Isaiah 58:1-9

Legacy Standard Bible

58 “^(A)Call out from your throat, do not hold back;
Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their ^(B)transgression
And to the house of Jacob their sins.
² Yet they ^(C)seek Me day by day and find pleasure in knowing My ways,
As a nation that has done ^(D)righteousness
And ^(E)has not forsaken the judgment of their God.
They ask Me for righteous judgments;
They find pleasure in ^(F)the nearness of God.
³ ‘Why have we ^(G)fasted and You do not see?
Why have we afflicted our souls and You do not know?’
Behold, on the ^(H)day of your fast you find your desire,
And oppress all your workers.
⁴ Behold, you fast for contention and ^(I)quarreling and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you do today to ^(J)make your voice heard on high.
⁵ Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to afflict himself?
Is it for bowing ^[a]one’s head like a reed
And for spreading out ^(K)sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an ^(L)acceptable day to Yahweh?
⁶ Is this not the fast which I choose,
To ^(M)loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To release the bands of ^[b]the yoke,
And to ^(N)let the oppressed go free
And ^(O)break every ^[c]yoke?
⁷ Is it not to ^(P)divide your bread ^[d]with the hungry
And ^(Q)bring the afflicted homeless into the house;
When you see the ^(R)naked, you cover him;
And not to ^(S)hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸ Then your ^(T)light will break out like the dawn,
And your ^(U)recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your ^(V)righteousness will go before you;
The glory of ^(W)Yahweh will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will ^(X)call, and Yahweh will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you ^(Y)remove the ^[e]yoke from your midst,
The ^[f](Z)pointing of the finger and ^(AA)speaking wickedness,