to open blind eyes, ¹  to release prisoners ²  from dungeons, those who live in darkness from prisons.

They will be imprisoned in a pit, ¹  locked up in a prison, and after staying there for a long time, ²  they will be punished. ³ 

Is this the one who made the world like a desert, who ruined its ¹  cities, and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”’ ² 

The one who suffers ¹  will soon be released; he will not die in prison, ²  he will not go hungry. ³ 

A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices, ¹  a rope will replace a belt, baldness will replace braided locks of hair, a sackcloth garment will replace a fine robe, and a prisoner’s brand will replace beauty.

You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners, or to fall among those who have been killed. ¹  Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. ² 

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,

You will say ¹  to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those who are in dark dungeons, ²  ‘Emerge.’ ³  They will graze beside the roads; on all the slopes they will find pasture.

But these people are looted and plundered; all of them are trapped in pits ¹  and held captive ²  in prisons. They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them; they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, “Bring that back!” ³ 

so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, both young and old. They will be in undergarments and barefoot, with the buttocks exposed; the Egyptians will be publicly humiliated. ¹ 

He was led away after an unjust trial ¹  – but who even cared? ²  Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; ³  because of the rebellion of his own ⁴  people he was wounded.

Together they bend low and kneel down; they are unable to rescue the images; ¹  they themselves ²  head off into captivity. ³ 

Can spoils be taken from a warrior, or captives be rescued from a conqueror? ¹ 

Shake off the dirt! ¹  Get up, captive ²  Jerusalem! Take off the iron chains around your neck, O captive daughter Zion!

Nations will take them and bring them back to their own place. Then the family of Jacob will make foreigners their servants as they settle in the Lord’s land. ¹  They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them.

Therefore my ¹  people will be deported ²  because of their lack of understanding. Their ³  leaders will have nothing to eat, ⁴  their ⁵  masses will have nothing to drink. ⁶ 

¹ All your leaders ran away together – they fled to a distant place; all your refugees ²  were captured together – they were captured without a single arrow being shot. ³ 

Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp, I coo ¹  like a dove; my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky. ²  O sovereign master, ³  I am oppressed; help me! ⁴ 

It is me – I stir him up and commission him; ¹  I will make all his ways level. He will rebuild my city; he will send my exiled people home, but not for a price or a bribe,” says the Lord who commands armies.

Indeed,” says the Lord, “captives will be taken from a warrior; spoils will be rescued from a conqueror. I will oppose your adversary and I will rescue your children.