Daily Text and Bible Reading: Saturday, August 16 [Press play below]

59.1 Look! The hand of Jehovah is not too short to save, Nor is his ear too dull to hear.
59.2 No, your own errors have separated you from your God. Your sins have made him hide his face from you, And he refuses to hear you.
59.3 For your palms are polluted with blood And your fingers with error. Your lips speak lies, and your tongue mutters unrighteousness.
59.4 No one calls out for righteousness, And no one goes to court in truthfulness. They trust in unreality and speak what is worthless. They conceive trouble and give birth to what is harmful.
59.5 They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake, And they weave the cobweb of a spider. Anyone who eats their eggs would die, And the egg that is crushed hatches a viper.
59.6 Their cobweb will not serve as a garment, Nor will they cover themselves with what they make. Their works are harmful, And deeds of violence are in their hands.
59.7 Their feet run to do evil, And they hurry to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are harmful thoughts; Ruin and misery are in their ways.
59.8 They have not known the way of peace, And there is no justice in their tracks. They make their roadways crooked; No one treading on them will know peace.
59.9 That is why justice is far away from us, And righteousness does not overtake us. We keep hoping for light, but look! there is darkness; For brightness, but we keep walking in gloom.
59.10 We grope for the wall like blind men; Like those without eyes we keep groping. We stumble at high noon as in evening darkness; Among the strong we are just like the dead.
59.11 We all keep growling like bears And cooing mournfully like doves. We hope for justice, but there is none; For salvation, but it is far away from us.
59.12 For our revolts are many before you; Each of our sins testifies against us. For our revolts are with us; We well know our errors.
59.13 We have transgressed and denied Jehovah; We have turned our backs on our God. We have spoken of oppression and revolt; We have conceived lies and muttered false words from the heart.
59.14 Justice is driven back, And righteousness stands far off; For truth has stumbled in the public square, And what is upright is unable to enter.
59.15 Truth has vanished, And anyone who turns away from bad is plundered. Jehovah saw this and was displeased, For there was no justice.
59.16 He saw that there was no man, And he was astonished that no one interceded, So his own arm brought about salvation, And his own righteousness supported him.
59.17 Then he put on righteousness like a coat of mail And the helmet of salvation on his head. He put on the garments of vengeance as his clothing And wrapped himself with zeal like a coat.
59.18 He will reward them for what they have done: Wrath to his adversaries, retribution to his enemies. And to the islands he will repay their due.
59.19 From the sunset they will fear the name of Jehovah And from the sunrise his glory, For he will come in like a rushing river, Which the spirit of Jehovah drives along.
59.20 “To Zion the Repurchaser will come, To those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares Jehovah.
59.21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says Jehovah. “My spirit that is on you and my words that I have placed in your mouth—they will not be removed from your mouth, from the mouth of your children, or from the mouth of your grandchildren,” says Jehovah, “from now on and forever.”
Chapter 60

60.1 “Arise, O woman, shed light, for your light has come. The glory of Jehovah shines on you.
60.2 For look! darkness will cover the earth And thick gloom the nations; But on you Jehovah will shine, And on you his glory will be seen.
60.3 Nations will go to your light And kings to your shining splendor.
60.4 Raise your eyes and look all around you! They have all been assembled; they are coming to you. From far away your sons keep coming, And your daughters being supported on the hip.
60.5 At that time you will see and become radiant, And your heart will throb and overflow, Because the wealth of the sea will be directed to you; The resources of the nations will come to you.
60.6 Throngs of camels will cover your land, Young male camels of Midian and Ephah. All those from Sheba—they will come; Gold and frankincense they will carry. They will proclaim the praises of Jehovah.
60.7 All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you. The rams of Nebaioth will serve you. They will come on my altar with approval, And I will beautify my glorious house.
60.8 Who are these that fly along like clouds, Like doves to their dovecotes?
60.9 For in me the islands will hope; The ships of Tarshish are in the lead,To bring your sons from far away, Along with their silver and their gold, To the name of Jehovah your God and to the Holy One of Israel, For he will glorify you.
60.10 Foreigners will build your walls, And their kings will minister to you, For in my indignation I struck you, But in my favor I will have mercy on you.
60.11 Your gates will be kept open constantly; They will not be closed by day or by night, To bring to you the resources of the nations, And their kings will take the lead.
60.12 For any nation and any kingdom that will not serve you will perish, And the nations will be utterly devastated.
60.13 To you the glory of Lebanon will come, The juniper tree, the ash tree, and the cypress together, To beautify the place of my sanctuary; I will glorify the place for my feet.
60.14 The sons of those who oppressed you will come and bow down before you; All those treating you disrespectfully must bow down at your feet, And they will have to call you the city of Jehovah, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
60.15 Instead of your being abandoned and hated, with nobody passing through, I will make you a source of everlasting pride, A cause for rejoicing throughout all generations.
60.16 And you will actually drink the milk of nations, At the breast of kings you will nurse; And you will certainly know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior, And the Powerful One of Jacob is your Repurchaser.
60.17 Instead of the copper I will bring in gold, And instead of the iron I will bring in silver, Instead of the wood, copper, And instead of the stones, iron; And I will appoint peace as your overseers And righteousness as your task assigners.
60.18 No more will violence be heard in your land Or destruction and ruin within your boundaries. And you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.
60.19 For you the sun will no longer be a light by day, Nor will the shining of the moon give you light, For Jehovah will become to you an eternal light, And your God will be your beauty.
60.20 No more will your sun set, Nor will your moon wane, For Jehovah will become for you an eternal light, And the days of your mourning will have ended.
60.21 And all your people will be righteous; They will possess the land forever. They are the sprout that I planted, The work of my hands, for me to be beautified.
60.22 The little one will become a thousand And the small one a mighty nation. I myself, Jehovah, will speed it up in its own time.”
Chapter 61

61.1 The spirit of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah is upon me, Because Jehovah anointed me to declare good news to the meek. He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And the wide opening of the eyes to the prisoners,
61.2 To proclaim the year of Jehovah’s goodwill And the day of vengeance of our God, To comfort all who mourn,
61.3 To provide for those mourning over Zion, To give them a headdress instead of ashes, The oil of exultation instead of mourning, The garment of praise instead of a despondent spirit. And they will be called big trees of righteousness, The planting of Jehovah, in order to glorify him.
61.4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins; They will raise up the desolated places of the past, And they will restore the devastated cities, The places that lay desolate for generation after generation.
61.5 “Strangers will stand and shepherd your flocks, And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.
61.6 As for you, you will be called the priests of Jehovah; They will call you the ministers of our God. You will eat the resources of the nations, And about their glory you will boast.
61.7 Instead of shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout joyfully over their share. Yes, they will possess a double portion in their land. Everlasting rejoicing will be theirs.
61.8 For I, Jehovah, love justice; I hate robbery and unrighteousness. I will faithfully give them their wages, And I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
61.9 Their offspring will be known among the nations And their descendants among the peoples. All who see them will recognize them, That they are the offspring whom Jehovah has blessed.”
61.10 I will greatly exult in Jehovah. My whole being will rejoice in my God. For he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has wrapped me with the robe of righteousness, Just like a bridegroom who wears a turban like that of a priest, And like a bride who adorns herself with her ornaments.
61.11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts And as the garden makes what is sown in it sprout, So will the Sovereign Lord Jehovah Cause righteousness and praise to sprout before all the nations.
Chapter 62

62.1 For the sake of Zion I will not keep silent, And for the sake of Jerusalem I will not keep still Until her righteousness shines like a bright light And her salvation burns like a torch.
62.2 “The nations will see your righteousness, O woman, And all kings your glory. And you will be called by a new name, Which Jehovah’s own mouth will designate.
62.3 You will become a crown of beauty in the hand of Jehovah, A royal turban in the palm of your God.
62.4 No more will you be called an abandoned woman, And your land will no longer be called desolate. But you will be called My Delight Is in Her, And your land will be called the Married One. For Jehovah will take delight in you, And your land will be as one married.
62.5 For just as a young man marries a virgin, Your sons will marry you. With the rejoicing of a bridegroom over a bride, Your God will rejoice over you.
62.6 Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have commissioned watchmen. Continuously, all day long and all night long, they should not be silent. You who make mention of Jehovah, Do not rest,
62.7 And do not give him any rest until he firmly establishes Jerusalem, Yes, until he makes her the praise of the earth.”
62.8 Jehovah has sworn an oath with his right hand, with his strong arm: “I will no longer give your grain as food to your enemies, Nor will foreigners drink your new wine, for which you have toiled.
62.9 But those gathering it will eat it and they will praise Jehovah; And those collecting it will drink it in my holy courtyards.”
62.10 Pass through, pass through the gates. Clear the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway. Rid it of stones. Raise up a signal for the peoples.
62.11 Look! Jehovah has proclaimed to the ends of the earth: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Look! Your salvation is coming. Look! His reward is with him, And the wage he pays is before him.’”
62.12 They will be called the holy people, those repurchased by Jehovah, And you will be called Sought After, a City Not Abandoned.