Bible Strands
Isaiah 61:3
to 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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The anointed Servant of the Lord speaks, commissioned in 61:2 to comfort mourners in Zion. The moment is the proclamation of the year of the Lord's favor.
The words — פְּאֵר (pe.'Er) is literally "a turban," a headband, not a royal crown; the translation "crown of beauty" elevates what the Hebrew keeps practical.
The thread — Psalm 30:11 mirrors the substitution (mourning into dancing, sackcloth peeled off for joy), and John 16:20 echoes the grief-to-joy reversal.
Why it lands — The verse names a specific exchange, not a general comfort: one garment is removed and another put on. The final image — "oaks of righteousness" — asks the reader to hold durability alongside beauty, not one or the other.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
Cross-references
- Psalms 30:11 You turned my mourning into dancing; You peeled off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
- Jeremiah 17:7 But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him.
- John 16:20 Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
- Isaiah 61:10 I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
- Psalms 45:7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you above your companions with the oil of joy.
- Ecclesiastes 9:8 Let your garments always be white, and never spare the oil for your head.
- 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
- Psalms 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
- Isaiah 60:20 Your sun will no longer set, and your moon will not wane; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your sorrow will cease.
- Ezekiel 16:8 Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD.