61:5 1 “Foreigners will take care of 2 your sheep;
foreigners will work in your fields and vineyards.
61:6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests,
servants of our God.’ 3
You will enjoy 4 the wealth of nations
and boast about 5 the riches you receive from them. 6
61:7 Instead of shame, you will get a double portion; 7
instead of humiliation, they will rejoice over the land they receive. 8
Yes, 9 they will possess a double portion in their land
and experience lasting joy.
61:8 For I, the Lord, love justice
and hate robbery and sin.
I will repay them because of my faithfulness; 10
I will make a permanent covenant with them.
61:9 Their descendants will be known among the nations,
their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will recognize that
the Lord has blessed them.” 11
61:10 I 12 will greatly rejoice 13 in the Lord;
I will be overjoyed because of my God. 14
For he clothes me in garments of deliverance;
he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication. 15
I look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest would;
I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry. 16
61:11 For just as the ground produces its crops
and a garden yields its produce,
so the sovereign Lord will cause deliverance 17 to grow,
and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations. 18
1 sn The Lord speaks in vv. 7-8 (and possibly v. 9). It is not clear where the servant’s speech (see vv. 1-3a) ends and the Lord’s begins. Perhaps the direct address to the people signals the beginning of the Lord’s speech.
2 tn Heb “will stand [in position] and shepherd.”
3 tn The Hebrew text adds, “it will be said concerning you.”
4 tn Heb “eat” (KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “feed on”; NLT “be fed with.”
5 tc The form in the Hebrew text is probably a corruption of יִתְאַמְּרוּ (yit’ammÿru), a Hitpael from אָמַר (’amar), meaning “boast about” (see HALOT 67 s.v. II אמר, HALOT 416 s.v. ימר, and BDB 56 s.v. אָמַר).
6 tn Heb “their glory” (i.e., riches).
7 tn Heb “instead of your shame, a double portion.”
8 tn Heb “and [instead of] humiliation they will rejoice [over] their portion.” The term תָחָת (takhat, “instead of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
9 tn Heb “therefore” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “and so.”
10 tn Heb “in faithfulness”; NASB, NRSV, NLT “faithfully.”
11 tn Heb “all who see them will recognize them, that they [are] descendants [whom] the Lord has blessed.”
12 sn The speaker in vv. 10-11 is not identified, but it is likely that the personified nation (or perhaps Zion) responds here to the Lord’s promise of restoration.
13 tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.
14 tn Heb “my being is happy in my God”; NAB “in my God is the joy of my soul.”
15 tn Heb “robe of vindication”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “robe of righteousness.”
16 tn Heb “like a bridegroom [who] acts like a priest [by wearing] a turban, and like a bride [who] wears her jewelry.” The words “I look” are supplied for stylistic reasons and clarification.
17 tn Or perhaps, “righteousness,” but the context seems to emphasize deliverance and restoration (see v. 10 and 62:1).
18 tn Heb “and praise before all the nations.”