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Isaiah 61 · a question people ask

Luke's reading ends with "the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:19). Why doesn't it go on to "the day of vengeance of our God" (Isaiah 61:2)?

In the text

Luke doesn't say. Here is what the verses show. Isaiah's verse reads, "to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn" (61:2) (tap favor, vengeance). The words Luke gives end, "and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:19). Luke goes on, "He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down" (Luke 4:20), and Jesus said, "Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21). Luke gives no reason for where the reading ends, and these notes don't supply one.

The verses

“to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,”
Isaiah 61:2 · World English Bible
“and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.””
Luke 4:19-21 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Isaiah 61

Isaiah 61: Good news to the humble

When Jesus read Isaiah 61 in Nazareth, the words Luke gives end at "the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:19), before "the day of vengeance of our God" (Isaiah 61:2). And in Hebrew the bridegroom who "decks himself" (Isaiah 61:10) does it with a priest's verb, the verb of "minister to me in the priest’s office" (Exodus 28:1).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions