Isaiah 58

New International Version

True Fasting

58 “Shout it aloud,^(A) do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.^(B)
Declare to my people their rebellion^(C)
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.^(D)
²For day after day they seek^(E) me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken^(F) the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near^(G) them.
³‘Why have we fasted,’^(H) they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled^(I) ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’^(J)

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please^(K)
    and exploit all your workers.
⁴Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,^(L)
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard^(M) on high.
⁵Is this the kind of fast^(N) I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble^(O) themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed^(P)
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?^(Q)
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶“Is not this the kind of fasting^(R) I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice^(S)
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed^(T) free
    and break every yoke?^(U)
⁷Is it not to share your food with the hungry^(V)
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter^(W)—
when you see the naked, to clothe^(X) them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?^(Y)
⁸Then your light will break forth like the dawn,^(Z)
    and your healing^(AA) will quickly appear;
then your righteousness^[a]^(AB) will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.^(AC)
⁹Then you will call,^(AD) and the Lord will answer;^(AE)
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger^(AF) and malicious talk,^(AG)
¹⁰and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,^(AH)
then your light^(AI) will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.^(AJ)
¹¹The Lord will guide^(AK) you always;
    he will satisfy your needs^(AL) in a sun-scorched land^(AM)
    and will strengthen^(AN) your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,^(AO)
    like a spring^(AP) whose waters never fail.
¹²Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins^(AQ)
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;^(AR)
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,^(AS)
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

¹³“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath^(AT)
    and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight^(AU)
    and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
    and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,^(AV)
¹⁴then you will find your joy^(AW) in the Lord,
    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights^(AX) of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance^(AY) of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.^(AZ)

Footnotes

Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One

Isaiah 61

New International Version

The Year of the Lord’s Favor

61 The Spirit^(A) of the Sovereign Lord^(B) is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed^(C) me
    to proclaim good news^(D) to the poor.^(E)
He has sent me to bind up^(F) the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom^(G) for the captives^(H)
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a]
²to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor^(I)
    and the day of vengeance^(J) of our God,
to comfort^(K) all who mourn,^(L)
³    and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown^(M) of beauty
    instead of ashes,^(N)
the oil^(O) of joy
    instead of mourning,^(P)
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting^(Q) of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.^(R)

⁴They will rebuild the ancient ruins^(S)
    and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
    that have been devastated for generations.
⁵Strangers^(T) will shepherd your flocks;
    foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
⁶And you will be called priests^(U) of the Lord,
    you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth^(V) of nations,
    and in their riches you will boast.

⁷Instead of your shame^(W)
    you will receive a double^(X) portion,
and instead of disgrace
    you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit^(Y) a double portion in your land,
    and everlasting joy^(Z) will be yours.

⁸“For I, the Lord, love justice;^(AA)
    I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
    and make an everlasting covenant^(AB) with them.
⁹Their descendants^(AC) will be known among the nations
    and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
    that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”^(AD)

¹⁰I delight greatly in the Lord;
    my soul rejoices^(AE) in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
    and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,^(AF)
as a bridegroom adorns his head^(AG) like a priest,
    and as a bride^(AH) adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹For as the soil makes the sprout come up
    and a garden^(AI) causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness^(AJ)
    and praise spring up before all nations.