1  ^sThe Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has ^tanointed me

to bring good news to the poor;¹

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and ^uthe opening of the prison to those who are bound;²

2  ^vto proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,

^wand the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

3  to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

^xto give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

^ythe oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

^zthat they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, ^athat he may be glorified.³

4  ^bThey 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  ^cStrangers shall stand and tend your flocks;

foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;

6  ^dbut you shall be called the priests of the Lord;

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

^eyou shall eat the wealth of the nations,

and in their glory you shall boast.

7  ^fInstead 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  ^gFor I the Lord love justice;

I hate robbery and wrong;⁴

^hI will faithfully give them their recompense,

ⁱand 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  ^jI will greatly rejoice in the Lord;

my soul shall exult in my God,

^kfor he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself ^llike a priest with a beautiful headdress,

^mand 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 ⁿrighteousness and praise

to sprout up before all the nations.

1  For behold, the ^sLord God of hosts

is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah

support and supply,¹

all ^tsupport of bread,

and all support of water;

2  ^uthe mighty man and the soldier,

the judge and the prophet,

the diviner and the elder,

3  the captain of fifty

and the man of rank,

the counselor and the skillful magician

and the expert in charms.

4  ^vAnd I will make boys their princes,

and infants² shall rule over them.

5  ^wAnd the people will oppress one another,

every one his fellow

and every one his neighbor;

the youth will be insolent to the elder,

and the despised to the honorable.

6  For ^xa man will take hold of his brother

in the house of his father, saying:

“You have a cloak;

you shall be our leader,

and this heap of ruins

shall be under your rule”;

7  in that day he will speak out, saying:

“I will not be a ^yhealer;³

in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;

you shall not make me

leader of the people.”

8  For Jerusalem has stumbled,

and Judah has fallen,

because their ^zspeech and their deeds are against the Lord,

^adefying his glorious presence.⁴

9  For the look on their faces bears witness against them;

they proclaim their sin ^blike Sodom;

they do not hide it.

Woe to them!

^cFor they have brought evil on themselves.

10  ^dTell the righteous that it shall be well with them,

^efor they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

11  ^fWoe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,

for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.

12  My people—^ginfants are their oppressors,

and women rule over them.

O my people, ^hyour guides mislead you

and they have swallowed up⁵ the course of your paths.

13  The Lord ⁱhas taken his place to contend;

he stands to judge peoples.

14  The Lord will enter into judgment

with the ^jelders and princes of his people:

“It is you who ^khave devoured⁶ the vineyard,

^lthe spoil of the poor is in your houses.

15  What do you mean by ^mcrushing my people,

by grinding the face of the poor?”

declares the Lord God of hosts.

16  The Lord said:

ⁿBecause ^othe daughters of Zion are haughty

and walk with outstretched necks,

glancing wantonly with their eyes,

mincing along as they go,

^ptinkling with their feet,

17  therefore the Lord ^qwill strike with a scab

the heads of ^othe daughters of Zion,

and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts.

24  Instead of ^xperfume there will be rottenness;

and instead of a ^ybelt, a rope;

and instead of ^zwell-set hair, ^abaldness;

and instead of a rich robe, a ^bskirt of sackcloth;

and ^cbranding instead of beauty.

25  Your men shall fall by the sword

and your mighty men in battle.

26  And ^dher gates shall lament and mourn;

empty, she shall ^esit on the ground.