LXI.—[After describing the new condition of the Church, he again introduces the great Personage by whom the change is to be brought about. His mission and its object are described by Himself in vers. 1–3. Its grand result shall be the restoration of a ruined world, ver. 4. The Church, as a mediator between God and the revolted nations, shall enjoy their solace and support, vers. 5, 6. The shame of God’s people shall be changed to honour, ver. 7. The Church once restricted as a single nation, shall be recognised and honoured among all, ver. 9. He triumphs in the prospect of the universal spread of truth and righteousness, vers. 10, 11.]
1. The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah (is) upon me, because Jehovah hath anointed me to bring good news to the humble, He hath sent me to bind up the broken in heart, to proclaim to captives freedom, and to the bound open opening (of the eyes or of the prison doors); 2. to proclaim a year of favour for Jehovah, and a day of vengeance for our God; to comfort all mourners, 3. to put upon Zion’s mourners—to give them a crown instead of ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, a garment of praise for a faint spirit; and it shall be called to them (or, they shall be called) the oaks of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah (i.e., planted by Jehovah) to glorify Himself.
4. And they shall bind up the ruins of antiquity, the desolations of the ancients they shall raise, and shall renew the cities of ruin (i.e., ruined cities), the desolations of age and age. 5. Then shall stand strangers and feed your flocks, and the children of outland (shall be) your ploughmen and your vine-dressers. 6. And ye (or more emphatically, as for you), the priests of Jehovah shall ye be called, the ministers of our God shall be said to you (or, of you), the strength of nations shall ye eat, and in their glory shall ye substitute yourselves. 7. Instead of your shame (ye shall have) double, and (instead of their) confusion they shall celebrate their portion; therefore in their land shall they inherit double, everlasting joy shall be to them. 8. For I am Jehovah, loving justice, hating (that which is) taken away unjustly, and I will give their hire truly, and an everlasting covenant I strike for them. 9. Then shall be known among the nations their seed, and their issue in the midst of the peoples. All seeing them shall acknowledge them that they are a seed Jehovah has blessed.
10. (I will) joy, I will joy in Jehovah, let my soul exult in my God; for He hath clothed me with garments of salvation, a mantle of righteousness has He put on me, as a bridegroom adjusts his priestly crown, and as the bride arrays her jewels. 11. For as the earth puts forth its growth, and as the garden makes its plants to grow, so shall the Lord Jehovah make to grow righteousness and praise before all the nations.
LXII.—[The words of the great Deliverer are continued from the foregoing chapter. He will not rest until the glorious change in the condition of His people is accomplished, ver. 1. They shall be recognised by kings and nations as the people of Jehovah, vers. 2, 3. She who seemed to be forsaken is still His spouse, vers. 4, 5. The Church is required to watch and pray for the fulfilment of the promise, vers. 6, 7. God has sworn to protect her and supply her wants, ver. 8, 9. Instead of a single nation, all the nations of the earth shall flow unto her, ver 10. The good news of salvation shall no longer be confined, but universally diffused, ver 11. The glory of the Church is the redemption of the world, ver. 12.]
1. For Zion’s sake I will not be still, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp (that) burneth. 2. And nations shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and there shall be called in thee a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall utter. 3. And thou shalt be a crown of beauty in Jehovah’s hand, and a diadem of royalty in the palm of thy God. 4. No more shall it be called to thee (shalt thou be called) Azubah (Forsaken), and thy land shall no more be called Shemamah (Desolate), but thou shalt be called Hephzibah (my delight is in her), and thy land Beulah (married), for Jehovah delights in thee, and thy land shall be married. 5. For (as) a young man marrieth a virgin, (so) shall thy sons marry thee, and (with) the joy of a bridegroom over a bride shall thy God rejoice over thee.
6. On thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night long they shall not be silent. Ye that remind Jehovah, let there be no rest to you, 7. and give no rest to Him, until He establish and, until He place Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
8. Sworn hath Jehovah by His right hand, and by His arm of strength, If I give (i.e., I will not give) thy corn any more as food to thine enemies, and if the sons of the outland shall drink thy new wine which thou hast laboured in (I am not God). 9. For those gathering it shall eat it, and shall praise Jehovah, and those collecting it shall drink it in My holy courts (or, in the courts of My sanctuary). 10. Pass, pass through the gates, clear the way of the people, raise high, raise high the highway, free (it) from stones, raise a banner (or, a signal) over the nations. 11. Behold, Jehovah has caused it to be heard to the end of the earth, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him and His hire before Him. 12. And they shall call them the Holy People, the redeemed of Jehovah, and thou shalt be called Derushah (sought for), Ir-lo-neczabah (city not forsaken).
LXIII.—[The influx of the Gentiles into Zion having been described in the preceding verses, the destruction of her enemies is now sublimely represented as a sanguinary triumph of Jehovah or the Messiah, vers. 1–6. The prophet then supposes the catastrophe already past, and takes a retrospective view of God’s compassion towards His people, and of their unfaithfulness during the old economy, vers. 7–14. He assumes the tone of earnest supplication, such as might have been offered by the believing Jews when all seemed lost in the destruction of the commonwealth and temple, vers. 15–19.]
LXIV.—[This chapter is inseparable from the one before it. The strongest confidence is expressed in the Divine power, founded upon former experience, vers. 1–3. The two great facts of Israel’s rejection as a nation, and the continued existence of the Church, are brought together in ver. 4. The unworthiness of Israel is acknowledged still more fully, ver. 5, 6. The sovereign authority of God is humbly recognised, ver. 7. His favour is earnestly implored, ver. 8. The external prerogatives of Israel are lost, ver. 9. But will God for that cause cast off the true Israel, His own people? ver. 10.]