Isaiah 61:5-11

5 Strangers 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 your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.
8 “For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people 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 his 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.

Isaiah 61:5-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 61

In this chapter both Christ and the church are introduced speaking, in their turns. It begins with the words of Christ, describing his work and office; his qualifications for it; the several parts and branches of it; and the ends to be answered by it; Isa 61:1-3, the reparation of the church; the feeding it by strangers; its being a holy priesthood; its enjoying the riches of the Gentiles; its having honour and joy, instead of shame and confusion; its prosperity in the work of the Lord, and the continuance of its spiritual offspring among the Gentiles, are prophesied of in Isa 61:4-9, and then the church is represented as rejoicing in the Lord, on account of her being clothed with his righteousness, so ornamental to her, Isa 61:10 and the chapter is concluded with a promise of her righteousness and glory appearing before all the nations of the world; of which the following chapter is an illustrious prophecy, Isa 61:11.

Cross References 17

  • 1. S Isaiah 14:1-2; S Isaiah 56:6
  • 2. S Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:5
  • 3. Deuteronomy 33:19; S Isaiah 60:11
  • 4. S Isaiah 29:22; S Isaiah 41:11
  • 5. S Deuteronomy 21:17; S Isaiah 40:2; Zechariah 9:12
  • 6. S Isaiah 60:21
  • 7. S Psalms 126:5; S Isaiah 25:9
  • 8. S Psalms 11:7; S Isaiah 1:17; S Isaiah 5:16
  • 9. S Genesis 9:16; S Isaiah 42:6; S Hebrews 13:20; Isaiah 55:3
  • 10. S Isaiah 43:5; S Isaiah 48:19
  • 11. S Genesis 12:2; S Deuteronomy 28:3-12
  • 12. S Psalms 2:11; S Isaiah 7:13; S Isaiah 25:9; Habakkuk 3:18; S Luke 1:47
  • 13. S Job 27:6; S Psalms 132:9; S Isaiah 52:1; Revelation 19:8
  • 14. S Exodus 39:28
  • 15. S Isaiah 49:18; Revelation 21:2
  • 16. S Genesis 47:23; Isaiah 58:11
  • 17. S Isaiah 45:8; Psalms 85:11
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