comereis dos bens das nações, e da riqueza deles vós vos orgulhareis.

7Em vez de vossa vergonha, [tereis] porção dobrada; e [em vez] de humilhação, terão alegria sobre sua parte; pois em sua terra terão posse do dobro, [e] terão alegria eterna.

8Porque eu, o SENHOR, amo a justiça, e odeio o roubo com sacrifício de queima; e farei que sua obra seja em verdade, e farei um pacto eterno com eles.

9E sua descendência será conhecida entre as nações, e seus descendentes em meio aos povos; todos quantos os virem, os reconhecerão, que são descendência abençoada pelo SENHOR.

10Eu estou muito jubilante no SENHOR, minha alma se alegra em meu Deus; porque ele me vestiu de roupas de salvação; ele me cobriu com a capa da justiça, tal como o noivo [quando] se veste da roupa sacerdotal, e como a noiva se enfeita com suas joias.

11Porque tal como a terra produz seus renovos, e como o jardim faz brotar o que nele se semeia, assim também o Senhor DEUS fará brotar justiça e louvor diante de todas as nações.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The prophet (or the Servant/Messiah) announces that the Spirit of the Lord is upon him to preach good news to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, and proclaim liberty to the captives. It is the "acceptable year of the Lord," bringing joy in place of mourning.

Explanation

This is one of the best-known passages in the book because Jesus reads it publicly in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:18-19) and declares, "today this scripture is fulfilled," applying this prophecy directly to his own messianic mission. The phrase "acceptable year of the Lord" likely points back to the "Year of Jubilee" from the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 25), a special year every fifty years when debts were forgiven, land was returned, and slaves were set free — a powerful image of total restoration and a fresh start. The promise that the restored will be called "trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord" uses the image of strong, enduring trees to describe the transformation of broken people into symbols of strength and stability. The practical application today is that the gospel Jesus announced has ancient prophetic roots in practical and spiritual liberation for society's most vulnerable.

Fun facts

  • Jesus read this very chapter aloud in the synagogue at Nazareth and said, "today is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:21), one of the most striking moments of messianic self-identification recorded in the Gospels.
  • The "acceptable year of the Lord" is understood by many scholars as a reference to Israel's Year of Jubilee, a radical social system of debt forgiveness and redistribution every fifty years, described in Leviticus 25.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaías 61:1The anointing to announce good news and the acceptable year recall the year of Jubilee, when debts were forgiven and land returned every 50 years. Centuries later, the Gospel of Luke shows Jesus reading this same passage in a synagogue; Isaiah, however, speaks first of the end of the exile.
  2. Isaías 61:2“The acceptable year of the Lord” recalls the Jubilee, when debts were forgiven every 50 years; alongside it comes “the day of vengeance,” showing that the same message carries both relief and a reckoning.
  3. Isaías 61:3Trading ashes for festive oil describes mourning turning into joy: ashes on the head were a sign of deep sorrow at the time, and perfumed oil was used at celebrations. The shift from one to the other sums up the reversal of fortune announced in these final chapters.
  4. Isaías 61:4Rebuilding devastated places, desolations “of many generations,” acknowledges that the destruction wasn’t recent, but had built up over a long time, making the promise of restoration even more significant.
  5. Isaías 61:5Foreigners tending Israel’s flocks and fields reverses roles: instead of the people serving as foreign slaves, as in Egypt, it is now foreigners who work to sustain Israel.
  6. Isaías 61:6Calling the whole people “the Priests of the Lord” expands a role once restricted to a specific lineage, and the promise to eat “the riches of the Gentiles” ties this new status to material abundance coming from outside.
  7. Isaías 61:7“Double” shame refers to the suffering of the exile, and the promise to possess “the double” in their own land answers that shame with a proportional compensation — lasting joy replacing prolonged humiliation.
  8. Isaías 61:8“I hate robbery for burnt offering” repeats the criticism from other chapters against offerings obtained unjustly, and “an everlasting covenant” promised here reinforces that the new relationship with the people will be lasting, grounded in truth.
  9. Isaías 61:9Being “known among the Gentiles” as “the seed which the Lord hath blessed” describes international public recognition of the blessing on the people, not just an invisible or internal blessing.
  10. Isaías 61:10The comparison with a bridegroom and bride dressing up for a wedding describes the joy of restoration as a wedding feast. It’s one of the most frequently used images in the book for the relationship between God and the restored people.
  11. Isaías 61:11Comparing the growth of righteousness and praise to a garden’s natural sprouting once again uses the book’s agricultural imagery to describe something abstract happening as surely and visibly as a harvest.

Chapters

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.