Bible Verses for a Broken Heart — "Beauty for Ashes" (Isaiah 61:1-3)
Isaiah 61:1-3 · Berean Standard Bible
Isaiah 61:1-3 is God's job description for the healing of broken hearts: he anoints his servant "to bind up the brokenhearted... to comfort all who mourn," and to give them "a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." Jesus read these very words about himself in Luke 4, claiming them as his mission. For a heart that feels shattered, it promises a God who trades ashes for beauty.
1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
2to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn,
3to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
Read the wider context: Isaiah 61.
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