Evil People Should Change Their Lives

59 Look, the Lord’s power is enough to save you. He can hear you when you ask him for help. ²But your sins separate you from your God. The Lord sees your sins, and he turns away from you. ³Your hands are dirty; they are covered with blood. Your fingers are covered with guilt. You tell lies with your mouth. Your tongue says evil things. ⁴No person tells the truth about other people. People sue each other in court, and they depend on false arguments to win their cases. They tell lies about each other. They are full of trouble, and they give birth to evil. ⁵They hatch {evil, like} eggs from poisonous snakes. If you eat one of those eggs you will die. And if you break one of those eggs, a poison snake will come out. The lies people tell are like spider webs. ⁶These webs can’t be used for clothes. You can’t cover yourself with those webs. Some people do evil things and use their hands to hurt other people. ⁷Those people use their feet to run to evil. They hurry to kill people that have done nothing wrong. They think evil thoughts. Rioting and stealing is their way of living. ⁸Those people don’t know the way of peace. Those people don’t do what is right and fair. They are very crooked. And people who live like that will never have peace in their lives.

Israel’s Sin Brings Trouble

⁹All fairness and goodness is gone. There is only darkness near us, so we must wait for the light. We hope for a bright light, but all we have is darkness. ¹⁰We are like people without eyes. We walk into walls like blind people. We stumble and fall like it is night. Even in the daylight we can’t see. At noontime we fall like dead men. ¹¹We are all {very sad}, making sad sounds like doves and bears. We are waiting for a time when people are fair. But there is no fairness yet. We are waiting to be saved, but salvation is still far away. ¹²Why? Because we have done many, many wrong things against our God. Our sins show we are wrong. We know we are guilty of doing these things. ¹³We sinned and turned against the Lord. We turned away from him and left him. We planned evil things. We planned things that are against God. We have thought of these things and planned them in our hearts. ¹⁴Justice has turned away from us. Fairness stands far away. Truth has fallen in the streets. Goodness is not allowed to enter the city. ¹⁵Truth is gone. And people that try to do good are robbed. The Lord looked, and he could not find any goodness. The Lord did not like this. ¹⁶The Lord looked and was surprised that he could find no person to stand and speak for the people. So the Lord used his own power and his own goodness, and the Lord saved the people. ¹⁷{The Lord prepared for battle}. The Lord put on the armor of goodness, the helmet of salvation, the clothes of punishment, the coat of strong love.* ¹⁸The Lord is angry at his enemies. So the Lord will give them the punishment they deserve. The Lord is angry with his enemies. So the Lord will punish the people in all the faraway places. The Lord will give them the punishment they deserve. ¹⁹Then people in the west will fear and respect the Lord’s name. People in the east will fear and respect His Glory.* The Lord will come quickly like a fast flowing river blown by a powerful wind from the Lord. ²⁰Then a Savior will come to Zion.* He will come to the people of Jacob that sinned but came back to God. ²¹The Lord says, “I will make an Agreement with those people. I promise, my Spirit and my words that I put in your mouth will never leave you. They will be with your children and your children’s children. They will be with you for now and forever.”

Glory of the Lord One of the forms God used when he appeared to people. It was like a bright shining light. See Ex. 40:34–36. Sabbath Saturday, a special day of rest and worship for Jews. strong love This Hebrew word means strong feelings like love, hate, anger, zeal, or jealousy. His Glory The “Glory of the Lord,” one of the forms God used when he appeared to people. It was like a bright shining light. See Ex. 40:34–36. Zion The southeast part of the mountain Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the people of God living in Jerusalem.

God Is Coming!

60 “Jerusalem, my light, get up! Your Light (God) is coming! The Glory of the Lord* will shine on you. ²Darkness now covers the earth and the people are in darkness. But the Lord will shine on you, and his Glory will appear on you. ³The nations will come to your Light (God). Kings will come to your bright Light. ⁴Look around you! See, people are gathering around and coming to you. They are your sons coming from far away. And your daughters are coming with them. ⁵{This will happen in the future.} And at that time, you will see your people, and your faces will shine {with happiness}. {First,} you will be afraid, but then, you will be excited! All the riches from across the seas will be set before you. The riches of the nations will come to you. ⁶Herds of camels from Midian and Ephah will cross your land. Long lines of camels will come from Sheba. They will bring gold and incense. People will sing praises to the Lord. ⁷People will collect all the sheep from Kedar and give them to you. They will bring you rams from Nebaioth. You will offer those animals on my altar. And I will accept them. I will make my wonderful temple* even more beautiful. ⁸Look at the people! They are hurrying to you like clouds quickly crossing the sky. They are like doves flying to their nests. ⁹The faraway lands are waiting for me. The great cargo ships are ready to sail. Those ships are ready to bring your children from faraway lands. They will bring silver and gold with them to honor the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel. The Lord does wonderful things for you. ¹⁰Children from other lands will build your walls again. Their kings will serve you. “When I was angry, I hurt you. But now, I want to be kind to you. So I will comfort you. ¹¹Your gates will always be open. They will not be closed night or day. Nations and kings will bring their wealth to you. ¹²Any nation or kingdom that does not serve you will be destroyed. ¹³All the great things of Lebanon* will be given to you. People will bring pine trees, fir trees, and cypress trees to you. These trees will be used for lumber to make my holy place* more beautiful. This place is like a stool in front of my throne, and I will give it much honor. ¹⁴In the past, people hurt you. Those people will bow down before you. In the past, people hated you. Those people will bow down at your feet. Those people will call you ‘The Lord’s City.’ ‘The Zion* of the Holy One of Israel.’”

The New Israel: Land of Peace

¹⁵“You will never again be left alone. You will never again be hated. You will never again be empty. I will make you great forever. You will be happy forever and ever. ¹⁶Nations {will give you everything you need}. It will be like a child drinking milk from its mother. But you will ‘drink’ riches from kings. Then you will know that it is I, the Lord, who saves you. You will know that the Great God of Jacob protects you. ¹⁷“You now have copper, I will bring you gold. You now have iron, I will bring you silver. I will change your wood into copper. I will change your rocks into iron. I will change your punishment into peace. People now hurt you, but people will do good things for you. ¹⁸“There will never again be news of violence in your country. People will never again attack your country and steal from you. You will name your walls, ‘Salvation.’ You will name your gates, ‘Praise.’ ¹⁹“The sun will no longer be your light during the day. The light from the moon will no longer be your light {at night}. Because the Lord will be your light forever. Your God will be your glory. ²⁰Your ‘sun’ will never go down again. Your ‘moon’ will never be dark again. Because the Lord will be your light forever. And your time of sadness will end. ²¹“All of your people will be good. Those people will get the earth forever. I made those people. They are the wonderful plant that I made with my own hands. ²²The smallest family will become a large family group. The smallest family will become a powerful nation. When the time is right, I, the Lord, will come quickly. I will make these things happen.”

Glory of the Lord One of the forms God used when he appeared to people. It was like a bright shining light. See Ex. 40:34–36. temple A special building for worshiping God. God commanded the Jews to worship him at the temple in Jerusalem. Lebanon A country north of Israel. It was famous for its great cedar and pine trees. my holy place This probably means the temple in Jerusalem. Zion The southeast part of the mountain Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the people of God living in Jerusalem.

The Lord’s Message of Freedom

61 {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. ²God 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. ³God 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. ⁶You 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. ⁹Everyone 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.”

God’s Servant Brings Salvation

¹⁰“The Lord makes me very, very happy. My whole self is happy in my God. The Lord put the clothes of salvation on me. These clothes are like the nice clothes a man wears at his wedding. The Lord put the coat of goodness on me. This coat is like the beautiful clothes a woman wears at her wedding. ¹¹The earth causes plants to grow. People plant seeds in the garden, and the garden makes them grow. In the same way, the Lord will make goodness grow. The Lord will make praise grow in all the nations.”

New Jerusalem: A City Full of Goodness

62 “I love Zion, so I will continue to speak for her. I love Jerusalem, so I will not stop speaking. I will speak until goodness shines like a bright light. I will speak until salvation burns bright like a flame. ²Then all nations will see your goodness. All kings will see your honor. Then you will have a new name. The Lord himself will give you that new name. ³The Lord will be very proud of you. You will be like a beautiful crown in the Lord’s hand. ⁴You will never again be called ‘The People that God had Left.’ Your land will never again be called ‘The Land that God Destroyed.’ You will be called ‘The People God Loves.’ Your land will be called ‘God’s Bride.’ Why? Because the Lord loves you. And your land will belong to him. ⁵When a young man loves a woman, he marries her, and she becomes his wife. In the same way, your land will belong to your children. A man is very happy with his new wife. In the same way, your God will be very happy with you.”

God Will Keep His Promises

⁶“Jerusalem, I put guards (prophets) on your walls. Those guards will not be silent. They will keep praying day and night.” Guards, you must keep praying to the Lord. You must make him remember his promise. Don’t ever stop praying. ⁷You must pray to the Lord until he makes Jerusalem a city that people on earth will praise. ⁸The Lord made a promise. The Lord used his own power as proof. And the Lord will use his power to keep that promise. The Lord said, “I promise that I will never again give your food to your enemies. I promise that your enemies will never again take the wine that you make. ⁹The person that gathers food will eat it, and that person will praise the Lord. The person that gathers the grapes, will drink the wine {from those grapes}. All these things will happen in my holy land.” ¹⁰Come through the gates! Make the way clear for the people! Prepare the road! Move all the stones off the road! Raise the flag as a sign for the people! ¹¹Listen, the Lord is speaking to all the faraway lands: “Tell the people of Zion:* Look, your Savior is coming. He is bringing your reward to you. He is bringing that reward with him.” ¹²His people will be called: “The Holy People,” “The Saved People of the Lord.” And Jerusalem will be called: “The City God Wants,” “The City God Is With.”

Zion The southeast part of the mountain Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the people of God living in Jerusalem.

The Lord Judges His People

63 Who is this coming from Edom?* He comes from Bozrah.* And his clothes are stained bright red. He is glorious in his clothes. He is walking tall with his great power. He says, “I have the power to save you. And I speak the truth.” ²“Why are your clothes bright red? They are like the clothes of a person that walks on grapes to make wine!” ³{He answers,} “I walked in the winepress* by myself. No one helped me. I was angry and I walked on the grapes. The juice* splashed on my clothes. So now my clothes are dirty. ⁴I chose a time to punish people. Now the time has come for me to save and protect my people. ⁵I looked around, but I saw no person to help me. I was surprised that no one supported me. So I used my own power to save my people. My own anger supported me. ⁶While I was angry, I walked on people. I punished them while I was mad. I poured their blood* on the ground.”

The Lord Has Been Kind to His People

⁷I will remember that the Lord is kind. And I will remember to praise the Lord. The Lord gave many good things to the family of Israel. The Lord has been very kind to us. The Lord showed mercy to us. ⁸The Lord said, “These are my people. These are my real children.” So the Lord saved those people. ⁹The people had many troubles, but the Lord was not against them. The Lord loved the people and felt sorry for them. So the Lord saved them. He sent his special angel to save them. He picked them up and carried them, and {he will take care of them} forever. ¹⁰But the people turned against the Lord. They made his Holy Spirit very sad. So the Lord became their enemy. The Lord fought against those people. ¹¹But the Lord still remembers what happened a long time ago. He remembers Moses and his people. The Lord is the One who brought the people through the sea. The Lord used his shepherds (prophets) to lead his flock (people). But where is the Lord now—the One who put his Spirit in Moses? ¹²The Lord led Moses by the right hand. The Lord used his wonderful power to lead Moses. The Lord divided the water so that the people could walk through the sea. The Lord made his name famous by doing those great things. ¹³The Lord led the people through the deep seas. The people walked without falling, like a horse walking through the desert. ¹⁴A cow does not fall, just walking in the field. {In the same way, the people did not fall while going through the sea.} The Lord’s Spirit led the people to a resting place. The people were safe the whole time. Lord, that is the way you led your people. You led the people and you made your name wonderful.

A Prayer for God to Help His People

¹⁵Lord, look down from the heavens. See the things that are happening now! Look down at us from your great and holy home in heaven. Where is your strong love* for us? Where are your powerful works that come from deep inside you? Where is your mercy for me? Why are you hiding your kind love from me? ¹⁶Look! You are our father! Abraham doesn’t know us. Israel (Jacob) does not recognize us. Lord, you are our father! You are the One who has always saved us! ¹⁷Lord, why are you pushing us away from you? Why are you making it hard for us to follow you? Come back to us Lord! We are your servants. Come to us and help us! Our families belong to you. ¹⁸Your holy people lived in their land only a short time. Then our enemies trampled (walk on) your holy temple.* ¹⁹Some people don’t follow you. Those people don’t wear your name. And we were like those people.

Edom A country east of Judah. Bozrah A city in Edom. winepress A place where people walk on grapes to squeeze the juice from them. This juice then becomes wine. juice Or, “strong drink” or “blood.” blood Or, “strong drink” or “strength.” strong love This Hebrew word means strong feelings like love, hate, anger, zeal, or jealousy. temple A special building for worshiping God. God commanded the Jews to worship him at the temple in Jerusalem.