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Isaiah 61

KJV · Chapter 61/66

1The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

2To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

3To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

4And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

5And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

6But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

7For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.

8For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

9And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed.

10I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

11For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

📖 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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. Isaiah 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.

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