Isaiah 61 - Easy To Read Version Easy To Read Version
Isaiah 61

¹ \{The Lord’s servant says,\} “The Lord my Master put his Spirit in me. God chose me to tell good news to poor people and to comfort sad people. God sent me to tell the captives that they are free and to tell the prisoners that they have been set free.

² God sent me to announce the time when the Lord will show his kindness. God sent me to announce the time when our God will punish evil people. God sent me to comfort sad people.

³ God sent me to the sad people of Zion. \{I will get them ready for the celebration.\} I will take away the ashes on their head, and I will give them a crown. I will take away their sadness, and I will give them the oil of happiness. I will take away their sorrow, and I will give them celebration clothes. God sent me to name those people ‘Good Trees’ and ‘The Lord’s Wonderful Plant.’

⁴ “At that time, the old cities that were destroyed will be built again. Those cities will be made new like they were in the beginning. The cities that were destroyed for many, many years will be made like new.

⁵ “Then your enemies will come to you and care for your sheep. The children of your enemies will work in your fields and in your gardens.

⁶ You will be called, ‘The Lord’s Priests,’ ‘The Servants of our God.’ You will have the riches that come from all the nations on earth. And you will be proud you have it.

⁷ “In the past other people shamed you and said bad things to you. You were shamed much more than any other people. So in your land you will get two times more than other people. You will get happiness that continues forever.

⁸ \{Why will this happen?\} Because I am the Lord and I love fairness. I hate stealing and everything that is wrong. So I will give the people the payment they should have. I will make an Agreement with my people forever.

⁹ Everyone in all nations will know my people. Everyone will know the children from my nation. Any person that sees them will know that the Lord blesses them.”

¹⁰ “The Lord makes me very, very happy.\par My whole self is happy in my God.\par The Lord put the clothes of salvation on me.\par These clothes are like the nice clothes\par a man wears at his wedding.\par The Lord put the coat of goodness on me.\par This coat is like the beautiful clothes\par a woman wears at her wedding.\par

¹¹ The earth causes plants to grow.\par People plant seeds in the garden,\par and the garden makes them grow.\par In the same way, the Lord\par will make goodness grow.\par The Lord will make praise grow\par in all the nations.”\par