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Revised Isaiah Chapter 61

Canonical Text

¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
² to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
⁴ They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
⁵ Aliens will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
⁶ And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.
⁷ Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.
⁸ "For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them.
⁹ Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed."
¹⁰ I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹ For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

Synopsis

All the verses of this canonical chapter are exportable.

Outgoing Verses

1-3. The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, ² to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, ³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

Analysis: These three verses were written by the Babylonian Isaiah. Although Isaiah son of Amoz could claim to have the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord on him (Isaiah 48:16) to have proclaimed "the year of the Lord's favor" when he wrote about the reign of the Branch of the Lord and to have proclaimed "the day of vengeance of our God" when he wrote about the Day of the Lord, the proclamation of "freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners," suits the end of the Babylonian exile (Isaiah 51:14) better than any event in the term of Isaiah son of Amoz. It is fair to argue that Revised Chapter 50, "Isaiah The Servant of The Lord," has verses written by Isaiah son of Amoz exclusively. For the sake of consistency, then, verses 1-3 must be exported to a different chapter. The only other servant whom the canonical text has speaking on his own behalf is Israel.

Destination: Revised Chapter 49, "Israel The Servant of The Lord."

4-5. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. ⁵ Aliens will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

Destination: Obviously Revised Chapter 60, "The City of The Lord, Zion of The Holy One of Israel."

6. And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.

Analysis: The clause, "you will be named ministers of our God," signifies that the prophet is the speaker. Whom is he speaking about? A straightforward guess is the exiled descendants of the priests of the First Temple whom Isaiah expects will return to Jerusalem. This "Isaiah" is of course the Babylonian Isaiah.

Destination: Revised Chapter 48, "Leave Babylon, Flee From The Babylonians!"

^52:11 Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the Lord. ⁶ And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. ^52:12 But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

7-9. Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. ⁸ "For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. ⁹ Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed."

Analysis: The speaker is the Lord and the setting is the reign of the Branch of the Lord. The revised chapters entitled, "The Mountain of The Lord," "The Branch of The Lord," and "The Root of Jesse" do not feature the Lord as a speaker. The Lord speaks on the revision entitled, "The Day of The Lord," but these three verses do not jibe with the subject-matter.

Destination? It is possible to insert verses 7-9 in the revision entitled, "Sing About A Fruitful Vineyard," as follows:

^27:2 In that day—sing about a fruitful vineyard: ^27:3 "I, the Lord, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it. ^43:20 The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, ^43:21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. ^{First Half of 27:4} I am not angry. ⁷ Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. ⁸ For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. ⁹ Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed. ⁹

Still the insert hobbles on the grounds that the prevailing tense ahead of it is the present tense whereas the insert's prevailing tense is the future tense.

Destination? It is possible to append verses 7-9 to the revision entitled, "The Lord And Zion Reconciled," as follows:

^54:11 O afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will build you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with sapphires. ^54:12 I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. ^54:13 All your sons will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children's peace. ^54:14 In righteousness you will be established: Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear. Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you. ⁷ Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. ⁸ For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. ⁹ Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.

Still the addition hobbles on the grounds that it turns the spotlight away from the city to its people too brusquely.

Destination: Revised Chapter 60, "The City of The Lord, Zion of The Holy One of Israel,"

^60:18 No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. ^65:16 Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of truth; he who takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes. ⁷ Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. ⁸ For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. ⁹ Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.

10. I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Analysis: The first compound sentence, "I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God," reproduces the feeling of Isaiah 25:1, "O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name." The following contrived overlay demonstrates the closeness of verse 10 and Isaiah 25:1, "My soul rejoices in my God; I will exalt you and praise your name. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness."

Destination: Revised Chapter 25, "Psalms of Praise To God."

11. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

Analysis: What does soil require to make the sprout come up? And what does a garden need to cause seeds to grow? Water.

Destination: Revised Chapter 27, "Sing About A Fruitful Vineyard,"

^45:8 "You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the Lord, have created it. ¹¹ For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

Revised Chapter 61

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