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Isaiah 58:2-7
Common English Bible
Isaiah 58:2-7
Common English Bible
2 They seek me day after day,
desiring knowledge of my ways
like a nation that acted righteously,
that didn’t abandon their God.
They ask me for righteous judgments,
wanting to be close to God.
3 “Why do we fast and you don’t see;
why afflict ourselves and you don’t notice?”
Yet on your fast day you do whatever you want,
and oppress all your workers.
4 You quarrel and brawl, and then you fast;
you hit each other violently with your fists.
You shouldn’t fast as you are doing today
if you want to make your voice heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I choose,
a day of self-affliction,
of bending one’s head like a reed
and of lying down in mourning clothing and ashes?
Is this what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Isn’t this the fast I choose:
releasing wicked restraints, untying the ropes of a yoke,
setting free the mistreated,
and breaking every yoke?
7 Isn’t it sharing your bread with the hungry
and bringing the homeless poor into your house,
covering the naked when you see them,
and not hiding from your own family?
Isaiah 58:2-7
New International Version
Isaiah 58:2-7
New International Version
2 For day after day they seek(A) me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken(B) the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near(C) them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’(D) they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled(E) ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’(F)
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please(G)
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,(H)
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard(I) on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast(J) I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble(K) themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed(L)
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?(M)
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting(N) I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice(O)
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed(P) free
and break every yoke?(Q)
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry(R)
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter(S)—
when you see the naked, to clothe(T) them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?(U)
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.