All Saints' Sunday (OT)

Isaiah 61:1-11

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, 

because the Lord has anointed me 

to bring good news to the poor; 

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, 

to proclaim liberty to the captives, 

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 

²  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, 

and the day of vengeance of our God; 

to comfort all who mourn; 

³  to grant to those who mourn in Zion— 

to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, 

the oil of gladness instead of mourning, 

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; 

that they may be called oaks of righteousness, 

the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. 

⁴  They shall build up the ancient ruins; 

they shall raise up the former devastations; 

they shall repair the ruined cities, 

the devastations of many generations. 

⁵  Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; 

foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers; 

⁶  but you shall be called the priests of the Lord; 

they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; 

you shall eat the wealth of the nations, 

and in their glory you shall boast. 

⁷  Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; 

instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; 

therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; 

they shall have everlasting joy. 

⁸  For I the Lord love justice; 

I hate robbery and wrong; 

I will faithfully give them their recompense, 

and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 

⁹  Their offspring shall be known among the nations, 

and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; 

all who see them shall acknowledge them, 

that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed. 

¹⁰  I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; 

my soul shall exult in my God, 

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; 

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, 

as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, 

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 

¹¹  For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, 

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, 

so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise 

to sprout up before all the nations.