Isaiah 58-60
Complete Jewish Bible
58 Shout out loud! Don’t hold back!
Raise your voice like a shofar!
Proclaim to my people what rebels they are,
to the house of Ya‘akov their sins.
2 “Oh yes, they seek me day after day
and [claim to] delight in knowing my ways.
As if they were an upright nation
that had not abandoned the rulings of their God,
they ask me for just rulings
and [claim] to take pleasure in closeness to God,
3 [asking,] ‘Why should we fast, if you don’t see?
Why mortify ourselves, if you don’t notice?’
“Here is my answer: when you fast,
you go about doing whatever you like,
while keeping your laborers hard at work.
4 Your fasts lead to quarreling and fighting,
to lashing out with violent blows.
On a day like today, fasting like yours
will not make your voice heard on high.
5 “Is this the sort of fast I want,
a day when a person mortifies himself?
Is the object to hang your head like a reed
and spread sackcloth and ashes under yourself?
Is this what you call a fast,
a day that pleases Adonai?
6 “Here is the sort of fast I want —
releasing those unjustly bound,
untying the thongs of the yoke,
letting the oppressed go free,
breaking every yoke,
7 sharing your food with the hungry,
taking the homeless poor into your house,
clothing the naked when you see them,
fulfilling your duty to your kinsmen!”
8 Then your light will burst forth like the morning,
your new skin will quickly grow over your wound;
your righteousness will precede you,
and Adonai’s glory will follow you.
9 Then you will call, and Adonai will answer;
you will cry, and he will say, “Here I am.”
If you will remove the yoke from among you,
stop false accusation and slander,
10 generously offer food to the hungry
and meet the needs of the person in trouble;
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your gloom become like noon.
11 Adonai will always guide you;
he will satisfy your needs in the desert,
he will renew the strength in your limbs;
so that you will be like a watered garden,
like a spring whose water never fails.
12 You will rebuild the ancient ruins,
raise foundations from ages past,
and be called “Repairer of broken walls,
Restorer of streets to live in.”
13 “If you hold back your foot on Shabbat
from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;
if you call Shabbat a delight,
Adonai’s holy day, worth honoring;
then honor it by not doing your usual things
or pursuing your interests or speaking about them.
14 If you do, you will find delight in Adonai —
I will make you ride on the heights of the land
and feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Ya‘akov,
for the mouth of Adonai has spoken.”
59 Adonai’s arm is not too short to save,
nor is his ear too dull to hear.
2 Rather, it is your own crimes
that separate you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he doesn’t hear.
3 For your hands are stained with blood
and your fingers with crime;
your lips speak lies,
your tongues utter wicked things.
4 No one sues with just cause,
no one pleads honestly in court,
they trust in empty words
and say worthless things;
they conceive trouble
and give birth to evil.
5 They hatch viper eggs
and spin spiderwebs;
whoever eats their eggs dies,
and the crushed egg hatches a snake.
6 Their webs are useless as clothing,
their deeds are useless for wearing;
their deeds are deeds of wickedness,
their hands produce violence.
7 Their feet run to evil,
they rush to shed innocent blood,
their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness,
their paths lead to havoc and ruin.
8 The way of shalom they do not know,
their goings-about obey no law,
they make devious paths for themselves;
no one treading them will ever know shalom.
9 This is why justice is far from us,
and righteousness doesn’t catch up with us;
we look for light, but see only darkness,
for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 We grope for the wall like the blind;
like people without eyes we feel our way;
we stumble at noonday as if it were dusk,
we are in dark places like the dead.
11 We growl, all of us, like bears
and moan pitifully like doves;
we look for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our crimes multiply before you,
our sins testify against us;
for our crimes are present with us;
and our sins, we know them well:
13 rebelling and denying Adonai,
turning away from following our God,
talking about oppression and revolt,
uttering lies which our hearts have conceived.
14 Thus justice is repelled,
righteousness stands apart, at a distance;
for truth stumbles in the public court,
and uprightness cannot enter.
15 Honesty is lacking,
he who leaves evil becomes a target.
Adonai saw it, and it displeased him
that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one,
was amazed that no one interceded.
Therefore his own arm brought him salvation,
and his own righteousness sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
salvation as a helmet on his head;
he clothed himself with garments of vengeance
and wrapped himself in a mantle of zeal.
18 He repays according to their deeds —
fury to his foes, reprisal to his enemies;
to the coastlands he will repay their due;
19 in the west they will fear the name of Adonai,
and likewise, in the east, his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up stream,
impelled by the Spirit of Adonai.
20 “Then a Redeemer will come to Tziyon,
to those in Ya‘akov who turn from rebellion.”
So says Adonai.
21 “And as for me,” says Adonai,
“this is my covenant with them:
my Spirit, who rests on you,
and my words which I put in your mouth
will not depart from your mouth
or from the mouth of your children,
or from the mouth of your children’s children,
now or ever,” says Adonai.
60 “Arise, shine [Yerushalayim],
for your light has come,
the glory of Adonai
has risen over you.
2 For although darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness the peoples;
on you Adonai will rise;
over you will be seen his glory.
3 Nations will go toward your light
and kings toward your shining splendor.
4 Raise your eyes and look around:
they are all assembling and coming to you;
your sons are coming from far off,
your daughters being carried on their nurses’ hips.
5 Then you will see and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with delight;
for the riches of the seas will be brought to you,
the wealth of nations will come to you.
6 Caravans of camels will cover your land,
young camels from Midyan and ‘Eifah,
all of them coming from Sh’va,
bringing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of Adonai.
7 All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered for you,
the rams of N’vayot will be at your service;
they will come up and be received on my altar,
as I glorify my glorious house.
8 “Who are these, flying along like clouds,
like doves to their dovecotes?
9 The coastlands are putting their hope in me,
with the ‘Tarshish’ ships in the lead,
to bring your children from far away,
and with them their silver and gold,
for the sake of Adonai your God,
the Holy One of Isra’el, who glorifies you.
10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls,
their kings will be at your service;
for in my anger I struck you,
but in my mercy I pity you.
11 Your gates will always be open,
they will not be shut by day or by night,
so that people can bring you the wealth of nations,
with their kings led in procession.
12 For the nation or kingdom that won’t serve you will perish;
yes, those nations will be utterly destroyed.
13 “The glory of the L’vanon will come to you,
cypresses together with elm trees and larches,
to beautify the site of my sanctuary —
I will glorify the place where I stand.
14 The children of your oppressors will come
and bow low before you,
all who despised you will fall at your feet,
calling you the city of Adonai,
Tziyon of the Holy One of Isra’el.
15 “In the past you were abandoned and hated,
so that no one would even pass through you;
but now I will make you the pride of the ages,
a joy for many generations.
16 You will drink the milk of nations,
you will nurse at royal breasts
and know that I, Adonai, am your Savior,
your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Ya‘akov.
17 “For bronze I will bring you gold,
for iron I will bring you silver,
bronze in place of wood,
and iron in place of stones.
I will make shalom your governor
and righteousness your taskmaster.
18 Violence will no longer be heard in your land,
desolation or destruction within your borders;
instead, you will call your walls Salvation
and your gates Praise.
19 “No more will the sun be your light by day,
nor will moonlight shine on you;
instead Adonai will be your light forever
and your God your glory.
20 No longer will your sun go down;
your moon will no longer wane;
for Adonai will be your light forever;
your days of mourning will end.
21 All your people will be tzaddikim;
they will inherit the land forever;
they will be the branch I planted,
my handiwork, in which I take pride.
22 The smallest will grow to a thousand,
the weakest will become a mighty nation.
I, Adonai, when the right time comes,
will quickly bring it about.”
Yeshayah 58-60
Orthodox Jewish Bible
58 Cry aloud, restrain not, lift up thy kol (voice) like the shofar, and preach to My people their peysha (transgression, rebellion) and Bais Ya’akov their chattot.
2 Yet they seek Me yom yom (daily), and for the da’as of My Drakhim they seem eager, like a Goy (Nation) that doeth tzedakah, like one that did not forsake mishpat Elohav; they ask of Me the mishpeteitzedek; they seem eager for kirvat Elohim (getting close to G-d, revival).
3 Why have we done a tzom, say they, and Thou seest not? Why have we afflicted nafsheinu, and Thou takest no notice? See, in your yom tzom ye find chefetz (pleasure, personal advantage) and exploit all your toilers.
4 See, ye undergo a tzom for grievance and strife, and to strike with the fist of resha; ye shall not do a tzom as ye do today, to make your voice to be heard on marom.
5 Is such as this a tzom that I have chosen? Merely for adam to afflict his nefesh? To bow down his rosh like a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and efer (ashes) under him? Wilt thou call this a tzom, and a yom ratzon (a day of acceptance, an acceptable day) unto Hashem?
6 Is not this the tzom that I have chosen? To loose the chartzubbot resha (chains of wickedness, injustice), to undo the aguddot motah (bindings of the yoke bar), and to let the retzutzim (oppressed ones) go as chafeshim (free ones), and that ye break kol motah (every yoke of oppression)?
7 Is it not paras lechem (breaking bread of thine, i.e., serving food) to the hungry, and that thou bring the homeless aniyyim (poor) to thy bais? When thou seest the arom (naked), that thou cover him with clothing; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own basar (flesh and blood, kinspeople)?
8 Then shall thy light break forth like the shachar (dawn), and thine healing titzmach (shall spring forth; Tzemach) speedily; and thy tzedek shall go before thee; the kavod Hashem shall be thy rearguard.
9 Then shalt thou call, and Hashem shall answer; thou shalt cry for help, and He shall say, Hineni! If thou remove from the midst of thee the motah (yoke), the pointing of the etzba (finger [of contempt]) and speaking aven (evil, lashon hora);
10 And if thou draw out thy nefesh to the hungry, and satisfy the nefesh of the afflicted, then shall thy ohr rise in choshech, and thy darkness shall be as the noon;
11 And Hashem shall guide thee tamid, and satisfy thy nefesh in drought, and strengthen thy atzmot; and thou shalt be like a gan raveh (well-watered garden), and like a motzah mayim (spring of water), whose mayim fail not.
12 And they that shall be of thee shall rebuild the charevot olam (ancient ruins); thou shalt raise up the mosedei dor vador (the foundations of many generations); and thou shalt be called, Goder Peretz; Meshovev Netivot Lashevet (Repairer of the Breach; Restorer of the Streets For Habitation).
13 If thou turn away thy regel on account of Shabbos, from doing thy chefetz on My Yom Kodesh; and call Shabbos an Oneg (Delight), the Kedosh Hashem (Holy Day of Hashem), "honored"; and if thou shalt honor it, not doing thine darkhim nor finding thine own chefetz, nor speaking [worldly] words:
14 Then shalt thou delight in Hashem; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of eretz, and feed thee with the nachalat Ya’akov Avicha; for the mouth of Hashem hath spoken.
59 Behold, the Yad Hashem is not too short, that it cannot save; neither His ozen (ear) too kaved (hard, insensitive, heavy, dull) that it cannot hear;
2 But your avonot (iniquities) have separated you and Eloheichem, and your chattot (sins) have concealed His face from you, that He will not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled and polluted with dahm, and your fingers with avon (iniquity); your lips have spoken sheker, your leshon (tongue) hath muttered avlah (perverseness, wickedness, iniquity, lashon hora).
4 None calleth [unto Hashem] b’tzedek (in righteousness), nor any pleadeth b’emunah (in faithfulness, in truth); they trust in tohu [nothingness, Gn 1:2], and speak shav (vanity); they conceive amal (trouble), and give birth to aven (wickedness).
5 They hatch the beytzim (eggs) of the tzifoni (viper, poisonous snake), and weave the webs of the akavish (spider); he that eateth of their beytzim (eggs) dieth, and of that which is cracked open, an efeh (kind of poisonous snake) is hatched.
6 Their webs shall not become beged (garments), neither shall they cover themselves with their ma’asim; their ma’asim are ma’asei aven (works of wickedness), and the po’al chamas (act of violence) is in their hands.
7 Their raglayim (feet) run to rah, and they make haste for shefach dahm naki (blood shed of the innocent); their machsh’vot (thoughts) are machsh’vot of aven (wickedness); shod (desolation) and shever (destruction) are on their highways.
8 Of the Derech Shalom they have no da’as; and there is no mishpat (justice) in their circuits; they have made themselves crooked roads; whosoever walketh thereon shall not know shalom.
9 Therefore is mishpat (justice) far from us, neither doth tzedakah overtake us; we wait for ohr, but, hinei, choshech; for negohot (brightness), but we walk in gloom.
10 We grope by the wall like the ivrim (blind), and we grope as if we had no einayim (eyes); we stumble at tzohorayim (noon) as in twilight; we are in full vigor and stout, yet we are as mesim (dead ones).
11 We all growl like dubim (bears), and moan continually like yonim (doves); we look for mishpat, but there is none; for Yeshuah (Salvation), but it is far off from us.
12 Because peysha’einu (our rebellions) have multiplied before Thee, and chattoteinu (our sins) testify against us; for peysha’einu are still with us; and as for avonoteinu (our iniquities), we acknowledge them:
13 In rebelling against and kachash (denying) Hashem, and nasog (turning away) from Eloheinu, speaking oshek (oppression) and sarah (revolt), conceiving and uttering from the lev (heart) divrei sheker (words of falsehood).
14 And mishpat (justice) is turned back, and tzedakah (righteousness) standeth afar off; for emes (truth) is fallen in the rechov (street), and nacho’ach (honesty) cannot enter.
15 Indeed, emes (truth) faileth; and he that departeth from rah (evil) maketh himself a prey; and Hashem saw it, and it was displeasing in His sight that there was no mishpat (justice).
16 And He saw that there was no ish (man), and was appalled that there was no Mafgi’a (Intercessor); therefore His own Zero’a (Arm) wrought Salvation unto Him; and His own tzedakah (righteousness) He relied on [Isa 53:1; Jer 23:6].
17 For He put on tzedakah as breastplate armor, and a helmet of Yeshuah (Salvation, Saving Power) upon His rosh; and He put on the bigdei nakam (garments of vengeance) for a uniform, and was clad with kinah (zeal) as a me’il (mantle, cloak).
18 According to their gemulot (deeds, dealings), so He will repay, chemah (fury, wrath) to His adversaries, gemul (recompence) to His oyevim (enemies); to the iyim (islands) He will repay gemul (recompence, due).
19 So shall they fear the Shem Hashem from the ma’arav (west), and His kavod from the rising of the shemesh. When the enemy shall come in like a nahar (flood, river), the Ruach [Hakodesh] of Hashem shall lift up a standard against him.
20 And the Go’el (Redeemer, Moshiach) shall come to Tziyon, and unto them that make teshuva and turn from peysha (rebellion) in Ya’akov, saith Hashem [See Ro.11:26 OJBC].
21 As for Me, this is My Brit (Covenant, [see Isaiah 42:6; 49:8; 54:10; 55:3]) with them [i.e., with Moshiach’s zera, see Isaiah 53:10], saith Hashem; My Ruach [Hakodesh] that is upon thee [Moshiach, see Isaiah 11:2; 42:1; 48:16; 61:1], and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy zera [Isaiah 53:10], nor out of the mouth of the zera of thy zera [i.e. Moshiach’s zera generationally], saith Hashem, from henceforth and ad olam (forever).
60 Arise, shine; for thy [Tziyon’s] ohr is come, and the kavod Hashem is risen upon thee.
2 For, hinei, the choshech shall cover Eretz, and gross darkness the nations; but Hashem shall arise upon thee, and His kavod shall be seen upon thee.
3 And the Goyim shall walk by thy ohr, and melachim by the brightness of thy shining.
4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see; they all gather themselves together, they come to thee; thy banim shall come from afar, and thy banot shall be carried at thy side.
5 Then thou shalt see, and be radiant, and thine lev shall fear, and swell; because the hamon yam shall be converted unto thee, the chayil Goyim (wealth of the Nations) shall come unto thee.
6 A swarm of gemalim (camels) shall cover thee, foals of Midyan and Ephah; all they from Sheva shall come; they shall bring zahav and levonah (frankincense); and they shall bear glad tidings of tehillot (the praises of) Hashem.
7 Kol tzon Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nevayot shall minister unto thee; they shall come up al ratzon (with acceptance) upon Mine Mizbe’ach, and I will glorify the Beis of My Tiferet (The Beis [HaMikdash] of My Glory).
8 Who are these that fly like a cloud, and like the yonim to their roosts?
9 Surely the iyim shall wait for Me, and the oniyot (ships) of Tarshish will come first, to bring thy banim from afar, their kesef and their zahav with them, unto the Shem of Hashem thy G-d, and to the Kadosh Yisroel, because He hath glorified thee.
10 And the Bnei Nekhar shall build up thy chomot, and their melachim shall minister unto thee; for in My ketzef I struck thee, but in My ratzon have I had rachamim on thee.
11 Therefore thy She’arim shall be open continually; they shall not be shut yomam valailah; that men may bring unto thee the chayil Goyim (wealth of the Nations), and that their melachim may be led in procession.
12 For the Goy and Mamlachah that will not serve thee shall perish; yes, those Goyim shall be utterly ruined [T.N. Notice that an anti-Jerusalem, anti-Jewish sentiment among believers is a contradiction in terms here in this verse].
13 The kavod HaLevanon shall come unto thee, the juniper tree, the box tree, and the cypress together, to beautify the makom (place) of My Mikdash; and I will make the makom of My raglayim glorious.
14 The banim also of them that oppress thee shall come unto thee in submission; and all they that despised thee shall prostrate themselves down at the soles of thy raglayim; and they shall call thee, The Ir of Hashem, Tziyon of Kadosh Yisroel.
15 Whereas thou has been forsaken and hated, so that none passed through thee, I will make thee a Ga’on Olam (Everlasting Pride), a joy dor vador.
16 Thou shalt also drink the cholov Goyim, and shalt nurse at the breast of melachim; and thou shalt know that I Hashem am thy Moshia and thy Go’el, the Avir Ya’akov (Mighty One of Jacob)..
17 Instead of nechoshet I will bring zahav, and for barzel (iron) I will bring kesef, and for etzim (wood) nechoshet, and for avanim (stones) barzel (iron); I will also make thy pekudim shalom, and thine nogesim tzedakah.
18 Chamas shall no more be heard in thy land, shod nor shever within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy chomot Yeshuah (Salvation), and thy she’arim Tehillah (Praise).
19 The shemesh shall be no more thy ohr yomam; neither for brightness shall the yarei’ach give light unto thee; but Hashem shall be unto thee an Ohr Olam, and thy G-d thy tiferet.
20 Thy shemesh shall no more go down; neither shall thy yarei’ach wane; for Hashem shall be for thee an Ohr Olam, and the yamim of thy avelut shall be ended.
21 Thy people also shall be all of them tzaddikim; they shall inherit the Eretz l’olam, the Netzer [see Mt.2:23 OJBC] of My planting, the ma’aseh of My hands, that I may be glorified.
22 The katon shall become an elef, and the smallest a mighty nation; I Hashem will hasten it in its time.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International